These are likely to be the particles you are struggling with the most. And that’s okay. If you aren’t struggling, I admire you a lot, because は (wa) and が (ga) tend to be the two particles that trip English speakers up.
So in this article, I’m going to try to explain the differences between these two, hopefully in an easy-to-understand way. We’re going to focus on some of the basics, just because things can get a little hairy with these two.
Let’s dive right in with the most basic difference.
Contents
What Particle Do I Use : Difference は and が
Old Information vs. New Information
Sometimes it might seem like は and が are interchangeable, but they really aren’t. One way to remember how to use them correctly is to think if the information you are marking with them is new or old for the listener.
For old information, you’ll want to use は. If you’re having a conversation about cats, and the person you’re talking to already knows that the subject you’re discussing is cats, it’s perfectly fine to say “Neko wa…” (猫は…).
When you introduce a new or unknown subject in a conversation, you’ll mark it with が. So, if you’re talking about cats, but you want to change the subject to dogs, you can do so by saying something like “Inu ga…” (犬が…).
This means that が is also used with question words, because they are unknowns. You’ll always say “Dare ga…” (誰が…) and never “Dare wa…” (x誰は…x). As you continue learning, you’ll pick up when using the wrong particle just feels weird. I hope I made some people cringe with “Dare wa…”
Embedded Clause
Well, isn’t that a nice grammar jargon header? If you don’t know what an embedded clause is, it’s basically a sentence within a sentence. These work a little differently in English than they do in Japanese, so we’re going to look at our example sentence in English first.
The example we’ll use is the sentence “I didn’t know she was studying Japanese.” In English, “She was studying Japanese,” is a full sentence, and it is an embedded clause. A lot of times in English these will come at the end of the sentence, while in Japanese they are usually in the middle, or even the beginning.
To say this in Japanese, you would say “Watashi wa kanojo ga nihongo wo benkyou shiteiru koto wo shirimasen deshita” (私は彼女が日本語を勉強していることを知りませんでした。). The embedded clause is in the middle because we end the sentence with the verb that relates to the topic, which is “I.”
In Japanese, “Kanojo ga nihongo wo benkyou shiteiru” is a full sentence. You could definitely use は after “kanojo” as well. However, since it is an embedded clause, and the real focus of the sentence is on “watashi,” you’ll want to use が.
Japanese Particle は(wa) Used for Emphasis
Sometimes は will replace が in order to add emphasis or contrast. You can kind of translate this use in your head as “But as for ____” if that helps. We can see an example if we go back to our embedded clause example.
Maybe you’re talking about your friend who has been working hard to study Japanese. You can say “Kanojo wa mainichi nihongo wo benkyou shiteiru” (彼女は毎日日本語を勉強している。) or “She is studying Japanese everyday.” Then you can add “Watashi wa zenzen benkyou shiteinai” (私は全然勉強していない。) or “As for me, I’m not studying at all.”
Even though “watashi” is a new topic, it’s marked with は to add emphasis and contrast. You can also add to this by using your tone to emphasize “watashi.”
Japanese Particle が(ga) Used with Non-volitionals
Oh man, here’s another one of those fancy grammar terms. If something is non-volitional, it means it is uncontrollable. There are a lot of verbs and adjectives in Japanese that are super common and also non-volitional, and they almost always use が.
Four of these really common words are “wakaru” (分かる: to know), “dekiru” (できる: to be able to), “suki” (好き: like), and “hoshii” (ほしい: want). If you’ve watched a single episode of anime in your life, you’ve probably heard all of these. They’re super common words.
Even though we may look at the English equivalents of these and not see them as non-volitional, they are in Japanese. And they all use が.
You can say things like “I understand English,” with “Eigo ga wakaru” (英語が分かる). You could say “He likes dogs,” with “Inu ga suki” (犬が好き). And even though “understand” and “like” might seem more active in English, these are considered to be uncontrollable in Japanese.
There are a lot of other words and phrases that almost always take が. If you pay attention, you’ll be able to pick up on things like that so you can work them into your vocabulary.
| Particles | Romaji | Meaning | Examples | English | Yomi |
| は | wa | It makes topic and is pronounced as “wa” not “ha”. Used for Emphasis | 私は、あなたが好きです。 | I like you. | Watashi wa anataga suki desu. |
| が | ga | It indicates the subject of a sentence. Used with Non-volitionals | あなたが好きです。 | I like you. | Anataga suki desu. |
| Particles Ha and Ga | Examples |
| は(Ha) | ひらがな は よめるけど、漢字は読めない I can read Hiragana but can’t read Kanji. |
| が(Ga) | サッカーができる I can play soccer. にほんごがわかる I know Japanese. じかんがいる I need time. きみがすき I like you. みずがほしい I want water. |
You’ll Get It Down
These two particles can be tricky. What I talked about is kind of just scratching the surface. There are a lot of possibilities with は and が, and you’ll learn more about them as you continue to study and speak with native Japanese people.
If you’re struggling with these particles, just know that there are all sorts of papers and books that only talk about the difference between は and が because they can be that complicated. It’s not just you.
That being said, keep at it, and make sure to keep an ear out for how these are used. You’ll figure it out, and soon it’ll come pretty naturally for you.
Try to check your understanding of Japanese Particles
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