2013年1月16日水曜日

"wa" or "ga" 「は」と「が」

Two days ago it snowed in Tokyo. (It was a lot for Tokyo people.) I was out on that day, so I was afraid that I would get stuck in the snow. I waited for the bus for half an hour in vain and finally took a taxi back home. But, a road going up to my house was blocked by police, so I had to get out of  the taxi at the bottom of the hill and walk up in the snow after all. This was a tiring journey.

My first post in 2013 is about two confusing particles. I am sure there are many people wondering what the difference is between “wa”and “ga”. Today I will explain it simply to you. Before that, I have a question for all of you.
Watashi wa sushi ga suki desu. (I like sushi.)
There are two nouns in this sentence: watashi, and sushi. Which word do you think is more important, “watashi” or “sushi”?
The answer is sushi because it is usually obvious that you are talking about yourself, so the fact that you like “sushi” is the information you would like to relay. Keep this while we look at the previous example again.
Watashi wa sushi ga suki desu.
A noun preceding “wa” (in this case, “watashi”) is not so important. A noun following “wa” and preceding “ga” (in this case, “sushi”) is the most important. Make sure to remember this rule.
Yamada san wa eigo ga jozu desu. (Yamada is good at speaking English.)
Here “eigo” is more important information than “Yamada”.
Yamada san wa kami ga nagai desu. (Yamada's hair is long.)
Also here, “kami” is the important information.

Then what is the difference between “watashi wa Minako desu” and “watashi ga Minako desu” ?


Watashi wa Minako desu. 
 According to the rule of “wa” and “ga”, “Minako” following “wa” is more important than “watashi” in front of “wa”. Therefore, this sentence is used when you want to tell the name “Minako”. When the other party hasn’t heard my name before, I say it like this.
Watashi ga Minako desu. 
On the other hand, this example is used in the following situation. For instance, there are ten women in a room. Mr. A has a list of the ten women’s names, but he doesn’t know who has which name. Then, Mr. A asks “Dono hito ga Minako san desu ka?” (Which person is Minako?) I would raise my hand and say, “Watashi ga Minako desu” (I am Minako).
It is more important to emphasize “watashi” here than to say the name “Minako”, so “watashi” takes “ga”. Saying “Minako wa watashi des” is also all right because it follows the rule.

So, here is some homework for you. Please consider “wa” and “ga” in the following model sentences and also think about which situation they are used in. Those who can’t figure out the answers, please post your comment here.
1) Disneyland wa doko ni arimasu ka?
2) nani ga table no ue ni arimasu ka?

*Watch the video, too!






10 件のコメント:

  1. I found your blog today, and really enjoyed reading it. ありがとうございました!

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    1. Hello Martin, Thank you for reading my blog. If you have any questions, please ask me on this blog.

      これからも にほんごの べんきょう がんばってください!

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  2. I just want to see if I'm right, so here goes:
    1) Disneyland wa doko ni arimasu ka? - The important thing is WHERE Disneyland is, therefore you use an "wa" after Disneyland.
    2) nani ga table no ue ni arimasu ka? - Here you're asking WHAT is on the table, and the question part is the most important in this example, thus you use "ga" after nani.

    Was that right? :)

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    1. hai, so des. You got them right!
      I know "wa" and "ga" are confusing. We Japanese naturally know when to use either of them. We don't even think about the difference.
      I think the English equivalent of this confusion is "a" and "the". For Japanese they look the same. I usually ignore my mistakes about them!

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  3. Can i ask you a question, I hope I won't bother you.

    Two people talk together

    やまだ: いとさん、しゅうまつにひまがありますか?もしよければ、わたしのうちへあそびにいらっしゃいませんか?むすこがアメリカからかえります。
    いと:はい。

    Yamada used ga to talk about his son. It mean:

    Ito hasn't ever known yamada's son. Or

    Ito know his son but Ito don't know when his son will come back from America.

    Thanks.

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    1. Bich san, thank you for reading this post.

      I will rewrite your dialog.
      やまだ:いとうさん、しゅうまつに ひまですか?/じかんが ありますか?
      もしよければ、わたしのうちへ あそびに いらっしゃいませんか?
      むすこが アメリカから かえってきます。
      いとう:はい。

      What matters here is who is coming back.
      Q. だれが アメリカから かえってきますか?
      A. むすこが かえってきます。

      Yamada is trying to tell Ito that his/her SON is coming back. It's not a daughter or parents that will come back.

      It doesn't matter whether Ito knows Yamada has a son or not because the following dialogue is also possible.
      Let's assume that Ito knows Yamada has a son called Ken.

      やまだ:いとうさん、わたしのむすこが らいしゅう にほんに かえってきます!
      いとう:そうですか。けんくんが かえってくるんですか。うれしいですね!

      Yamada is just happy about the son's return and wants to emphasize that.

      This is my interpretation. You should ask your Japanese friends, too!

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  4. Your interpretation is really specific and obvious, it helps me to understand how to use "ga" or "wa". Actually I really want to know what the speaker is implying. If Yamada uses "wa", It means that he wants to emphasize " is coming back from America". It's right? Sometime I feel confused between "ga" and "wa". Specially put them in different situations or dialogues. But when you said "Yamada is just happy about the son's return and wants to emphasize that.", I think It's OK for me. Thank you very much, I learned several useful things.

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    1. If Yamada uses "wa", It means that he wants to emphasize " is coming back from America".
      Yes, you are right.
      I know "wa" and "ga" are difficult. Japanese people can naturally differentiate them and don't know exactly the differences!
      Contexts are definitely very important to understand them.

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  5. totemo kanshasuru. watashi ha malaysia no gakusei desu. 12 gatsu ni JLPT N5 ga arimasu, sensei ha watashini tasuketemoii?

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    1. Jeong-hin, Thank you for reading my blog.
      N5 no benkyo gambatte kudasai.
      I can help you from time to time. If you need regular skype lessons, I'll introduce you a teacher of our team.

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