# difference between は and が



## Whodunit

こんにちは友人、 

I think this is a very basic question, but I'd like to ask it nevertheless. What is the difference between the particles wa (は) and ga (が)? From my experience, I'd say that wa could correspond to the determined nominative case and ga to the indetermined nominative. Let me show you an exmaple:

富士山*は*きれいです。
Fuji-san *wa* kirei desu. (Mount Fuji is beautiful. - proper names are always determined)

ゎたし*は*日本人です。
Watashi *wa* nippon-jin desu. (I'm Japanese. - personal pronouns are always determined)
---
おきゃくさん*が*きました。
O-kyaku-san *ga* kimashita. ([Some] guests/A guest arrived. - no definite article in English, that's why it is indetermined.)

Now my question: Would the followeing be still correct?

おきゃくさん*は*きました。
O-kyaku-san *wa* kimashita.

... meaning "The guest[s] arrived."


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## Flaminius

Yes, 「お客さんは来ました」 can mean, "The guest has come."  Another interpretation is, "The/A guest has come but <others who are supposed to be here> haven't," where the other expected parties can be the host, the catering service or the photographer.

The distinction between は and が is a hard topic that can break the teeth of a dragon.  I suggest the following references from Wikipedia:
Topic, theme, and subject: は (wa) and が (ga)
Topic marker -- Japanese: は.

Whodunit, your examples illustrate the contrast between thematic _wa_ and exhaustive _ga_.  Being a theme, お客さんは can be assumed to be a notion that the speaker and the hearer more or less have common understanding of who it refers to.  This construction resembles the English determinant phrase.  

The other illustration, お客さんが来ました, is usually understood as, "A guest has come," but I doubt if there is no context wherein the referent of _ga_ should be interpreted as "the guest".  Another reservation that holds me against regarding _ga_ as the indefinite subject marker is that it can refer to proper nouns, which, by nature, is definite; e.g., 山田さんが来ました。 or Mr. Yamada has come.

It is rather an impressionistic comment but _ga_ has a strong connection to the verb that it commands as the subject.  Exhaustive _ga_, where the connection between the verb and other subject nouns are excluded, is indicative of this strong tie between the _ga_-referent and the verb.  In contrast, _wa_ phrase stands outside the predicate.  The connection between the _wa_-referent and the verb is rather loose.  The regent verb of a sentence can be connected to more than one _wa_-phrase:
今日はぼくは学校は休んだ。kyō-wa boku-wa gakkō-wa yasunda.
Today-TOPIC I-TOPIC school-TOPIC takeLeaveFrom.
I took leave from school today.

Flam,


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## Moogle

Hello my friends! I'm here once again because I am pathetic and stumped at the Japanese language .

It's particles, the most difficult aspect of the Japanese language as many speakers would like to say.

I am looking for why you wouldn't be using, "wa" for example inside this sentence.

Inu ga go-hiki imasu.

Inu = Dog
Ga = Subject marker, but so is "wa"
go = five
hiki = small animal count
imasu = are (to be)

Everywhere I search there are only vague descriptions of why wa and ga are different and most of the time, I can't decipher when I should use what. The search function of the forum is also dead for items like "ga" because it's less than 4 letters and the search rejects my keywords.

I sort of heard that "wa" is only used when someone sort of knows what you're talking about (within the subject) and "ga" is used when it's completely out of the blue. Then again, I hear so many phrases that would not follow this rule at all =/.

Anyone want to clarify this?  

Thanks in advanced =).


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## Flaminius

Hi Moogle,

In fact, wa/ga distinction is a very deep theme upon which a lot of tomes have been dedicated, throats got sore on the podium and many ink drums emptied —but still most lucid heads remain confused.

This topic has been discussed in several threads in this forum; each from a different angle.  I list some of them below.  Please continue discussion if you have specific questions for the points raised in the threads.
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=467321
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=434576
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=538896

Regarding search, don't let the length limit discourage you!  
You can either bloat query words like wa/ga, は/が or find threads that bear "difference" or "distinction" in the titles.  You can also search WordReference forums using Google.


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## palomnik

The rule of thumb I always learned, for what it's worth, is that _ga _designates the subject of the sentence.

_Wa, _on the other hand, designates the topic of the sentence.  

The subject and the topic are often, maybe even usually, the same, in which case the sense of immediacy of the subject to the action of the sentence will dictate which one you use:  _ga _for a strong sense of immediacy, _wa _otherwise.

Of course, the topic and the subject don't have to be the same; the topic may be the object, or it may be a separate clause that introduces what the sentence is discussing.  In that case, you may very well use both _wa _and _ga _in the same sentence.


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## Qcumber

From what Flaminius said, I conclude the best is to learn the noun-ga verb phrases in common usage.
For instance I have learnt by heart: 
Sakana ga suki desu. = (I) like fish.
(I hope this is correct.)


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## divisortheory

anything that you like or don't like is almost always

~~ ga suki desu.
~~ ga kirai desu.

_However_, 'ha' has an alternative usage which is to emphasize comparison of two things.  So you could have the following:

*Not so good:* A ga suki dakedo, B ga kirai desu.
*Much better:* A ha suki dakedo, B ha kirai desu.

In my experience, try your best to learn the rules for ha and ga, but you will not master them.  Instead, try to use the correct one in a situation and ask people to correct you when you are wrong.  When you get corrected, just memorize the sentence the way you were corrected and next time use it correctly.  Eventually, after you have been corrected enough times, you will start to get the hang of it  (I still don't really have the hang of it, lol).


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## cheshire

> I sort of heard that "wa" is only used when someone sort of knows what you're talking about (within the subject) and "ga" is used when it's completely out of the blue. Then again, *I hear so many phrases that would not follow this rule at all* =/.


In that case please make sure to write down any sentence you encounter which doesn't apply and show us here; we are happy to help you!


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## 漢字のとき

hi moogle,

In this case must use ga (が) because the verb after (います)

Subject+ga+quality+imasu/arimasu : indicating how many quality of something/people... have

Note: quality+ga+imasu/arimasu is wrong

宜しく、お願いします。  Sorry


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