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Questions tagged [particle-は]

助詞「は」. Indicates the topic of a sentence or shows contrast in the universe of discourse.

The particle "は" (pronounced "wa") can be used to:

  • indicate the topic of sentence (彼{かれ}は学生{がくせい}です, lit. "regarding him, he is a student")
  • show contrast in the universe of discourse (彼{かれ}は学生{がくせい}です, lit. "as for him, he is a student")

Related tags

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What's the difference between wa (は) and ga (が)?

When is it correct to use は but not が, and when is it correct to use が but not は? Are there any times when you can use either without changing the meaning of the sentence? How does switching change the meaning of a sentence?
nevan king
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What is the difference between "に" and "には"?

The title should be pretty self-explanatory. What meanings does each convey? And in what kinds of circumstances would one be used instead of the other? For example, what are the differences between these two sentences? 図書館に本がある。 図書館には本がある。
voithos
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Why is the topic marker often used in negative statements (ではない, ～とは思わない)?

What function does は provide in statements such as 本ではない or 本だとは思わない? I notice the は after と is often left out, at least if a Google search for 思わない is any indication, but there still seems to be a general trend of sticking は into negatives where I…
Kef Schecter
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Can we have two thematic は particles in a sentence?

From what I understand, there are two types of は-particle: The thematic-は (topic-marker) which is used to introduce things into the universe of discourse. The contrastive-は. jkerian states that: There can be only one thematic は in a sentence.…
Pacerier
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Which is correct: こんばんわ or こんばんは?

I've seen both こんばんわ and こんばんは used; which is correct here? If we interpret the は as the topic particle, は would seem correct, but it seems that わ is used quite frequently anyway...
bdonlan
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When asking 'What is your name?' or 'What is your job?', why is it 'は' not 'か'?

As per the title, when asking 'What is your name?' or 'What is your job?', why is it 'は' not 'か'? For example, we are taught this: おしごとは。 'What is your job?' But I don't understand why it isn't this? あなたはしごとですか。 'What is your job?'
Chris
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"Te-form" versus "masu-stem + して" (消しているうちに versus 消ししているうちに)

Is there any difference between 消して and 消しして in the following sentences? For example, A: 手紙を書いては消し、書いては消ししているうちに、朝になってしまった。 B: 手紙を書いては消し、書いては消しているうちに、朝になってしまった。
Second Person Shooter
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私は猫が好き and 猫は私が好き

I started reading basic grammar of Japanese, and found this sentence: ねこがすきです。 I like cats. I thought が is the subject particle, so I supposed that ねこ would be the subject of the sentence. すき seems to mean "like". So I expected ねこがすきです to mean…
Damkerng T.
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Difference between って and は as topic marker

I often see って being used to mark a topic, such as in the sentence 新宿ってどこ？ I'm aware that this is more colloquial compared to the topic marker は. Other than the formality aspect, are って and は completely interchangeable in meaning when used like…
HAL
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What's the difference between -ga and -o when they are used to designate a direct object?

During the past month I've been addicted to Japanese. I've listened to about 10 online tutorial video courses and read about as much printed lessons. I am determined to learn Japanese, but I am really a newbie so my question may be very basic, but…
Armen Tsirunyan
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Is the "wa-particle" in katakana ワ or ハ？

Is the "wa-particle" in katakana ワ or ハ？ (Just a quick question - I think I have seen both used, but if ワ is correct then I have just seen the results of a computer o/p automatically using ハ)
Tim
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Why does 「電話は切れた」 sound more adversarial than 「電話が切れた」?

I noticed that while 「…、電話が切れた」 sounds just like a neutral phrase ("... and the call got cut off."), 「…、電話は切れた」 sounds more like you were negatively affected / that the person on the other side intentionally cut off the call. Are there any other…
Darius Jahandarie
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What is the difference between は and のは?

The following sentence means "seeing all the different foreign people was interesting." This, according to my Japanese friends is incorrect: 色々な外国人を見ているは面白かった。 ... and this is correct: 色々な外国人を見ているのは面白かった。 To me, the difference is so subtle that…
Questioner
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〜くはない vs 〜くない in adjective negations

As I spend more time in Japan, I pick up habits that I'm not sure are good or bad. My question here is about nuance / occasion of usage. In formal contexts, how does the impression differ between these two locutions: 今の仕事は悪くはないです。 今の仕事は悪くないです。 I…
virmaior
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Why is this sentence ungrammatical? 「お寺が公園のとなりです。」

I wrote this sentence (meaning "The temple is next to the park") in my Japanese course and my teacher said it's wrong, because I was supposed to use a は instead of a が. My understanding is that there is always a が in a sentence, which may or may not…
Wolf
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