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Use of は?
こんにちは!
So I was doing a strengthen skills in Intro 2, and I realized that I don't know what the use of は is. I really wish Japanese had tips and notes. Can somebody please explain to me what it is?
Example: 田中さんは先生です。
Thanks in advance!
6 Comments
「は」is a topic particle, and is used to make something the topic of a sentence. Here's a link I recommend that explains it more in-depthly.
は (pronounced as 'wa' when used as the topic marker) is used to mark the topic of the conversation. (as the name implies)
but, が is used as the subject marker, and there is a difference. Objects marked with が are used as a "subsection" within the topic.
本はいいですよ。"Books are good" A simple sentence, but it shows that 「本」"books" is the topic of the conversation.
源氏物語が一番いいです。"The Tale of Genji is the best." Here, we see that 「源氏物語」"The Tale of Genji" the subject of the conversation because The Tale of Genji is a subsection of Books.
本では、源氏物語が一番いいですよ。”Among books, The Tale of Genji is the best" Here we see both は and が in the same sentence. は marks the topic (books), and が marks the subject (The Tale of Genji).
I hope this explanation helps you and anyone that reads this.
I was hearing the pronnounce, and I want to add something:
- It is romanized as "wa", but the real pronnounce is a blending of "wa" and "ha".
は ( pronounce "wa" ) is the topic of a sentence, when you are describing something with adjectives and as a contrast maker.
