The final mystery of は and が

1. Vocabulary List

2. Grammar & Sentences

は — Topic Marker (main message comes after は)

は introduces what you are talking about. The important information — the predicate — follows は.

• 私は日本人です。(Watashi wa nihonjin desu.) — I am Japanese.
• カーラさんはフランス人です。(Kaara-san wa furansujin desu.) — Carla is French.
• ナルトはにんじゃです。(Naruto wa ninja desu.) — Naruto is a ninja.
• このくつは高いです。(Kono kutsu wa takai desu.) — These shoes are expensive.
• J-POPは日本の音楽です。(J-POP wa nihon no ongaku desu.) — J-pop is Japanese music.

は for contrast — when comparing two things, both subjects take は:

• 日本の夏は暑いです。でも、冬は寒いです。(Nihon no natsu wa atsui desu. Demo, fuyu wa samui desu.) — Summer in Japan is hot. But winter is cold.
• 日本語は話せます。でも漢字は書けません。(Nihongo wa hanasemasu. Demo kanji wa kakemasen.) — I can speak Japanese. But I can't write kanji.
• 肉は好きです。さかなはきらいです。(Niku wa suki desu. Sakana wa kirai desu.) — I like meat. I hate fish.

が — New / Important Information (main info comes before が)

が highlights the subject as the key new piece of information.

• 友だちが来ます。(Tomodachi ga kimasu.) — A friend is coming.
• 雨がふります。(Ame ga furimasu.) — It will rain.
• 北海道でゆきがふっています。(Hokkaido de yuki ga futte imasu.) — It is snowing in Hokkaido.
• 本があります。(Hon ga arimasu.) — There is a book.
• 頭がいたいんです。(Atama ga itain desu.) — I have a headache.

Combined は … が Pattern

When the topic is set with は and a preference or ability verb follows, the object of that verb takes が:

• みきおさんは音楽が好きです。(Mikio-san wa ongaku ga suki desu.) — Mikio likes music.
• ことみさんは空手がとくいです。(Kotomi-san wa karate ga tokui desu.) — Kotomi is good at karate.

3. Learning Context

• は rule: The end of the sentence is the main point — whatever comes after は is what you want to convey.
• が rule: The beginning of the sentence is the main point — が marks new or highlighted information, not a contrasting topic.
• Fixed が words: 好きです、上手です、とくいです、できます always take が — even inside a は…が sentence.
• Chapter 2 complete: This section closes the は vs が mystery and wraps up all of Chapter 2: Impressions.

4. Progress Tracker