Table of Contents
- In short: The particle “wa” (は) is a subject marker
- A bit more on the particle “wa” (は): Its spelling and its emphatic function
- Bonus: Notes on “wa” (は) and “ga” (が) in sentences with a Verb of Existing
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1. In short: The particle “wa” (は) is a subject marker
First things first: The particle “wa” is not the equivalent of “be” in English. “wa” only shows its preceding word is the subject of your sentence.
If there is anything like “be” in Japanese, it is “desu” because it conjugates to make a question, a negative, or a statement in the past.
Example 1: 私は30歳です。Watashi wa sanjussai desu. (I am thirty years old.)
2. A bit more on the particle “wa” (は): Its spelling and its emphatic function
(1) Spelling
Note that the particle “wa” is spelled in hiragana with “は (ha)”, not “わ (wa)”. The good thing is that this is the only “は (ha)” pronounced “wa”; in Modern Japanese, all other “wa” sounds are spelled with the regular “わ”.
(2) Its emphatic function
The particle “wa” does not only come after the grammatical subject but can actually mark any word(s) of any case by following them. The effect is that when we hear “wa”, our attention automatically goes to the word(s) before it and we find or confirm those as the topic or the context the speaker wants us to understand.
For example, the following example has the grammatical object marked by “wa”:
Ex. 2: たばこは、ここで吸わないでください。Tabako wa koko de suwanaide kudasai. (Speaking of cigarettes, please don’t smoke them here.)
The original sentence of Ex. 2 is:
Ex. 3: ここでたばこを吸わないでください。Koko de tabako o suwanaide kudasai. (Please don’t smoke cigarettes here.)
Here is another example; this “wa” follows an adverbial. Observe that the grammatical subject with “wa” can stay in the same sentence.
Ex. 4: 2月には、私はもう日本にいません。Ni-gatsu ni wa watashi wa moo nihon ni imasen. (In February I will not be in Japan.)
The original sentence of Ex. 5 is:
Ex. 5: 私は2月にもう日本にいません。Watashi wa ni-gatsu ni moo nihon ni imasen. (I will not be in Japan in February.)
Ex. 4 sounds more natural because “moo…imasen (not be…any more)” is a strong expression. The speaker feels strongly he or she only has limited time left for him/her, hence the emphatic “wa” after “ni-gatsu ni”.
3. Bonus: Notes on “wa” (は) and “ga” (が) in sentences with a Verb of Existing
The comparison of “wa” and “ga” has been the subject of many discussions, articles and research papers, and we will not be able to explain everything here.
However, we would like to add one of the important functions of “wa”: With a Verb of Existing, the default subject marker is “ga”. However, “wa” can replace it and adds special implications to the sentence. With “wa” after the subject, you can:
(1) Show that your and the listener’s focus has already been on that thing or matter. In other words, it shows you are sharing a context with your listener [See Ex. 6A and 8A] or
(2) Exclude the possibility of another or other (things, persons, places, ideas, etc.) than the subject [See Ex. 6B and 8B].
On the other hand, the subject followed by “ga” with a Verb of Existing exists or stays regardless of the context or without any relationship with the other existences [See Ex. 7 and 9].
Compare:
Ex. 6: 佐藤さんは食堂にいます。Satoo-san wa shokudoo ni imasu. (Interpretation (A) Satoo-san [that we have been talking about or looking for) is in the cafeteria. Interpretation (B) Satoo-san [not someone else] is in the cafeteria.)
Ex. 7: 佐藤さんが食堂にいます。Satoo-san ga shokudoo ni imasu. Satoo-san (among a few or many other people or things equally important as he) is in the cafeteria.
Another pair of examples:
Ex. 8: クレジットカードはあります。Kurejitto kaado wa arimasu. (Interpretation (A) I have the credit card [that I have been talking about or looking for]. Interpretation (B) I have a credit card [but I don’t have cash or another form of payment].)
Ex. 9: クレジットカードがあります。Kurejitto kaado ga arimasu. (I have a credit card/there is a credit card [among many other things equally important or unimportant].)
In our next post, we will see how the particle “no” works.
Related Posts
- [Next Post] The Particle “no” (の)
- Particles and Their Related Verbs
- An Approach to The “X wa A ga B” Sentence Pattern