Day Five: Ga

Don’t Get it Twisted

Ga/が and wa/は often get confused and mixed up, which is why we are bringing it up right away. That way, over the next 25 days (or however long you are going spend on the 30 day challenge) you can get used to the difference between the two. The fact is, the は Topic Marker and が the Subject Marker do two different, yet similar, jobs.

が (ga) indicates that the word before が is the subject of です. The subject is – the person or thing that does the action, is in the state, or instigates the feeling expressed in the predicate. The difference is found in the usage, i.e. where it is used in the sentence and when it is proper to use it. 

Here are some other minor differences: 

が (unlike は) can be used in ‘embedded sentences’. **an embedded sentence is similar to a non-restrictive clause in English** 

が can be used behind “WH” question words where は cannot. (“Who?” “What?” “When?” “Where?” “Why?” and “How?”) 

が can used in subjective clauses. Meaning that they can be used to re-address the topic from a previous sentence. But not to introduce a new topic. は is used to introduce a new topic/subject. 

It’s important to note that some verbs and adjectives require が. Verbs and adjectives that express a non-volitional or uncontrollable state in Japanese require が in most cases. 

In it’s most simple state, が is used to mark what we are talking about when it isn’t being introduced for the first time.