When are you supposed to use は or が

Genius · Jul 11, 2004, 13:43

this question has plagued me forever or at least for the past few days. how do you defrentiate when you are supposed to use "ha" or "ga"? i learned the "ha" but i didn't really cover the "ga". i know in japan people there seem to use ga quite a bit so im guessing it would be a pretty important thing to learn. im reading this tutorial on glenn's profile, the teach yourself japanese and it says nomitive marker, non-topic=ga; topic=ha.

when i was in japan and i smiled at some girls i got a sugoi ne. ha ga shiroi. but if you follow what it says above aren't my teeth the topic so shouldn't it be ha ha shiroi? althogh that sounds funny wouldn't that also be correct?

do japanese brush their teeth regularly?

i noticed the quite a few of them had bad oral hygiene. is dentistry still in its beggining stages? i did notice some girls who had nice smile because they had straight, white teeth.

Dan B · Jul 11, 2004, 14:20

Genius,

The post below should help answer your question about は and が . Someone brought this up just a few days ago. Here you go:

http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9661

Regards,

Dan

Genius · Jul 11, 2004, 18:23

*bangs head on desk*

much better. now the inside of my head doesn't hurt anymore.

is there anybody out there who can speak proper japanese like a person from japan. (applies to people who's first language was english) i just want to know if it's possible to learn how to speak correctly.

my head hurts again

*bang**bang**bang**bang*

much better

Elizabeth · Jul 11, 2004, 22:17

Originally Posted by Genius

*bangs head on desk*

much better. now the inside of my head doesn't hurt anymore. is there anybody out there who can speak proper japanese like a person from japan. (applies to people who's first language was english) i just want to know if it's possible to learn how to speak correctly.

my head hurts again

*bang**bang**bang**bang* much better

Of course we have Japanese helpers out there somewhere. Was there nothing from them in the thread Dan put up to actually answer your question ?

You can also work to improve your chances of being noticed by actually posting in the Learning Japanese forum as opposed to this nominally one set aside for Japanese Language only messages.

Although even I can tell that 'Ha ga (subject, not topic marker) sugoi' is correct for referring to your conversation partner's teeth. 'Ha wa sugoi/shiroi' ne would read more like 'Teeth (in general) are awesome/white' aren't they ?

vinsento · Jul 12, 2004, 17:54

Hi all, I'm new to Jref.

To the above posters question here is a great link I found, enjoy:

http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/topicfocus.html

hope it helps.

mdchachi · Jul 13, 2004, 11:35

It's possible but difficult to lose your accent.

Jul 11, 2004, 13:43	#1
Genius Regular Member Join Date: Jun 20, 2004 Posts: 52	When are you supposed to use は or が this question has plagued me forever or at least for the past few days. how do you defrentiate when you are supposed to use "ha" or "ga"? i learned the "ha" but i didn't really cover the "ga". i know in japan people there seem to use ga quite a bit so im guessing it would be a pretty important thing to learn. im reading this tutorial on glenn's profile, the teach yourself japanese and it says nomitive marker, non-topic=ga; topic=ha. when i was in japan and i smiled at some girls i got a sugoi ne. ha ga shiroi. but if you follow what it says above aren't my teeth the topic so shouldn't it be ha ha shiroi? althogh that sounds funny wouldn't that also be correct? do japanese brush their teeth regularly? i noticed the quite a few of them had bad oral hygiene. is dentistry still in its beggining stages? i did notice some girls who had nice smile because they had straight, white teeth.

Jul 11, 2004, 14:20	#2
Dan B "Follow your bliss." Join Date: Jun 1, 2004 Location: Woodbridge, VA Posts: 86	Genius, The post below should help answer your question about は and が . Someone brought this up just a few days ago. Here you go: http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9661 Regards, Dan __________________ The credit for all Kana--and the rare Kanji--that I write here goes to member David Hallgren and his JavaScript Kana Editor. (Of course, any errors made are my own...) どうも　ありがとう　ございます、デイビッドさん!

Jul 11, 2004, 22:17	#4
Elizabeth Regular Member Join Date: Apr 22, 2003 Location: アメリカ Posts: 8,508	Originally Posted by Genius bangs head on desk much better. now the inside of my head doesn't hurt anymore. is there anybody out there who can speak proper japanese like a person from japan. (applies to people who's first language was english) i just want to know if it's possible to learn how to speak correctly. my head hurts again bangbangbangbang much better Of course we have Japanese helpers out there somewhere. Was there nothing from them in the thread Dan put up to actually answer your question ? You can also work to improve your chances of being noticed by actually posting in the Learning Japanese forum as opposed to this nominally one set aside for Japanese Language only messages. Although even I can tell that 'Ha ga (subject, not topic marker) sugoi' is correct for referring to your conversation partner's teeth. 'Ha wa sugoi/shiroi' ne would read more like 'Teeth (in general) are awesome/white' aren't they ? __________________ たとえ辛くても、永遠に続く苦しみなどないでしょう。

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Jul 11, 2004, 18:23	#3
Genius Regular Member Join Date: Jun 20, 2004 Posts: 52	bangs head on desk much better. now the inside of my head doesn't hurt anymore. is there anybody out there who can speak proper japanese like a person from japan. (applies to people who's first language was english) i just want to know if it's possible to learn how to speak correctly. my head hurts again bangbangbangbang much better

Jul 12, 2004, 17:54	#5
vinsento just another salarii man Join Date: Jul 12, 2004 Location: Hawaii Posts: 14	Hi all, I'm new to Jref. To the above posters question here is a great link I found, enjoy: http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/topicfocus.html hope it helps.

Jul 13, 2004, 11:35	#6
mdchachi Taicho Join Date: Mar 6, 2003 Location: USA (Detroit area) Posts: 687	It's possible but difficult to lose your accent.