Gábor's blog

some time ago, i wrote about using WA/GA, and how an article helped me to understand it.

after reading some more about the subject, it seems that it’s a bit more complicated.

now, i am really, really not that good in japanese, so the following is only how i understood the rules. they might be completely wrong. the examples were taken from sci.lang.japan

generally it seems that you do

• [interesting] GA [something]
• [something] WA [interesting]

so, for example, in the following dialogue:

>A: What is Bob? >B: Bob is an idiot.

the second line is translated using WA:

>B: Bobu WA baka desu.

but in this dialogue:

>A: Who is an idiot? >B: Bob is an idiot.

GA is used:

>B: Bobu GA baka desu

for this reason, when there is a longer conversation, it’s usually started with GA, and continued with WA.

some more examples:

>Inu ga heya ni haitte kimashita. >Inu wa boku no gohan o tabete shimaimashita.

>A: Hora, asoko mite. Tanaka-san ga iru. Kare wa eigo no sensei janaika? >B: Tanakasan wa gakusei-da. Tainakasan ga sensei da.

to learn more, search for “WA GA” on the sci.lang.japan group

i have been learning japanese for 2-3 years (with bigger/smaller breaks), and the mistery of when to use WA and when GA, and what’s the difference between them kept eluding me. i’ve read a lot of examples, and i had a vague feeling about what it should mean and how it should work, but never had a clear understanding of it.

until today, when i have read part 2 of darkmirage’s japanese lessons.

generally darkmirage’s japanese lessons are very unique, because he approaches the japanese language from an anime-centric point of view. his example sentences and explanations all use terms that are known to an anime fan. so it’s always interesting to read his lessons, even if you already know the topic the lesson is about.

now back to WA/GA.

these 2 dialogues from the mentioned blog post made it clear for me:

> Person A: “tama-nee wa kami ga akakute nagai desu” (Tama-nee has red long hair) > Person B: “ashi ga nagai desu” (Her legs are long) > Me: “mune ga ookii desu!” (Her……nevermind)

> Person A: “doraemon wa ashi ga hikui desu” (Doraemon’s legs are short) > Person B: “konomi-chan mo hikui desu” (Konomi-chan’s legs are short too) > Me: “tama-nee wa nagai desu” (Tama-nee’s legs are long)

make sure to read the whole article, and also the other lessons

EDIT: it seems this topic is a lot more complicated