は vs が

N5–N4 · 84 practice questions

は makes a word the topic, and what follows says something about it. が marks the subject: it stresses “it is this one”, or brings in something new.

At a glance

	は	が
Job	Sets the topic	Marks the subject
Answers	「リンさんは？」 What about her?	「誰が？」 Who?
Example	私はリンです。	誰がリンですか。

Use が here

机の上に本があります。Existence sentences: the thing that exists takes が (also in 「教室に学生がいます」). There is a book on the desk.

雨が降っています。The subject of natural phenomena and intransitive verbs. It's raining.

冷たい水がほしいです。What you want, like or are good at: 「ほしい」「好き」「じょうず」「へた」. I want cold water.

雨が強かったら、駅の中に集まりましょう。Inside clauses like 「〜たら」 and 「〜間に」 the clause's own subject takes が. If the rain is heavy, let's meet inside the station.

Use は here

田中さんは先生です。Introducing who someone is: 「AはBです」. Mr. Tanaka is a teacher.

ミカさんは料理がじょうずです。The person takes は, the skill takes が: 「AはBがじょうずです」. Mika is good at cooking.

今日は買い物に行かないつもりです。「今日は」 often goes with a negative: “today at least, no”. I don't plan to go shopping today.

Two lines to remember

Saying “as for it”, use は; saying “it is this one” or “there is one”, use が. The thing in an existence sentence and the object of ほしい・好き・じょうず always take が.

Particles quiz