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I just went through this page: http://www.textfugu.com/season-3/hate/5-7/
In the first set of examples, the question uses が to identify what is being asked, and the response uses は because the subject is already established and the liking is emphasized:
Q: いぬ が すき ですか？
A: はい、いぬ は すき です。I get that. (At least I think I do. ^_-)
But further down in the “Now you try” section are questions that use は, and the responses use が:
Q: わたしのくるま は すきですか？
A: いいえ、あなたのくるま が きらいですWhy is it the opposite? Is it because the asker is talking about his/her own possession, therefore he/she is emphasizing the question of you liking it? Or is it because we’re assuming the subject was previously identified earlier in the conversation?
As for the responder using が, I’m just lost. Since the subject of like/hate was already identified in the question (and it’s not being changed) I don’t understand why が is used here. And things were seeming so clear up to that point!
Sorry if this information comes up in a later page that I haven’t reached yet — just point the way if it does. Thank you!
Q: わたしのくるま は すきですか？
A: いいえ、あなたのくるま が きらいです
I think が is used because the subject has not been identified in the question. If you are going to say you like something or dislike something then you need to specify it with が．
Look at all the sentences about liking or disliking things, the thing that is liked or disliked is always specified with が, because you are saying something (I hate) about something(your car) you always specify what that thing is.
So when you are being specific about something you should specify with が think of it focusing your words to be specific to that thing. It’s important to do this in Japanese as often the context is implied, in some cases you want to be very clear about what is being said, so you specify with が. But if the thing has already been specified there is no need to do so again.
Thanks for the reply, but that still doesn’t completely clarify it for me (what can I say, I’m dense).
わたしのくるま seems to be the subject, and it definitely seems like it is being identified in the question… And again we have a previous question, いぬ が すき ですか, using が with no problem.
Why would the questions use a different particle when they are actually asking the exact same thing, “do you like X” (albeit about two different types of objects)? I don’t think it has anything to do with animate v. inanimate, because we also have みず が すきですか. Doesn’t seem to be possessiveness either, since there’s also あれ は きらいですか.
Could it simply be a matter of the asker choosing to emphasize the “do you like” (or hate) part over the “my car” (or “that over there”) part? Would the difference be:
(は question) “As for my car, DO YOU LIKE IT”
(が question) “Do you like MY CAR (maybe we were talking about someone else’s car before)”?And for the response, again, I just do not get the が. We know WHAT we’re talking about already (“my car”, “that over there”). No need to specify it again, just like in はい、いぬ は すき です。 Unless it is just a requirement that you must respond with the “opposite” particle, memorize it and move on?
Thanks again!
Maybe try thinking of the が as a politeness in this example. The question asker doesn’t mark his car as the subject, because two particles next together is just crazy. It is implied however, the answerer therefore marks it as the subject when they respond, out of politeness. Thus creating a grammatically correct sentence.
Grammatically you can’t say something about something, unless the something has been defined. So when you reply you define the something with the が particle, and once you have defined the something you can then say something about it.
Now that is grammatically, I’m sure you could get away with not using が or using は, or neither. What you’re learning is the grammatically correct way to speak, but it is important because in some situations the choice of particle will alter the meaning, and Japanese can be surprisingly subtle.
If it makes you feel better everyone is confused about が vs は generally people work it out as they go along and see more examples and they get the hang of it. The examples you are seeing are very artificial, so the real use may not be clear. So reading real Japanese and speaking/listening would be useful, but you’re probably not good enough for that yet. So for now take it as something to keep an eye on and revisit as you continue working through the chapters.
Thanks. I guess I’ll move on and just try to “figure it out as I go.” I’ve been TRYING to learn Japanese for YEARS and have never, ever understood this. Just when I think I do, something like this comes up and I’m lost again. :cry:
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