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Hello, my name is Daniel and this is my first time using this forum! So, I’m about to start season 4, so I’m pretty new at this (been only at this a month). One thing I don’t understand, is, in this case in particular, why you would use は instead of が. Example 1: あめ が きらい じゃありません.I don’t hate the rain. I get this. But when I look at this: はる は すき じゃありません。I don’t hate spring, I get lost. Why is it は and not が？ Any help would be greatly appreciated! ありがと！
So, the first thing is that the second sentence, はる は すき じゃありません, actually means “I don’t like spring”.
To actually answer your question, が emphasises the word that comes before, は emphasises what comes after. If you mixed the two around, it would still (in most cases, anyway) be a valid sentence, and you’d be understood. But it’s a bit of a different feeling, which is a pretty big deal in Japanese. You’ll get used to it.
It’s like saying “I *hate* Catcher in the Rye” – you aren’t emphasising Catcher in the Rye, the important thing you’re communicating is that you hate it.
But if you were listing a books you hate, you’d say “I hate *Catcher in the Rye*” because we already know you’re talking about things you hate.There aren’t really direct English translations for it, kind of like with -ね and -よ, which you’ll discover soon if you haven’t yet.
Was that helpful in any way? Did I make sense?
Also, Welcome aboard, Daniel!
I haz a blog http://maninjapanchannel.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLQzB-1u-dgSo if it were Spring and I was walking outside and it started to rain, I would use が because the topic of spring hadn’t been brought up previously. But if we were talking about Spring already, then I would use は because spring has already been identified, it’s just my impression of it that hasn’t been identified?
Yep, pretty much :)
As you get more experience with real-world conversations you’ll start to get a better feel for it.
I haz a blog http://maninjapanchannel.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLQzB-1u-dgHi Daniel! Which page of which season were those examples from?
Not from the desk of Eihiko. Eihiko's boss took his desk away from him.As I learned it は is used to emphasize whatever comes after は,
i.e. In the sentence「はる は すき じゃありません。」you’re using は to emphasize that you don’t like はる、spring,
and が is used to emphasize things that come before が,
i.e.「あめ が きらい じゃありません」you’re using が to emphasize that the thing you dislike is あめ、 rain.
I’ve also learned that は doesn’t really emphasize but is more neutral, although in some circumstances, if you voice it properly (Certain tones, pauses, etc.), は can emphasize things after it, but you’ll mostly use it seen neutrally. Justin also pretty much nailed it with the fact that は and が also introduce subjects to ongoing conversations.
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This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by
tscolin.
@Eihiko: Season 3(The things that you hate), Practice page is where I got them from.
@tscolin and Justin: Alright that makes a lot more sense! I guess I agree that I need more real life conversations to actual have a practical sense of this knowledge, but the concept has become a lot less confusing! Thanks!
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This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by
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