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I’m struggling with the は vs が as I seem to have a contradictory explanation from my Japanese teacher at University and from TextFugu.
Season 3.3 says:
は emphasizes what comes after it.
わたし は こういち です。 I am Koichi.
が emphasizes what comes before it.
わたし が こういち です。 I am Koichi.My Japanese class has the following example:
時間があっても、この本は よみません。
Even if I have time, I will not read this book.Here my teacher says は is used (as opposed to が or を) because it is being used to emphasise the word before it 本 and say that you won’t read THIS book (but you might read another book).
Can anyone explain this seeming contradiction?
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This topic was modified 8 years ago by
は also acts as contrastive marker, contrasting the marked element with something else – either implicit or explicit. Note that in the sentence you’ve given, この本 is the object of the verb, so it’ll never be が.
Thanks I didn’t realise this was a possible use of は.
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This topic was modified 8 years ago by
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