The Subject Marker が

Last episode you learned は marks the topic. Now meet its partner: が marks the subject — new information, what exists, or what does the action.

What You'll Learn#

New vocabulary: 猫 (cat), 好き (like), いる/います (exist - living things), ある/あります (exist - non-living things), 誰 (who), 水 (water)

Lesson Transcript#

Review#

Quick review of は from episode 6.

が for Existence#

When something exists, it gets が:

There is a cat:

猫がいます。 — A cat exists (living thing → います).

There's a TV in the living room:

が for Likes#

The thing you like gets が:

猫が好きです。 — I like cats. (The topic "I" is dropped because it's obvious.)

が for Answering "Who/What"#

When answering who or what, the answer gets が:

誰が来ましたか。 — Who came?

は vs が Summary#

| は (topic) | が (subject) | |-----------|-------------| | Known information | New information | | "As for X..." | "X is the one that..." | | 猫は可愛いです (The cat is cute) | 猫がいます (There IS a cat) |

Related Grammar#

• 〜です (is/am/are) — Deep dive into the copula pattern