Yar
11-12-2009, 04:29 AM
Okay I was going to ask my sensei about this today but he has influenza, and this is really bugging me. :p
Here is how I understand it.
は is not used to mark a subject.** は is used to draw attention to the fact that the word that precedes it with the predicate in the sentence. It has a sense of "at least". So if you said "これはてがみです。" It's like saying "This, at least, is a letter." It has a sense of like There may be other objects in the world that are letters, but I'm not really concerned about those right now.
**I've also seen は used with objects, like ケーキはたべます。 In this sense I understand it to be like I'm eating cake, but what I am eating is not limited to cake.
Oh, and I gather that は can't be used with unfamiliar topics. Which is why you can't say だれはきますか。
が seems to be used to draw attention and emphasis to the subject of the sentence rather than the actual occurrence. So 山本さんがきませんよ。 would be like saying, Yamamoto isn't coming. It would be like saying that Yamamoto is the one who isn't coming, focusing more on Yamamoto.
が is used with question words to show emphasis since you can't use は.
を must be similar to が, but used for objects rather than "subjects". (I'm hesitant to say subjects.) It is for emphasis on the object. Back to the earlier example ケーキはたべます。 I'm saying that I'm eating cake, but I'm not commenting on the fact that I may eat other things as well. ケーキをたべます。 -- I am eating the cake [specifically].
Yey for Japanese grammar. Okay, fix my errors.
Here is how I understand it.
は is not used to mark a subject.** は is used to draw attention to the fact that the word that precedes it with the predicate in the sentence. It has a sense of "at least". So if you said "これはてがみです。" It's like saying "This, at least, is a letter." It has a sense of like There may be other objects in the world that are letters, but I'm not really concerned about those right now.
**I've also seen は used with objects, like ケーキはたべます。 In this sense I understand it to be like I'm eating cake, but what I am eating is not limited to cake.
Oh, and I gather that は can't be used with unfamiliar topics. Which is why you can't say だれはきますか。
が seems to be used to draw attention and emphasis to the subject of the sentence rather than the actual occurrence. So 山本さんがきませんよ。 would be like saying, Yamamoto isn't coming. It would be like saying that Yamamoto is the one who isn't coming, focusing more on Yamamoto.
が is used with question words to show emphasis since you can't use は.
を must be similar to が, but used for objects rather than "subjects". (I'm hesitant to say subjects.) It is for emphasis on the object. Back to the earlier example ケーキはたべます。 I'm saying that I'm eating cake, but I'm not commenting on the fact that I may eat other things as well. ケーキをたべます。 -- I am eating the cake [specifically].
Yey for Japanese grammar. Okay, fix my errors.