⚖️ は vs. が
English often uses stress or context where Japanese chooses a different particle. Start with these common patterns.
Learn
は marks the topic—what you are talking about. が marks the subject. In many basic exchanges, は leads into a comment about a known topic, while が identifies who or what fills a role. That is a useful starting point, not a rule covering every sentence.
私 は 学生 です can answer “What do you do?” with “I’m a student.” 私 が 学生 です can answer “Who is the student?” with “I’m the student.” English stress helps show the difference that the Japanese particle marks here.
は:
topic
が:
subject
私 は 学生 です
I’m a student.
私 が 学生 です
I’m the student.
誰 が 先生 です か
Who is the teacher?
Which should I use?
- はAm I making a comment about an established topic?は is the basic topic pattern.
- がAm I identifying who or what fills the subject role?が can identify that subject.
- がAm I asking who the subject is?Use 誰 + が in this pattern.
When 誰 asks for the subject, use が, and use が in the direct identifying answer. Do not generalize this to “all question words always take が”: earlier questions such as どこ に and 誰 と use the particle needed for their role.
A common sequence introduces something with が and then comments on it with は: 猫 が います。その 猫 は 大きい です。 “There is a cat. That cat is big.” Once introduced, the cat becomes the topic.
Examples
私 は 学生 です。
I’m a student.
誰 が 学生 です か。
Who is a student?
けんさん が 学生 です。
Ken is the student.
猫 が います。その 猫 は 大きい です。
There is a cat. That cat is big.