Wa and Ga :Wa and Ga Prepared by Makkii Special Thanks to Rui Sakurai ? ? How do they work?


Wa and Ga :Wa and Ga Both of Wa and Ga are particles (??)that appear after subjects in Japanese Language. One of the functions that they play is to mark information or things that the speaker assumes that the listener knows or does not know. Their function is similar to that of English Articles: a/an/the.


Let’s have an example :Let’s have an example Let’s say you want to tell your Japanese friend that you asked your Japanese teacher a lot of questions after the end of Japanese class, but he couldn’t answer all of them, because another teacher came in as he was trying to answer you.


This is how you should say it. :This is how you should say it. (Kanji)?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????,?????????????????????????? (Romanized Japanese)Nihongo no jugyou ga owatta ato, sensei ni shitsumon o takusan shimashita. Sensei wa watashi no shitsumon ni kotaeyou to shimashita keredo, suugaku no sensei ga kurasu ni haitte kita node, nihongo no sensei wa “ashita setsumei shimasu” to itte kuremashita.


This is how you should say it. :This is how you should say it. (Kanji)?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????,?????????????????????????? (English)After the end of Japanese class, I asked my Japanese teacher a lot of questions. My teacher tried to answer them, but the Math teacher came into the class, so my Japanese teacher said that he would explain to me on the next day.


How does your Japanese friend interpret what you said? :How does your Japanese friend interpret what you said?


Let’s watch your friend’s brain as you tell him your story. :Let’s watch your friend’s brain as you tell him your story. Nihongo no jugyou ga owatta ato, sensei ni shitsumon o takusan shimashita. When you say “sensei” for the first time, your Japanese friend creates an image of Japanese teacher in his head.


Slide 8:Sensei wa watashi no shitsumon ni kotaeyou to shimashita keredo Sensei wa = When you say “wa”, after “Sensei”, your Japanese friend equates it with the image of Japanese teacher he has just imagined. “Wa” tells your Japanese friend that “sensei” is something you already mentioned, and he knows.


Slide 9:suugaku no sensei ga kurasu ni haitte kita node, Sensei ga When you say “ga” after sensei, your Japanese friend creates an image of another teacher in his head. “Ga” tells your Japanese friend that “sensei” is a new information that he does not know.


Slide 10:It is good to notice that at this point of time, that your Japanese friend has got to know both of the Japanese teacher and the Math teacher. Because of that we should use the particle wa whenever we want to refer to either of them.


Slide 11:nihongo no sensei wa “ashita setsumei shimasu” to itte kuremashita. Sensei wa Your Japanese friend knows both of the Japanese teacher, and the Math Teacher, so you don’t have to use Ga anymore when referring to them.


Now let’s have a Quiz. :Now let’s have a Quiz. Suppose you want to tell your Japanese friend that later on, the Math teacher gave the class a very difficult test. Which particle should we use? Ga or Wa? Sonogo, Suugoku no sensei kurasu ni muzukashii tesuto o shimashita. ? The correct Answer is Wa


Slide 13:Now, Suppose you want to tell your friend that you were supposed to have an English lesson, but the English teacher did not come. Which particle you should use? Wa or Ga? Sonogo, Eigo no jigyou ga aru yotei datta keredo, eigo no sensei konakatta no desu. ? The correct Answer is Ga