No, Shoot Him!
“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” - William James
So, imagine this.
It’s rainy. You’re on the top of a sky scraper, pointing a shaky gun at two identical versions of your brother (or friend, or whoever). One of them, you know, is a murderous shape shifting alien that doesn’t want to get killed. You have to make the decision quick and pull the trigger, but both are trying to make cases as to why they’re the real version. Who will you shoot? “No, kill him! I’m the real one.” “What? No way, I’m the real version, shoot him!”
Bang!
We’ve all been in this situation before, right?
Anyways, it doesn’t really matter to me which one you choose, what does matter is that you remember this little story so we can use it to help you tell apart は and が. Now, let’s pretend that the alien replicated me (Koichi) and you had to choose which one to kill. The things me and the alien would say are:
“I’m Koichi.”
“No I’m Koichi. (shoot him!)”
These two sentences are going to show you the difference between は and が. Corny, right? Hopefully very effective as well. Let’s take a look at the sentence “I am Koichi” and translate them into Japanese. You should know the は version, at least.
わたし は こういち です。 I am Koichi.
わたし が こういち です。 I am Koichi.
Uh oh, the translations are the same. So, what’s the difference between these two sentences, then? The first thing to remember is that は emphasizes what comes after it, and が emphasizes what comes before it. The “important” part of the sentence (i.e. the part that has the emphasis) is highlighted in green.
わたし は こういち です。 I am Koichi.
わたし が こういち です。 I am Koichi.
The difference between the two is pretty subtle. In the first one (the one that uses は) the word “Koichi” is emphasized. The important part of this sentence is the name Koichi. In the second one (the one that uses が) the word “I” is emphasized. The important part of this sentence is the word “I.”
So what does this exactly mean? What does it mean when something is “emphasized” or important? I’m glad you asked. Let’s take a look at a few different stories to clarify:
Introducing Yourself
You’re meeting new people and want to introduce yourself. You already know how to say this, in fact:
わたし は <name> です
I am <name>.
The important part of this sentence (i.e. the part that is emphasized) is what? That’s right, the part that comes after the は. So, the important part of this sentence is your name. They know that you are you, but they don’t know who you are. So, in this case, you’re telling people what your name is, therefore you’re using は. If this doesn’t make 100% sense yet, keep reading. I think the next one will help clear things up.
Calling Your Name Out On The Intercom
Now let’s say you’re in a crowded auditorium, and somebody comes on the loudspeaker. They say: “If your name is Koichi, and you’ve been separated from your mother, please come to the stage now.” When you go up to the stage to say that you’re Koichi, you might say:
わたし が こういち です
I am Koichi
So what’s the difference in this sentence? In this one, you’re emphasizing the わたし part. Why? Because that’s the most important part. You are the Koichi out of all the other possible Koichis in the room. They’re trying to find someone named Koichi… the Koichi part is established. But, they don’t know who the Koichi is, so by using が you’re putting importance on the “I” portion of the sentence.
Better Looking Than You Thought
Now let’s say you’ve been doing some online dating, and you’re about to meet “Steve,” who you chatted with on the website but you’ve never seen his picture before. A handsome man comes up to you (or lady, if you like) and introduces himself. He says:
わたし は スティーブ です
I am Steve
You’re super surprised, though. You never expected him to be so dashing… so handsome! You’re so surprised you ask him:
あなた が スティーブさん ですか？？！！
YOU are Steve??!!
You know you’re meeting Steve, and you know he’s Steve, but you’re surprised that he is Steve (because he’s so good looking, obviously). So, in this case you could use the が particle, because the emphasis is on the you part of the sentence.
So always remember:
は emphasizes what comes after it.
が emphasizes what comes before it.
Another way to describe it (memorize this one too):
は talks about something.
が identifies something.
Now, we’re going to practice this more as we go along (these are used all the time, so you’ll have plenty of it), but the most important thing is that you come away with what these two particles do (and you understand how they work). Most people go years without really understanding how these particles work, and how they differ. You, on the other hand, hopefully have come away with years of understanding in a short period of time. Don’t worry, we’ll keep going over it, too, so it’s only going to get easier.