Including は and が
“Warriors do not win victories by beating their heads against walls, but by overtaking the walls. Warriors jump over walls; they don’t demolish them.” - Carlos Castaneda
So let’s take what we learned before with は and が. Just as a reminder (and a little test), make sure you know what は and が do, and know how they differ. Can you answer these questions?
は emphasizes what comes after it. i.e. it talks about something.
が emphasizes what comes before it. i.e. it identifies something.
Really important you know the difference between these two particles before moving on, as we’ll be using both here right now along with すき.
Now, let’s take a look at two different patterns. They’re both very similar, but one uses は and one uses が.
________ が すき です
I like _______.
________は すき です
I like _______.
You’ll notice that they both have the same meanings, though the emphasis is slightly different. The first one (_____ が すき です) is the more common of the two patterns. Because it’s using the が particle, it’s identifying what comes before it, i.e. the blank spot. You’re identifying what you like. The second one (_____は すき です) is using the は particle. You won’t see this one quite as much, but it’s still common. It’s talking about what comes before the は. You’re saying “As for ______, I like it.” The important part of this phrase is “I like it” part, because before you said that, apparently nobody was sure whether or not you liked the ______ (which has already been identified – if it hadn’t been identified, you’d be using the が particle, probably).
One more thing to note is that we’re assuming the “I” in these sentences. You’ll notice that there’s no “わたしは” in there (though there could be, if you wanted to). Via context, that part of the sentence is already assumed, so you don’t have to add it in there all the time, unless it’s ambiguous who you’re talking about (when you’re talking about yourself). For these, it’s pretty obvious you’re talking about your own likes, so we’ll leave off the わたしは and just pretend like they’re there, even though they aren’t. It’ll make your Japanese sound a little more natural.