I study japanese for over 5 years, and I've never seen this topic being covered so clearly and thoroughly as this video. I'm amazed at this lesson. It is apparent that a lot of hard work was put into this the making of this video, and for that I thank you.
@@rbk9582 By the time I commented, I already had an understanding of は/が, but I just never had found a resource that goes as in depth as this video. Lots of textbooks and online resources I had contact with had poor, non-exhaustive, explanations, and instead just focused on teaching by example. As for my JLPT level, I ended up stopping with my studies before I reached N2. Maybe I'll go back to studying it.
This was the best explanation I've seen! So much more nuanced than I thought. Can you explain when you'd use が at the end of a sentence after です, as in the show title "坂本ですが"?
@@ShakeTheBox が after です is kind of different - it takes on a meaning like けど。 but in my opinion, i think ですが sounds higher up the politeness scale than ですけど
6:20 The subtitle should have been "This is YOUR umbrella". SUMIMASEN! P.S. These videos take a long time to create/edit. Please consider supporting me on Patreon ( www.patreon.com/japaneseammo ) or Kofi ( ko-fi.com/japaneseammo ) if you enjoyed this video! Thank you
Sumiasen Misa-san, i think it would be more helpful if your video also include in roman characters every japanese word/phrase you make in the video , that would have been perfect.. beginners like me who cant read japanese scripts need roman characters in order to pronounce the invidual words accurately. Also many us beginners want to first focus on speaking Japanese, before moving onto reading Japanese scripts.. i love the way you explain and teach though.
Devia Tor I would stay away from using Romaji because it really hinders your progress or did with me at least. I assume that’s why she doesn’t use it. Just learn hiragana and katakana
Carnivorous Goat I am not in Japan nor I have a plan to live or work there. So i dont really feel the necessity to learn Japanese scripts. But i do have several japanese within my professional circle..so i want to learn spoken Japanese to a certain extent.. i just think it is better if this video is meant for every level not just for those who can read Japanese.
I feel like Misa is slowly brainwashing me to think that Pikachu is cuter than he actually is. Or has he been that way all along? Regardless, god-tier video as usual...I think I'll have to give this one a couple more watches.
Hey guys, I took notes on the whole video in case anybody wants it: -When you want to put emphasis on asking something before GA particle That is YOUR umbrella /kore ga misa no kasa desu John is the teacher? Misa is the teacher! /Iie, Misa ga sensei desu. -When asking who did something -When saying dare at the beginning, it has to be dare ga. Who broke the window? /Tom desu -If you want to emphasize that Tom did it then you say Tom ga /Tom ga mado wo warimashita Or if you did it... /Watashi ga mado wo warimashita -If you just casually say it without needing to emphasize it: When someone asked what u did today I broke the window today! /Watashi wa mado o warimashita Saying watashiwa is redundant/annoying so... /Mado o warimashita Who invented the battery? /Dare ga denji o hatsumei shimashitaka or As for battery, who invented it? /Denji wa dare ga hatsumei shimashitaka I like something /Something ga suki desu -The sentence above is actually omitting the subject & below is the actual sentence /Watashi wa something ga suki desu -So, if you say someone other than yourself hates/likes something then you'll need must include the wa part to specify as for THAT they do/do not like. If you don't include them + wa then it sounds like you're saying YOU yourself like something. Japanese people do/don't like something. /Nihonjin wa something ga suki/kirai desu. I like japan /Nihon WA suki desu. -Using WA above sounds like you japan, but not something else. Therefore, we must emphasize it with GA. -Wa particle usually puts emphasis on the word after the wa particle -If you want to say that you like something & imply that you don't like something else: I like manga (but not anime) /manga wa suki desu I don't like anime /Anime wa suki janai desu You're good at japanese /Nihongo ga jyouzu desu ne You're good at english /Eigo ga jyouzu desu ne If you use WA it says you're good at ____ but not anything/something else.. You're good at singing /Uta wa jyouzu desu ne -If you use WA it sounds like you're saying you're good at singing but not at something else You're good at singing /Koe ga jyouzu desune -This is the correct way using GA I'm not good at singing /Uta ga heta desu If someone says: I'm not good at singing /Uta wa heta (desu) -Sounds they're saying they're good at other stuff but their singing is terrible. -For wakaru -You use GA particle to say you understand something /Something GA wakaru(wakarimasu) -Don't use wo (common mistake) Correct- I understand japanese /Nihongo ga wakarimasu I understand a little english /Eigo ga chotto warkimasu Incorrect- I understand english /Nihongo wa wakarimasu Makes it sound like you're comparing to something else like i'm good at Japanese... but not Korean/something else -This GA particle is also used for describing someone's appearance Misa has brown eyes /Misa wa me GA chairoi desu Misa has brown hair /Misa wa kami GA chairoi desu -Doesn't have to be about color. It can be any description John has a big nose /John wa hana ga ookii desu Akane has beautiful eyes /Akane wa me ga kirei desu You have beautiful eyes /Me ga kirei desu ne You have a beautiful smile /Eigao (smile) ga suteki (lovely) desu ne -If you use wa it sounds like you're comparing the person's smile to something else. Sounds like their other stuff is ugly, contrasting to the adjective you use Japan's capital is tokyo /Nihon wa tokyo ga shato desu -When talking about a sense of feeling then you also use GA particle Something hurts /Blah blah ga itai My head hurts /Atama ga itai My arm hurts /Ude ga itai I have a headache, but not a sore throat: /Atama wa itai kedo nodo (throat) wa itakunai. -Both above are typed right, they're both WA My hands are cold(describing a sense in animate so use GA) /Te ga tsumetai My face is hot /Kao ga atsui If something is cold (inanimate so we use wa) /Something wa tsumetai If you're hungry /Onaka ga suita I'm thirsty /Nodo ga kawaita -When subject is not a person but a object (nonliving) -You would use a ga particle w/ a verb Did you have breakfast? /Sara wa asagohan o tabeta? I woke up at 7 /Watashi no shichiji (7 o clock) ni okimashita Where did kate go? She went shopping /Kato wa kaimono ni ikimashita. When object is the subject then a tire went flat... /Tire ga pankushita (to be punctured). -Not really trying to emphasize but b/c there is an animate object w/ a verb -When using action verb aside from desu and the subject is an object/inanimate Ex. to break/to go flat/ to eat / to wake up / to hit the tire went flat the window broke the toilet doesn't flush -We would use GA for all above scenarios Again, we use ga particle w/ verbs /Tire wa pankusuru The flower had withered /Hana ga kareta (kareru verb for wither). My voice is hoarse /Koe ga kareta It is raining /Ame ga furu It's snowing /Yuki ga furu It's (continuously) snowing right now /Yuki ga futeru (present continuous form) -If you say yuki WA futeru then it sounds like it's not snowing but it's raining or something else It takes time /Jikan ga kakaru It takes an hour /Ichijikan kakaru -If it's a specific length of time you can omit the ga It takes an hour to get to new york /New York made ichijikan kakaru The toilet won't flush /Toire ga nagaranai My finger broke /Yubi ga oreta -When we tell something new or it's on the news then we use GA News may not be emphasizing something but it's introducing something new. It doesn't have to be something important at all, just small is fine. It could be happy or sad news. For example... Tanaka san fell or my baby said mama for the first time. The cat just farted! /Neka ga onarashita! -If I want to talk about some new about myself I went to london -We don't really want to say watashi ga... we would just say: london ni ikimashita / itta -Usually about someone or something else (inanimate) we would use ga particle. You could say something as a statement like this below with WA... however, if you want someone to be excited then you would use GA because it's big news! Nancy got pregnant... /Nancy wa ninshinshita... Nancy got pregnant!!! /Nancy ga ninshinshita!!! Summary on when to use GA: -Emphasis on the word before the ga (WHO did~) -"Non-living thing" is the subject -News -Appearance -Sense -With words like jouzu/heta/suki/kirai/wakaru Summary on when to use WA: -The FOCUS/What the seaker wnats to tell is after the WA -Change of the topic -What about~? or How about you? -Shows contrast with words like jouzu/heta/suki/kirai/wakaru
Misa Sensei , please don’t ever stop! You are blessing for people like me who can’t access these over priced watered down Japanese lessons . You are amazing !❤
no idea why i saw so many examples using 'John' and John only, also Tom, i suppose its more easy for japanese reference for its only pronunciation which also matches with japanese tongue perfectly??? anyway, idk
This is the single BEST basic explanation of wa vs ga on the entire internet. You have saved me from a lot of confusion. English is a stress-timed language, we DO have wa and ga, it consists of the verbal emphasis we put on certain words in a sentence to subtly change the sentence's meaning. You can only explain it verbally to an English speaker, and this is a massive help.
So wa is to identify something in a group of things, but ga is to identify something by itself. Wa: X is Y (and Z is not Y) Ga: X is Y. E.g. I am John (my classmates aren't John). vs. I am John. Brilliant. Thank you Misa-sensei!
PERSONAL TIMESTAMP 2:30 Emphasis of WA 3:45 Emphasis of GA 16:23 GA Used for likes and dislikes 18:20 WA for contrast when used with likes and dislikes 19:55 GA used for adjectives Jouzu and heta 21:39 GA for verb wakaru 22:40 GA used to describe the appearance of a part of someone 25:30 GA used for describing a place's something, etc 27:08 GA used for senses 29:10 GA for non-living objects (Intransitive verbs kana?) 33:50 GA used for news
The section around 20:00 makes a lot more sense to me now after I watched another vid. The other vid was talking about how "wa" vs "ga" can feel like "the" vs "a" in english. So if you're saying "uta wa jozu" it's like saying "singing is THE thing she's good at" vs "uta ga jozu" = "singing is a thing she's good at"
What Misa is referring to at 30:18 is particle usage for passive versus transitive verbs. It's really useful for identifying a verbs you've never seen before. The classic example is 落とす (おとす) vs 落ちる(おちる) On their own, you can't tell which one is passive and which one is transitive, but if you're studying with sentences, it becomes clear. ボールを落とした (I dropped the ball) ボールが落ちた (The ball fell)
@Larissa Glines "Passive" is *not* the opposite of "transitive". Both your examples are in active voice. The only difference is the first verb is transitive and the second intransitive.
More than transitive and intransitive, I think it's best to think them as other-move (subject acting on someone else) and self-move Cure Dolly did an awesome video on the topic
ありがとうございます!! I started learning Japanese on Duolingo and it doesn't explain things like this, and I've been so confused about when to use these and how to use them properly!
@@saddy2911 you get what you put in. meaning, i do one lesson every day, and i try to never miss a lesson. but duolingo doesn't give you everything, you also have to go to places like this teacher's youtube channel, to get further insight and clarification. that said, duolingo has taught me way more japanese than i ever knew before, and if you want to learn it's a good place to start!
This was so incredibly helpful. In my Japanese class in college, I was taught to use "ga" with objects and "wa" with nouns. There was no other discussion than that and I still felt confused having to remember all the exceptions. Now it makes perfect sense. Thank you!
That's why I love learning with natives, you made me understand in less than 5 minutes whereas I took weeks trying to understand from non-native videos. 私はあなたのビデオが大好きです。
A Japanese lesson on RUclips teaching me about sentence structure is the last place I expected to have American Vandal brought up yet here we are. Really happy to hear that it’s funny to people outside the US too.
Thank you so much! I'm trying to learn Japanese on my own, and having autism makes this even more difficult (I struggle with focus, chances to practice and understanding some parts of text books because of how they're written and laid out). I could understand it well. The visuals helped a lot, as well as the examples.
I love how your videos are devoid of grammatical terminology and put an emphasis on colloquial usage in plain language. It’s much easier to follow along and understand. Your videos are very accessible to beginners. As a Japanese language learner, than you for putting so much thought and effort into your videos.
I’m so lucky that I started learning Japanese for 3 weeks and I found your channel! Each video you made is like a bible for me. It never fails to amaze me. Thank you soooo much!
I've been studying Japanese for three or more years. I never knew the difference between は & が. I was confusing が with を. After watching this video, all my questions about は, が, and を were answered. At first, I didn't like all the examples that made the video 40 minutes long, but all those examples really helped me understand it more. Thank you so much. 本当にありがとう。
Homegirl wasn't lying when she said this was the only video we needed for ha and ga, seriously those articles I find online explain NOTHING. Thank you for being the best teacher ever, Misa-sensei :D
I've been using duolingo and busuu to learn Japanese and I've been really struggling. I found your channel and now I hate myself for spending 64$ on an app that is not teaching me anything. You are awesome! ありがとうございます!
1.やはり、みさ先生(は)さいこう(だな)it's like Re-recognition 2.やはり、みさ先生(が)さいこう it's like only misa is best. I'm Japanese,sorry my English is difficult to understand bro
Four years and a bachelors degree in Japanese and this is the best explanation of は v が I've ever heard. Thank you for helping me finally understand it ありがとうございました!
You're the best teacher ever! Btw your editing was so great in this video ^_^ It would be great if you make a lesson about conditionals in the future. ありがとうございます😊
英語で日本語を教えてる初心者です。もー拝みたいくらいに分かりやすい。大変勉強になりました。 I'm a beginner at teaching Japanese language to English speakers. the way you explain things is just incredibly easy to understand. Amazing lesson. Thank you so much!
I just started learning japanese but I've loved watching anime for a long time. Finally i know why Light Yagami said "Boku 'ga' Kira da" instead of "wa". I love this video! 🙏🏼
The simple explanation is that 'ha' marks topic while 'ga' marks grammatical subject. I really like your explanation of how not to make mistakes with that point though - you give lots of practical examples that are really useful.
Can I give more than one thumb up? Even though it's a long video, you gave many practical and clear examples. I get it now. If I get confused again, I will watch again! In English, it's like "She is good at singing" (が ) versus "Singing, she's good at" (は). P.S. Your Umbreon is so adorable!
BEST lesson I’ve found on the differences between が and は particles You actually explain what does “subject particle” and “object particle” mean Most of the explanations I’ve come across only mention this and say something like: you’ll understand the difference in time
こんな素晴らしいレッスンを見たのは初めてです。「は」と「が」の使い方が分からない人はこれを見れば完璧に使えるようになるでしょう。みささんは先生になろうと思ったことありませんか?英語も上手ですし、日本語の文法の細かいところまで説明できるのできっとなれると思いますよ。これは確かにThe ONLY lesson you need!ですね。
Harry Isa I’ve always heard it explained that へ places more emphasis on the direction, whereas に emphasizes the location itself. I think there is some overlap in where they can be used though
Please, please, please, do more conjugations, like causative form, etc. Since I've run out of your videos in the beginner grammar series, I've been learning from other sources, but nothing really matches your level of explanation and detail. Also, ah, for lack of better phrasing, nuance conjugations? (i.e. expressing gratitude/regret/lack of intent through verbal suffices like ちゃう, くれる, etc). I don't really know the proper name for this sort of thing, but I'm hoping that makes sense. Thank you so much for the videos! Nothing compares.
22:20 Can you also use the particle の to specify what I’m trying to describe about the person? Like; みさ の 目 は 茶色 です Also, in this case, is the use of は correct? Or should I use が? I believe は is correct here but I have my doubts since I’m just starting to learn to form sentences. Also I want to say that this video is great, it seems so simple when you start to learn sentences because you only know “は” but once you get introduced to the particle “が” it gets tricky. I was VERY confused with these two particles, I didn’t know when should I use は or が. Thank you so much!
Yep, pretty sure both are correct, just different emphasis. So for example if someone asked you what color her eyes are (みさの目は何色ですか?) you could emphasize the color with みさの目は茶色です, or if someone asked you what part of misa is brown (weird question maybe but let's roll with it anyway), you could emphasize her eyes with みさの目が茶色です By the way, you should probably put さん after her name, "みささん", or it would be considered rude unless you are good friends or something.
I stopped studying japanese several years ago but i feel more motivated again after playing ghost of Tsushima in Japanese language. And after this video i am even more motivated. I now finally understand it. I might confuse it a few more times but still...thank you so much!!
Raven B it’s kind of scary how easy it is to read hiragana after sometime. Not including romaji kind of makes people have to memorize hiragana and katakana(katakana is harder than hiragana in my opinion)
So if someone asks me what that is and I say: "This is a *fox*" Then I use ha. Kore wa kitsune desu. And if someone says:"This is a fox" and points on a cat and I point on a fox and say:"*This* is a fox" I have to use ga. Kore ga kitsune desu.
that was soo long but I had watch it to the end, this is really the only video you should watch about GA and WA cause it make it so clear and you will be not confused anymore
For some reason I make more mistakes with Ga and O topic marker. For example...Nihongo o benkyou shimasu, but Nihongo Ga suki desu. 私は日本語を勉強します,私は日本が好きです. I also keep making mistakes with the verb Aimasu..会う I keep using DE instead of Ni with aimasu.私は友人に会うためで横浜に行きました...In my head Yokohama is a place so I should useで, but itsに. Japanese is not easy.
The "ni" particle is used when going from one to another (going to a place, coming to a place, giving to a person, receiving from a person, etc.) the "de" particle is harder for me to explain, but it is used when an action takes place in a certain area (eating at a restaurant, studying at home, acting at a place). So, I guess you can look at it like "ni" is like "to" and "de" (when used with locations) is like "at" If this felt condescending, I apologize.
This is actually the tricky exception when comparing to English. In English "to like/love" is a verb, but in japanese 好きな is a na-adjective! Thus, you cannot use the を particle to it, as it is not a verb. That's why you have to use が. Just remember, with 好きです, always が, particle. Simple as that :v
Also, the "de" particle is used when describing a tool or means of doing something. For example when talking about riding a bike, driving a car, etc. you will say 車で . Or in other example, "I wrote a letter with a pencil" 鉛筆で手紙を書いた。
Same here. Sometimes, I'm not sure if I should say 「日本語(が/は)勉強してます」or 「日本語を勉強してます」. I don't have trouble between で and に, but I do have trouble between へ and に.
I waited almost two months to watch this video because I knew how long it'd be. Now that I did, I'm convinced you're the best online teacher out there. Keep up the good work!
Personal Timestamp
1:37 - 7:01 Emphasis with は
3:41 - 7:01 Emphasis with が
7:01 - 11:34 は: What about/ How about
7:51 - 11:34 が: (Subject) is
11:35 - 15:56 Question with が
12:00 - 15:56 Question with は
15:57 - が with adjectives
18:16 - は with adjectives (Contrast)
(21:36) が with verbs Vs は with verbs (Contrast)
22:18 - 26:56 が Traits, Appearance, Attributes
24:02 - 26:56 は Traits, Appearance, Attributes (Contrast)
(25:00) X は Y が~
26:57 - 29:04 が Sense
27:39 - 29:04 は Sense (Contrast)
(28:38) は Object sensation
29:05(33:08) - 33:42 Non living object が Intransitive Verb
29:05 - 33:42 Person は Verb
(32:37) Non-living object は Intransitive Verb (Contrast)
(32:44) かかる
33:43 - 37:48 が with New Infomation
37:00 - 37:48 は with Generic Infomation
37:49 Conclusion
Appreciated!
Your effort is appreciated!
15:00 Drawing dicks
Waahh すごい ありがとう!
15:07, 15:14 15:29,15:33, 15:39,15:49. Deeks, deeks, penice, deeks, deeks, deeks. I think she is saying ochinchin sounds less technical than penisu.
I study japanese for over 5 years, and I've never seen this topic being covered so clearly and thoroughly as this video.
I'm amazed at this lesson. It is apparent that a lot of hard work was put into this the making of this video, and for that I thank you.
Ikr she is the best teacher in the RUclips ever
the best Japanese teacher in youtube.. and this is all for free!
might as well subscribe
@@justanotheruser2611 She has a patreon just in case you can afford to help
@@DiogoVKersting after 11 year.. are you N3
@@rbk9582 By the time I commented, I already had an understanding of は/が, but I just never had found a resource that goes as in depth as this video.
Lots of textbooks and online resources I had contact with had poor, non-exhaustive, explanations, and instead just focused on teaching by example.
As for my JLPT level, I ended up stopping with my studies before I reached N2. Maybe I'll go back to studying it.
I read the title of this video and immediately thought "Thank god! Now that Misa is teaching it, I'm finally going to understand this!"
This was the best explanation I've seen! So much more nuanced than I thought. Can you explain when you'd use が at the end of a sentence after です, as in the show title "坂本ですが"?
@@ShakeTheBox が after です is kind of different - it takes on a meaning like けど。 but in my opinion, i think ですが sounds higher up the politeness scale than ですけど
@@phantomendgamer oh cool, thanks!
@@ShakeTheBox not a problem :)
Misa is a very good teacher :)
6:20 The subtitle should have been "This is YOUR umbrella". SUMIMASEN!
P.S. These videos take a long time to create/edit.
Please consider supporting me on Patreon ( www.patreon.com/japaneseammo ) or Kofi ( ko-fi.com/japaneseammo ) if you enjoyed this video! Thank you
Sumiasen Misa-san, i think it would be more helpful if your video also include in roman characters every japanese word/phrase you make in the video , that would have been perfect.. beginners like me who cant read japanese scripts need roman characters in order to pronounce the invidual words accurately. Also many us beginners want to first focus on speaking Japanese, before moving onto reading Japanese scripts.. i love the way you explain and teach though.
Devia Tor your mom gay. Don’t bother her because you don’t want to sit down for a couple hours to learn script before going on to grammar.
All HailHailey yours is gay.
Devia Tor I would stay away from using Romaji because it really hinders your progress or did with me at least. I assume that’s why she doesn’t use it. Just learn hiragana and katakana
Carnivorous Goat I am not in Japan nor I have a plan to live or work there. So i dont really feel the necessity to learn Japanese scripts. But i do have several japanese within my professional circle..so i want to learn spoken Japanese to a certain extent.. i just think it is better if this video is meant for every level not just for those who can read Japanese.
Holy shit, after a whole year of trying to learn the difference between these particles I finally get it now. Your teaching never fails to amaze me.
TcMaX Shup up Plank, you can't talk.
@@deussivenatura5805 lol
I’m still not confident on the topic yet.
Same. This video made it all make sense after years of confusion.
I hope you are at a intermediate level now by watching her videos.
I feel like Misa is slowly brainwashing me to think that Pikachu is cuter than he actually is. Or has he been that way all along?
Regardless, god-tier video as usual...I think I'll have to give this one a couple more watches.
Same 😭😭
Best explanation! Long video but worth watching and repeating. ありがとうございます
I hope you are at a intermediate level now by watching her videos.
I love how you color code everything! It makes reading + understanding so much easier!
Yes, exactly !
Thanks for color coding, very helpful.
ありがと きれい 先生
This is THE BEST lesson on は and が I've ever seen! So easy to follow and good explaining and examples! Thank you so so much for teaching us
I love how she adds emotion into the examples she gives, it really helps with how you would accentuate each word
I love that "brown" literally just translates to "tea-colored" 😂
I guess the Japanese love tea, eh?
well in my language grey literally translates to smoke-colored
@@sharpvolt2669 which language is that?
@@desotaku5202 who knows
@@yuame7605 yea in my language too!
Hey guys, I took notes on the whole video in case anybody wants it:
-When you want to put emphasis on asking something before GA particle
That is YOUR umbrella
/kore ga misa no kasa desu
John is the teacher?
Misa is the teacher!
/Iie, Misa ga sensei desu.
-When asking who did something
-When saying dare at the beginning, it has to be dare ga.
Who broke the window?
/Tom desu
-If you want to emphasize that Tom did it then you say Tom ga
/Tom ga mado wo warimashita
Or if you did it...
/Watashi ga mado wo warimashita
-If you just casually say it without needing to emphasize it:
When someone asked what u did today
I broke the window today!
/Watashi wa mado o warimashita
Saying watashiwa is redundant/annoying so...
/Mado o warimashita
Who invented the battery?
/Dare ga denji o hatsumei shimashitaka
or
As for battery, who invented it?
/Denji wa dare ga hatsumei shimashitaka
I like something
/Something ga suki desu
-The sentence above is actually omitting the subject & below is the actual sentence
/Watashi wa something ga suki desu
-So, if you say someone other than yourself hates/likes something then you'll need must include the wa part to specify as for THAT they do/do not like. If you don't include them + wa then it sounds like you're saying YOU yourself like something.
Japanese people do/don't like something.
/Nihonjin wa something ga suki/kirai desu.
I like japan
/Nihon WA suki desu.
-Using WA above sounds like you japan, but not something else. Therefore, we must emphasize it with GA.
-Wa particle usually puts emphasis on the word after the wa particle
-If you want to say that you like something & imply that you don't like something else:
I like manga (but not anime)
/manga wa suki desu
I don't like anime
/Anime wa suki janai desu
You're good at japanese
/Nihongo ga jyouzu desu ne
You're good at english
/Eigo ga jyouzu desu ne
If you use WA it says you're good at ____ but not anything/something else..
You're good at singing
/Uta wa jyouzu desu ne
-If you use WA it sounds like you're saying you're good at singing but not at something else
You're good at singing
/Koe ga jyouzu desune
-This is the correct way using GA
I'm not good at singing
/Uta ga heta desu
If someone says:
I'm not good at singing
/Uta wa heta (desu)
-Sounds they're saying they're good at other stuff but their singing is terrible.
-For wakaru
-You use GA particle to say you understand something
/Something GA wakaru(wakarimasu)
-Don't use wo (common mistake)
Correct-
I understand japanese
/Nihongo ga wakarimasu
I understand a little english
/Eigo ga chotto warkimasu
Incorrect-
I understand english
/Nihongo wa wakarimasu
Makes it sound like you're comparing to something else like i'm good at Japanese... but not Korean/something else
-This GA particle is also used for describing someone's appearance
Misa has brown eyes
/Misa wa me GA chairoi desu
Misa has brown hair
/Misa wa kami GA chairoi desu
-Doesn't have to be about color. It can be any description
John has a big nose
/John wa hana ga ookii desu
Akane has beautiful eyes
/Akane wa me ga kirei desu
You have beautiful eyes
/Me ga kirei desu ne
You have a beautiful smile
/Eigao (smile) ga suteki (lovely) desu ne
-If you use wa it sounds like you're comparing the person's smile to something else. Sounds like their other stuff is ugly, contrasting to the adjective you use
Japan's capital is tokyo
/Nihon wa tokyo ga shato desu
-When talking about a sense of feeling then you also use GA particle
Something hurts
/Blah blah ga itai
My head hurts
/Atama ga itai
My arm hurts
/Ude ga itai
I have a headache, but not a sore throat:
/Atama wa itai kedo nodo (throat) wa itakunai.
-Both above are typed right, they're both WA
My hands are cold(describing a sense in animate so use GA)
/Te ga tsumetai
My face is hot
/Kao ga atsui
If something is cold (inanimate so we use wa)
/Something wa tsumetai
If you're hungry
/Onaka ga suita
I'm thirsty
/Nodo ga kawaita
-When subject is not a person but a object (nonliving) -You would use a ga particle w/ a verb
Did you have breakfast?
/Sara wa asagohan o tabeta?
I woke up at 7
/Watashi no shichiji (7 o clock) ni okimashita
Where did kate go?
She went shopping
/Kato wa kaimono ni ikimashita.
When object is the subject then a tire went flat...
/Tire ga pankushita (to be punctured).
-Not really trying to emphasize but b/c there is an animate object w/ a verb
-When using action verb aside from desu and the subject is an object/inanimate
Ex. to break/to go flat/ to eat / to wake up / to hit
the tire went flat
the window broke
the toilet doesn't flush
-We would use GA for all above scenarios
Again, we use ga particle w/ verbs
/Tire wa pankusuru
The flower had withered
/Hana ga kareta (kareru verb for wither).
My voice is hoarse
/Koe ga kareta
It is raining
/Ame ga furu
It's snowing
/Yuki ga furu
It's (continuously) snowing right now
/Yuki ga futeru (present continuous form)
-If you say yuki WA futeru then it sounds like it's not snowing but it's raining or something else
It takes time
/Jikan ga kakaru
It takes an hour
/Ichijikan kakaru
-If it's a specific length of time you can omit the ga
It takes an hour to get to new york
/New York made ichijikan kakaru
The toilet won't flush
/Toire ga nagaranai
My finger broke
/Yubi ga oreta
-When we tell something new or it's on the news then we use GA
News may not be emphasizing something but it's introducing something new. It doesn't have to be something important at all, just small is fine. It could be happy or sad news. For example... Tanaka san fell or my baby said mama for the first time.
The cat just farted!
/Neka ga onarashita!
-If I want to talk about some new about myself
I went to london
-We don't really want to say watashi ga... we would just say:
london ni ikimashita / itta
-Usually about someone or something else (inanimate) we would use ga particle.
You could say something as a statement like this below with WA... however, if you want someone to be excited then you would use GA because it's big news!
Nancy got pregnant...
/Nancy wa ninshinshita...
Nancy got pregnant!!!
/Nancy ga ninshinshita!!!
Summary on when to use GA:
-Emphasis on the word before the ga (WHO did~)
-"Non-living thing" is the subject
-News
-Appearance
-Sense
-With words like jouzu/heta/suki/kirai/wakaru
Summary on when to use WA:
-The FOCUS/What the seaker wnats to tell is after the WA
-Change of the topic
-What about~? or How about you?
-Shows contrast with words like jouzu/heta/suki/kirai/wakaru
Thank you so much for this!!
And I thought I could not love your lessons more.. I was wrong
WEEBS JogoDoDan
s4Head
@@shisun JUST SPEAK JAPANESE LOOOOOOOL 4Head
みささん!本当にありがとうございます!これが一番好きな日本語のチャネルになりました。この文法はとても難しいですけど、みささんのビデオで簡単に分かりました!頑張ってください!このビデオが大好きだった。😊
Five minutes in this and I already learned something I struggled with for months. Thanks a lot Misa sensei !
Misa Sensei , please don’t ever stop! You are blessing for people like me who can’t access these over priced watered down Japanese lessons . You are amazing !❤
I feel sorry for john, using his large nose as compensation
his ding dong doe
no idea why i saw so many examples using 'John' and John only, also Tom, i suppose its more easy for japanese reference for its only pronunciation which also matches with japanese tongue perfectly??? anyway, idk
I'm sorry for the one who drew the dicks lol だれ チンコが描ましたか。。すみません
@@allenliew1028 john is one of the world most popular names
@@duttybwoy556 誰(だれ)がチンコを描きましたか?
Is the correct way to write it
This is the single BEST basic explanation of wa vs ga on the entire internet. You have saved me from a lot of confusion. English is a stress-timed language, we DO have wa and ga, it consists of the verbal emphasis we put on certain words in a sentence to subtly change the sentence's meaning. You can only explain it verbally to an English speaker, and this is a massive help.
I learned way more from this video about は vs が then I did in my Japanese class. ありがとうございます!
So wa is to identify something in a group of things, but ga is to identify something by itself. Wa: X is Y (and Z is not Y) Ga: X is Y. E.g. I am John (my classmates aren't John). vs. I am John. Brilliant. Thank you Misa-sensei!
なるほど…
E.A. Nanes - not sure why, but that made me laugh lol after that whoooole video, that's your only response 😂😂😂
@@JGirDesu Would it have been funnier if she said そう... ? XD
@@nuha1018_ Agreed!! Lol
@@JGirDesu JGirです
@@ADeeSHUPA You're the only one to notice in my entire time on RUclips ;)
i love how she beamed when she started talking bout naruto being cool.
PERSONAL TIMESTAMP
2:30 Emphasis of WA
3:45 Emphasis of GA
16:23 GA Used for likes and dislikes
18:20 WA for contrast when used with likes and dislikes
19:55 GA used for adjectives Jouzu and heta
21:39 GA for verb wakaru
22:40 GA used to describe the appearance of a part of someone
25:30 GA used for describing a place's something, etc
27:08 GA used for senses
29:10 GA for non-living objects (Intransitive verbs kana?)
33:50 GA used for news
The section around 20:00 makes a lot more sense to me now after I watched another vid.
The other vid was talking about how "wa" vs "ga" can feel like "the" vs "a" in english.
So if you're saying "uta wa jozu" it's like saying "singing is THE thing she's good at" vs "uta ga jozu" = "singing is a thing she's good at"
What Misa is referring to at 30:18 is particle usage for passive versus transitive verbs. It's really useful for identifying a verbs you've never seen before.
The classic example is 落とす (おとす) vs 落ちる(おちる) On their own, you can't tell which one is passive and which one is transitive, but if you're studying with sentences, it becomes clear.
ボールを落とした (I dropped the ball)
ボールが落ちた (The ball fell)
Larissa Glines Good point 😊
@Larissa Glines "Passive" is *not* the opposite of "transitive". Both your examples are in active voice. The only difference is the first verb is transitive and the second intransitive.
Oh you mean active and mediopassive?
More than transitive and intransitive, I think it's best to think them as other-move (subject acting on someone else) and self-move
Cure Dolly did an awesome video on the topic
FINALLY UNDERSTAND THIS OMG.
so is basically.
が - the information that comes before, is new.
は - the information that comes after is the new.
Thank you so much for making this video! You’re a life saver, nothing online has ever gone into that much detail. :)
I hope you are at a intermediate level now by watching her videos.
wonderful video. I WILL NEVER FORGET JOHN'S NOSE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF GA vs WA
If you were worried about your humor getting through don't, you are hilarious. Keep it up
This video made me realize that there is such a thing as a Japanese accent on top of a British accent.
It's rather lovely.
ありがとうございます!! I started learning Japanese on Duolingo and it doesn't explain things like this, and I've been so confused about when to use these and how to use them properly!
i use duolingo too
i just want to know have you learnt japanese from it
@@saddy2911 you get what you put in. meaning, i do one lesson every day, and i try to never miss a lesson. but duolingo doesn't give you everything, you also have to go to places like this teacher's youtube channel, to get further insight and clarification. that said, duolingo has taught me way more japanese than i ever knew before, and if you want to learn it's a good place to start!
@@alexanderjones5109 thanks it helped
@@alexanderjones5109 Also, don't forget to write LOTS of Kanji! Kanji Study is great for that.
Finally a video that show us a lot of examples, not just using 2 or 3 examples
This was so incredibly helpful. In my Japanese class in college, I was taught to use "ga" with objects and "wa" with nouns. There was no other discussion than that and I still felt confused having to remember all the exceptions. Now it makes perfect sense. Thank you!
This is the clearest and most comprehensive explanation I've heard on YT. Thank you.
Thank you for not including romaji!
Panic!!! On Ice Nice username
Yes!
Yes! I agree! Romaji only hinders the beginner's learning.
That's why I love learning with natives, you made me understand in less than 5 minutes whereas I took weeks trying to understand from non-native videos. 私はあなたのビデオが大好きです。
Best japanese Teacher ever! Wish I had her in middle school.
A Japanese lesson on RUclips teaching me about sentence structure is the last place I expected to have American Vandal brought up yet here we are. Really happy to hear that it’s funny to people outside the US too.
Thank you so much! I'm trying to learn Japanese on my own, and having autism makes this even more difficult (I struggle with focus, chances to practice and understanding some parts of text books because of how they're written and laid out). I could understand it well. The visuals helped a lot, as well as the examples.
I love how your videos are devoid of grammatical terminology and put an emphasis on colloquial usage in plain language. It’s much easier to follow along and understand. Your videos are very accessible to beginners. As a Japanese language learner, than you for putting so much thought and effort into your videos.
You explained this better than every textbook or website I've ever encountered. Thank you for the video!
I've been a teacher for 30 years and I can say Misa is super good.
I’m so lucky that I started learning Japanese for 3 weeks and I found your channel! Each video you made is like a bible for me. It never fails to amaze me. Thank you soooo much!
As someone who's eight months in and just finding her, she's a god.
I've been studying Japanese for three or more years. I never knew the difference between は & が. I was confusing が with を. After watching this video, all my questions about は, が, and を were answered. At first, I didn't like all the examples that made the video 40 minutes long, but all those examples really helped me understand it more. Thank you so much. 本当にありがとう。
OMG Misa Sensei. This is very helpful. Thanks so much for making this.
She is not misa
I hope you are at a intermediate level now by watching her videos.
@@Nepnar 彼女がみさだよね
Homegirl wasn't lying when she said this was the only video we needed for ha and ga, seriously those articles I find online explain NOTHING. Thank you for being the best teacher ever, Misa-sensei :D
My truly respects to Misa 先生
MISA you are the BEST teaching 先生 ever!!!!!! Please keep teaching us I want to keep knowing more japanese
I've been using duolingo and busuu to learn Japanese and I've been really struggling. I found your channel and now I hate myself for spending 64$ on an app that is not teaching me anything. You are awesome! ありがとうございます!
as always, misa sensei is the best
やはりみさ先生はさいこう
やはりみさ先生【が】さいこうです
remember 'ga' particle is used to emphasize that 'misa sensei' is the best
Rydernia Pendraig
ありがとうございました ☺😚
Yep. To me, as a Japanese, ミサ先生"は"最高 sounds more natural because he is supposed to mean a "general fact" with the は particle.
1.やはり、みさ先生(は)さいこう(だな)it's like Re-recognition
2.やはり、みさ先生(が)さいこう
it's like only misa is best.
I'm Japanese,sorry my English is difficult to understand bro
what is the や and the さいこう mean (im currently learning japanese and it would be helpful to know)?
Four years and a bachelors degree in Japanese and this is the best explanation of は v が I've ever heard. Thank you for helping me finally understand it ありがとうございました!
You're the best teacher ever! Btw your editing was so great in this video ^_^ It would be great if you make a lesson about conditionals in the future. ありがとうございます😊
みさ先生はconditionalsのレッソンを教えてください。
レッスン*
@@ketchup901 lesson*
I hope you are at a intermediate level now by watching her videos.
@@BiGSmoke-.- Yes, I'm gonna take the jlpt n3 this summer😉
英語で日本語を教えてる初心者です。もー拝みたいくらいに分かりやすい。大変勉強になりました。
I'm a beginner at teaching Japanese language to English speakers. the way you explain things is just incredibly easy to understand. Amazing lesson. Thank you so much!
Thank you, Misa. This was way more than helpful. I struggled with the ga particle but you explained it very clearly. Thanks again!
I just started learning japanese but I've loved watching anime for a long time. Finally i know why Light Yagami said "Boku 'ga' Kira da" instead of "wa". I love this video! 🙏🏼
ありがとう you helped me out alot. It's kinda hard to learn Japanese without talking to anyone and without taking classes
you should say 有難うございます to a stranger。
The simple explanation is that 'ha' marks topic while 'ga' marks grammatical subject. I really like your explanation of how not to make mistakes with that point though - you give lots of practical examples that are really useful.
Can I give more than one thumb up? Even though it's a long video, you gave many practical and clear examples. I get it now. If I get confused again, I will watch again! In English, it's like "She is good at singing" (が ) versus "Singing, she's good at" (は). P.S. Your Umbreon is so adorable!
BEST lesson I’ve found on the differences between が and は particles
You actually explain what does “subject particle” and “object particle” mean
Most of the explanations I’ve come across only mention this and say something like: you’ll understand the difference in time
You are so helpful! The best on RUclips!
こんな素晴らしいレッスンを見たのは初めてです。「は」と「が」の使い方が分からない人はこれを見れば完璧に使えるようになるでしょう。みささんは先生になろうと思ったことありませんか?英語も上手ですし、日本語の文法の細かいところまで説明できるのできっとなれると思いますよ。これは確かにThe ONLY lesson you need!ですね。
Misa sensei, do you have lesson regarding location particle NI and HE ? if not can you make one please...thanks
Harry Isa
I’ve always heard it explained that へ places more emphasis on the direction, whereas に emphasizes the location itself. I think there is some overlap in where they can be used though
This is underrated :((, it's far more better than Japanesepod101
I very like your video, you're the best teacher that I know
いつも良くて可愛いね! 💌💌💌
the dedication of reading out japanese phrases twice and putting english-romaji-kanji subtitles. It helped so much, thank you!
"My baby said Mama!" "My cat farted!" Definitely sounds like a typical Facebook feed. :'D
みさ先生は笑顔は綺麗ですw (うそうそ)…でも一番好きがみさ先生のお上手な日本語勉強動画です。コメントの皆さんが大好きな先生。心の中に「ありがとうございます」は言う欲しい。
Misaaaa omg thanks sooooo much . I am studying japanese since 4 years and its so harf to.tell the diference
Oh. My. Goodness. You taught me what my teachers, textbooks, online sources, etc never could in a million years. 本当にありがとうございます、みさ先生。最高です。
そういえば、声が素敵ですね。
Please, please, please, do more conjugations, like causative form, etc. Since I've run out of your videos in the beginner grammar series, I've been learning from other sources, but nothing really matches your level of explanation and detail.
Also, ah, for lack of better phrasing, nuance conjugations? (i.e. expressing gratitude/regret/lack of intent through verbal suffices like ちゃう, くれる, etc). I don't really know the proper name for this sort of thing, but I'm hoping that makes sense.
Thank you so much for the videos! Nothing compares.
she got the best translation frfr everything so easy to follow
Could you maybe do a video on ordering food in Japanese? I love your videos! You’ve been a great help! :)
Jasmijn Smits I would love to know how to order omakase from an itamae at a sushi counter 😄
This clears up so much. Most resources explain it terribly and just make it more confusing. Thanks so much!
22:20
Can you also use the particle の to specify what I’m trying to describe about the person?
Like; みさ の 目 は 茶色 です
Also, in this case, is the use of は correct? Or should I use が? I believe は is correct here but I have my doubts since I’m just starting to learn to form sentences.
Also I want to say that this video is great, it seems so simple when you start to learn sentences because you only know “は” but once you get introduced to the particle “が” it gets tricky. I was VERY confused with these two particles, I didn’t know when should I use は or が.
Thank you so much!
I think the sentence is correct and the particle depends on what do you want to emphasize
Yep, pretty sure both are correct, just different emphasis. So for example if someone asked you what color her eyes are (みさの目は何色ですか?) you could emphasize the color with みさの目は茶色です, or if someone asked you what part of misa is brown (weird question maybe but let's roll with it anyway), you could emphasize her eyes with みさの目が茶色です
By the way, you should probably put さん after her name, "みささん", or it would be considered rude unless you are good friends or something.
Best Japanese teacher until now
I love your work. Keep up your excellent videos!
Why doesn’t anyone else explain it like this. It makes so much sense now.
It must be so much work editing a video like this. Deseve more, for sure. And you're cute!
I stopped studying japanese several years ago but i feel more motivated again after playing ghost of Tsushima in Japanese language.
And after this video i am even more motivated. I now finally understand it. I might confuse it a few more times but still...thank you so much!!
OH thank you so much I have no diffuculty at all to understand how japanese works but that was turning me crazy hontouni arigatou gozaimashita
One of the best explanations of the differences between "wa" and "ga" anywhere. Thank you.
hahaaha I cracked when she said "dingdong" XD
After studying Japanese on and off for 6 years I FINALLY understand how to use は and が!!!! ありがとうございます!!!
i always get uncomfortable when misa stares into my soul during these videos
This is a great job of explaining a grammar point that is really difficult for English speakers.
Thank you for not including romaji!!!
Raven B it’s kind of scary how easy it is to read hiragana after sometime. Not including romaji kind of makes people have to memorize hiragana and katakana(katakana is harder than hiragana in my opinion)
Stop complaining and go study the kanas
Caleb Sousa I already know the kanas. That didn’t take too much time. All I’m saying is some people still haven’t and for them it’s very hard.
So they should learn the kanas
How is someone willing to bash into the grammar of a language if they don't even knwo the bascis to read/write in that language? It's illogical
That was so incredibly useful comparing は to “as for”. I’ve never heard it explained like this before. Thank you!
So if someone asks me what that is and I say: "This is a *fox*" Then I use ha. Kore wa kitsune desu.
And if someone says:"This is a fox" and points on a cat and I point on a fox and say:"*This* is a fox" I have to use ga. Kore ga kitsune desu.
What're you gonna do if there's no fox lol
that was soo long but I had watch it to the end, this is really the only video you should watch about GA and WA cause it make it so clear and you will be not confused anymore
“John’s ding dong being small “ - Sorry, this is hilarious 😂
I like the way you rescue things you've already said in the video, it really fixes the lesson on people's heads
I thought "what kind of person..."
"Donna hito"
You are by far the best Japanese teacher on the web!!! Thank you for sharing.
For some reason I make more mistakes with Ga and O topic marker. For example...Nihongo o benkyou shimasu, but Nihongo Ga suki desu. 私は日本語を勉強します,私は日本が好きです. I also keep making mistakes with the verb Aimasu..会う I keep using DE instead of Ni with aimasu.私は友人に会うためで横浜に行きました...In my head Yokohama is a place so I should useで, but itsに. Japanese is not easy.
The "ni" particle is used when going from one to another (going to a place, coming to a place, giving to a person, receiving from a person, etc.) the "de" particle is harder for me to explain, but it is used when an action takes place in a certain area (eating at a restaurant, studying at home, acting at a place). So, I guess you can look at it like "ni" is like "to" and "de" (when used with locations) is like "at"
If this felt condescending, I apologize.
This is actually the tricky exception when comparing to English. In English "to like/love" is a verb, but in japanese 好きな is a na-adjective! Thus, you cannot use the を particle to it, as it is not a verb. That's why you have to use が. Just remember, with 好きです, always が, particle. Simple as that :v
Also, the "de" particle is used when describing a tool or means of doing something. For example when talking about riding a bike, driving a car, etc. you will say 車で . Or in other example, "I wrote a letter with a pencil" 鉛筆で手紙を書いた。
Same here. Sometimes, I'm not sure if I should say 「日本語(が/は)勉強してます」or 「日本語を勉強してます」. I don't have trouble between で and に, but I do have trouble between へ and に.
It took me only 5 minutes to know that this is the exact kind of video I've been looking for, I love it
Poor John...
I waited almost two months to watch this video because I knew how long it'd be. Now that I did, I'm convinced you're the best online teacher out there. Keep up the good work!
like for naruto > sasuke :D
was looking for this comment
どうもありがとうございました、ミサ先生!!!Really appreciate this as a beginner Japanese student!
You lost me when you said Naruto was better than Sasuke...
JK, great video.