が Particle (Subject Marker)

が Particle (Subject Marker) Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Particle

Construction: Grammatical Subject + が

Notes:

• The basic purpose of が is to mark the grammatical subject of a sentence or clause. In other words, it marks the person or thing that performs some action or exhibits some state and is the focus of the sentence. が can be interpreted either as a neutral descriptor or as an exhauster lister depending on the context and on the type of predicate that follows が.

• が as a neutral descriptor:
  • As a neutral descriptor, が is used to mark a grammatical subject when it is first introduced into the discourse. The information conveyed by が is implied to be new to the hearer, and it is presented with a neutral and objective viewpoint. The vast majority of the が particles you will encounter will be neutral descriptors.
  • が as a neutral descriptor is used with:
    • (1) Existential verbs (i.e. ある and いる)
      • E.g. 犬いぬがいる。[There is a dog.]
      • E.g. ギターがある。[There is a guitar.]
    • (2) Action verbs (both transitive and intransitive)
      • E.g. ウサギが走はしっています。[The rabbit is running.]
      • E.g. ジョンがコーヒーを飲のんでいる。[John is drinking coffee.]
      • E.g. ドアが閉しまります。[The door closes.]
      • E.g. 雨あめが降ふっています。[It’s raining.]
    • (3) Transitive stative verbs that express permanent, non-volitional states.
      • E.g. 窓まどが開あけています。[The window is open.]
      • E.g. ドアが閉しまっている。[The door is closed.]
    • (4) Stative verbs that describe non-intentional human perception, emotions, or ability. These have a tendency to be potential verbs.
      • E.g. サッカーができます。[I can play soccer.]
      • E.g. 山やまが見みえる。[I can see the mountain.]
      • E.g. 日本語にほんごが分わかる。[I can understand Japanese.]
    • (5) Transitive adjectives (e.g. 好すき [To like]、嫌きらい [To dislike], 欲ほしい [To want]) that act as the object of the sentence. These sentence typically follow the ~は~が structure.
      • E.g. 私わたしは君きみが好すきだ。[I like you.]
      • E.g. マークは新あたらしい靴くつが欲ほしい。[Mark wants new shoes.]
      • E.g. 明太子めんたいこが嫌きらいだ。[I hate mentaiko.]
    • (6) Stative adjectives (e.g. 寒さむい [Cold], うまい [Delicious]、いい [Good]) that describe human perception, emotions, or ability that are outside of the subject’s control. These adjectives typically follow the ~は~が structure.
      • E.g. 天気てんきが寒さむい。[The weather is cold!]
      • E.g. ツナがまずいだ。[Tuna is gross.]
      • E.g. １１時じがいい。[11 o’clock is OK.]
    • (7) WH-words (e.g. 何なに [What], どっち [Which], 誰だれ [Who]) are always marked by が when they are the subject .
      • E.g. こんばん誰だれが来きますか。 [Who is coming tonight?]
      • E.g. どっちが欲ほしいの。[Which do you want?]
      • E.g. だれが好すきですか。[Who do you like?]
    • (8) Subjects of subordinate clauses generally take が.
      • E.g. おにぎりが食たべている女子じょしは僕ぼくの妹いもうとだ。[The girl who is eating an onigiri is my little sister.]
      • E.g. 私わたしはデビーがフランスへ行いくことを知しらなかった。[I didn’t know that Debbie is going to France.]
      • E.g. ジーンが僕ぼくがアパートを出でた時ときまだ寝ねていた。[Gene was still sleeping when I left the apartment.]
  • In situations outside of this list (i.e. non-perceptual stative adjectives), が tends to be interpreted as as an exhaustive lister.
    • E.g. 日本語にほんごが難むずかしい。[Japanese is difficult.] 難むずかしい is an adjective that describes a permanent state and does not directly involve human perception, emotion, or ability, so this sentence would likely be interpreted as an exhaustive listing. For example, it could be the answer to the question: “Which subject is difficult?“

• が as an exhaustive lister:
  • ANY が can be interpreted as an exhaustive lister, no matter the predicate. Subject + が is vocally stressed by the speaker to distinguish the exhaustive lister interpretation from the ordinary neutral descriptor interpretation.
  • が as an exhaustive lister is used to contrast the marked subject with all other potential subjects and to imply that the action or state in question applies ONLY to the subject marked by が. In other words, が exhaustively lists the subjects in the universe of discourse to which the predicate applies.
  • For example, if a teacher asks a class 誰だれかがオーストラリアに行いったことがありますか。[Has anyone visited Australia?] and a student replies マイクがオーストラリアに行いったことがある。[MIKE has been to Australia.], the student is implying that ONLY Mike has been to Australia, and nobody else. In other words, Mike is the only potential subject to whom the predicate “has been to Australia” applies.
    • E.g. A: 誰だれが日本語にほんごを知しっていますか？ B: ジョンが日本語にほんごできます。[A: Who knows Japanese? B: John (and John alone) can speak Japanese.]
    • E.g. A: この学校がっこうで厳きびしい先生せんせいがいますか？ B: 黒木くろぎ先生せんせいが厳きびしい。[A: Are there any strict teachers at this school? B: Kurogi-sensei (alone) is strict.]

• が is very similar to は. The difference in a nutshell is that が marks a grammatical subject when it is first introduced into a discourse, while は marks a topic that has already been introduced into the discourse or is common knowledge that is shared between speaker and hearer. Check out this article for a more detailed look at は vs が.

Example Sentences:

雨あめが降ふっています。[It’s raining!]

私わたしの部屋へやにはステレオがあります。[There is a stereo in my room.]

のりこが走はしっています。[Noriko is running.]

A: このレストランは何なにがおいしいですか？ B: ステーキがおいしいです。[A: What’s delicious at this restaurant? B: The STEAK is delicious.]

私わたしが昨日きのう見みた映画えいがはドイツの映画えいがだった。[The movie I watched yesterday is a German movie.]

僕ぼくはスポーツカーが欲ほしい。[I want a sports car.]

春子はるこはスペイン語ごが分わかる。[Haruko can speak Spanish.]

WILD Examples:

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