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基本助詞 · Core case markers

が

Subject / new info

Marks the grammatical subject or presents information as new, focused, or answering an implicit "who/what?" question.

Recommended first

When to use

  • Common with existence verbs ある・いる
  • Used in subordinate clauses before ほしい, 好き, できる
  • Questions often use が: 誰が来る？

How to use

  1. 1Place が immediately after the noun that is the subject or focused element.
  2. 2In neutral descriptions of existence, the thing that exists takes が.
  3. 3When both topic and subject are needed, は and が can appear in one sentence.

Cautions

Not every subject needs が — predicates with adjectives often use は for the subject in neutral statements.
が can sound emphatic or introduce new information compared to は.

Nuance & non-standard uses

Patterns that go beyond the textbook default — contrast, omission, register shifts, and mixed particles.

が required with ability, desire, and "like/dislike" predicates

With できる, 好き, 嫌い, ほしい, 見える, 聞こえる, and similar predicates, the experiencer or capable party is marked with が, not は — even when it looks like a subject in English. Swapping to は changes the meaning or sounds wrong.

私は日本語ができる。

As for me, Japanese is doable — ability takes が on the object of ability.

彼がタイプだ。

He's my type — が marks the focused person.

Exhaustive question が (誰が・どれが)

Question words with が ask "which one (out of a set)" rather than a neutral topic. The answer is expected to identify a member of the set, not comment on a general topic.

どの案がいい？

Which plan is good? — picking one option.

誰が責任者ですか。

Who (specifically) is the person in charge?

が in stative / perceptual sentences

For verbs like ある, いる, 分かる, 見える, the thing perceived or existing often takes が while a human topic may take は: 私には問題がある. The が marks what appears or exists in the field of attention.

窓の外に人がいる。

There is a person outside the window — new sighting.

名前が思い出せない。

The name won't come to mind — が on what is missing.

が as "but" in literary / set phrases

In fixed expressions (我が国, 我が社) or classical-flavored prose, が retains an older possessive or contrastive flavor. Modern learners meet these as vocabulary chunks rather than productive grammar.

我が家のルールだ。

Our household's rule — 我が is a fossilized pattern.

Examples

猫がいる。

There is a cat. / A cat exists.

誰が書いた？

Who wrote it?