は vs が: The Difference, Explained Simply

✍️ Mori-sensei · Japanese Teacher · 2026-06-22 更新

は (wa) and が (ga) are the first particles that confuse almost every Japanese learner. The short version: は marks the topic — what the sentence is about — while が marks the subject — who or what actually does or is something. This guide gives you the core idea plus a few reliable rules of thumb.

は marks the topic

は sets up what you are talking about. Think of it as "as for…". It usually points to something already known or assumed, and tells the listener "here is the topic, now I will say something about it".

•私は学生です。 — As for me, I am a student. (The topic is "me".)
•日本は寒いです。 — As for Japan, it is cold.

は is also the particle of contrast. When you set one thing against another, は is the natural choice: コーヒーは飲みますが、お茶は飲みません。 — I drink coffee, but I do not drink tea.

が marks the subject

が identifies who or what does the action or fits the description. It often introduces new information, answers a "who/what?" question, or adds emphasis on the subject itself.

•誰が来ましたか。— 田中さんが来ました。 — Who came? — Tanaka came. (が pinpoints the answer.)
•雨が降っています。 — It is raining. (New information; you are reporting what is happening.)

Because が points to the specific one, "田中さんが来ました" answers "who came", while "田中さんは来ました" assumes we were already talking about Tanaka.

Quick heuristics that usually work

•Question words like 誰 (who), 何 (what), どれ (which) take が — and the answer to them also takes が. You never say 誰は.
•Contrast takes は: this one yes, that one no.
•〜が好き (like), 〜が上手 (be good at), 〜ができる (can do), 〜がわかる (understand), 〜がほしい (want) all use が for the thing involved: 日本語が好きです。
•When in doubt for a brand-new fact you are reporting, が is often right; when you are commenting on something already known, は is often right.

Master は and が in the N5 course →

よくある質問

Is は or が the subject of the sentence?

が marks the grammatical subject. は marks the topic, which is often — but not always — the same word as the subject. In 私は学生です, "私" is both topic and subject; in 象は鼻が長い (as for the elephant, the nose is long), the topic is "elephant" but the subject of "long" is "nose".

Why is it 私が instead of 私は sometimes?

Use 私が when you are identifying or emphasizing that *you* are the one — for example answering "who did it?" (私がやりました, I am the one who did it). Use 私は when "I" is simply the topic you are commenting on.

Do I really need to master this for N5?

Yes — は and が appear in almost every sentence, so getting the feel early pays off for the whole JLPT path. The fastest way is lots of correct examples in context, which is exactly how the N5 course drills them.