が or は

9 comments

1. For あります, you should pretty much always use が.

   Certain other verbs, like できます、分かります also always use が.

2. Always ga for aru unless it’s a strong point of contrast or for a specific item among other options to truly highlight the subject.

   There is beer. Ga.

   Oh, as for BEER (vs wine) there is beer. Wa.

3. I would lean towards は since it emphasises specificity.

   i.e. ‘do you have beer (as opposed to other items on a menu)’

   I’m not sure if that’s the exact reason why, but it feels a lot more natural to me for this specific situation.

   (To be clear, ビールが can also be used, this is more of a feeling thing)

   edit: I’m frankly baffled by the number of people who chose to take offense to my comment not lining up with the notion that it *must* be が, so allow me to add [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=f5lG-1-7hXZ_3RUA&t=40&v=S4sReMjkX0c&feature=youtu.be) where two Japanese guys use ビールはありますか to ask ‘is there beer (here)?’

   I mean no ill will in saying this, but the answers that state ‘it’s が unless there’s a specific condition fulfilled’ just aren’t correct.

4. は puts focus on the rest of the sentence, が puts focus on the object.

   In this case, you’re asking right out of the gate about beer, so ga is preferable. If you were asking about beer after another choice, you should probably use wa.

   Eg
   ワインがありますか (do you have wine?)

   ありません (we don’t)

   ビールは？(what about beer?)

   Ga putting focus on the object it marks is also why you *always* use it with question words like nani and dare. If you ask a question like “who’s coming”, the act of coming is a given, but you’re asking about *who*.

5. Wa – How about beer? Do you have beer?

   Ga – Do you have beer?

6. **the short answer**

   verbs like あります、います almost always take the particle が、but in this particular case, use は。

   **Reason**

   We use は with あります／います／好き／嫌い etc when we are asking a question or expressing two or more contrasting ideas/statements.

   **Examples**

   野菜は食べますが,肉は食べません。
   (Yasai wa tabemasu ga niku wa tabemasen)

   As for vegetables, (I) eat -however- As for meat, (I) do not eat.

   I eat vegetables but I don’t eat meat.

   何か飲み物はありますか。
   (Nanika nomimono wa arimasu ka)

   As for -something to drink- does (it) exist?

   Do you have any drinks/beverages?

   部屋には椅子が四つあります。

   (Heya ni wa, isu ga yottsu arimasu.)
   As for “In (the) room”, CHAIRS, are four.

   There are four chairs in the room.

   **Some Tips for those ppl that like in-depth stuff**

   There is a pattern for using が and は. If you read a lot of diverse Japanese example sentences, you’ll notice the pattern. Here’s a few tips:

   は is a topic marker. A topic can be anything that can be expanded on. Therefore it’s like this:

   Topic + は + more information related to the topic/ expanding on the topic.

   When the topic is obvious, it’s left out.

   Notice the pattern:

   [Noun] is [adjective]

   [Noun] is [noun]

   At [time], noun + verb + object.

   At [place], noun + verb object.

   Is usually translated as,

   Noun は adjです。

   Noun は noun です。

   Time には subject が object を verb.

   An example to make some things clear:

   春には学校が始まる。

   (Haru ni wa, gakkou ga hajimaru)

   In spring, school starts.

   ‘School starts’ is just an addition related to ‘spring’ but since ‘spring’ is used to indicate time, use the に here as well.

   Spring には –> In spring (as in time)

   Spring は –> spring is …. (talking about time as a noun/ not to indicate time)

   春は一番好きです。

   (Haru wa ichiban suki desu.)

   I like Spring the most.

   が is a subject marker particle. Subject is someone or something which performs an action (on an object).

   [subject] が [object] を [verb].

   The SUBJECT is doing the verb.

   Sometimes when both seem to fit, each gives a separate nuance to the sentence: The topic particle puts emphasis on what comes after. The ‘addition or extra piece of information’ is more important than what it is about. The subject particle puts emphasis on what comes before/ the doer of the action.

   Use が with 誰, 何, どっち when they are used as subjects. (Cause the emphasis is on them by default)

   Here are some exaggerated examples:

   誰が来なって言ったのよ？？

   WHO said they wouldn’t come?? (When talking about hanging out somewhere maybe)

   え？何が食べてるんですか？？

   UMM, Just WHAT are you eating there??

   (When you see someone eat a pretty weird thing probably)

   **Author’s note lol**

   I tried my best to explain. I’m not a native Japanese speaker. Please tell me if I made any mistakes or if I understood anything incorrectly!

   I hope this helps things. (If it does it’s all thanks to anime and tae kim’s guide to grammar)

   u/ht3k

7. The first one is more like “is there beer?” In the sense, “does beer exist?”

   The second one is more like “do you have beer?” “Do you sell beer?” I know the verb for ‘to sell’, this is just what it would mean.

8. This always confused me but if I’m finally understanding correctly…

   Wa is looking at the menu and you don’t see beer on the list so you’re asking if there’s beer contrary to the menu you’re just seeing.

   Ga is asking if they have any beer at all (without looking at the menu or regardless of it)

   Am I understanding that right?

9. i hear and use both.