The problem of differenciating between the use of "wa" and "ga" particles is
extremely complex, so I will just mention a few short facts without going
into too much detail. Should anyone want to add something, please, feel free
to do that.
Firstly, the "wa" particle has two primary meanings
1) it is a topic marker
2) it indicates contrast or comparison
On the other hand, "ga" particle is used to mark the subject of the sentence
without making it the topic of the sentence.
For a noun to be marked as a topic of a sentence, it needs to be previously
mentioned, known or understood implicitely by the speakers. Not making a
noun the topic, on the other hand, usually implies that it is used for the
first time. This difference is similar to the difference between "a/an" and
"the" in English. When something is mentioned for the first time, it is
marked by "ga", but if the conversation continues and more details about it
are revealed, it is already marked by "wa":
Kinou party no kaijou de shiranai dansei GA koe wo kakete kita.
Hanashi wo kiite miru to, sono dansei WA yuujin no oshiego datta.
In relation to the above use, there is also another one. Namely, it is
somehow easier for a noun to be marked by "wa" if it is the speaker itself,
it is related to the speaker or it is somebody speaker sympathises with
(probably because such people are treated as known) . Conversely, "ga" is
more often used if a sentence is about a third person, somebody from
outside, somebody the speaker does not sympathise with (probably because
they are treated as unknown).
Therefore, the simplest explanation of the use of "wa" and "ga" in the
following sentences that occurs to me is that in sentences 1-3 the speaker
sympathises/agrees with (uchi) "sensei" and "Junsa" respectively, while in
sentences 4-6 he treats them as people from outside (soto).
Sensei wa Tarou o shikarimashita. -> The teacher (known by the speaker)
scolded Tarou.
Sensei ga Tarou o shikarimashita. -> A (some) teacher scolded Tarou.
Futhermore, "wa" can sometimes carry the meaning of contrast/comparison, so
in some contexts e.g. 2nd sentence can be understood as:
-> (I don't know about other people but) The teacher hit Jirou. or
-> The teacher hit Jirou (and somebody else didn't hit him).
This meaning might be more clear in sentences where there is no object as:
Kare wa kimashita.
-> He came (but somebody else did not).
"Ga" on the other hand gives the impression of "this person and not someone
else":
Tarou ga watashi no ashi o kerimashita
-> Tarou (and not some other person) kicked my leg.
Well, I hope this helps, although the explanation is definitely not complete
yet.
Maciek
2007/9/4, randhir_nag <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
I came across an array of sentences as follows:
1. Sensei wa Tarou o shikarimashita
2. Sensei wa Jirou o nagurimashita
3. Junsa wa dorobou o tsukamaemashita
4. Ushiro no hito ga watashi o oshimashita
5. Tarou ga watashi no ashi o kerimashita
6. Tarou ga Shirou no kao o nagurimashita
How can we summarize the use of 'ga' and 'wa' above.I could not
identify any clear rule to categorize them.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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