37 It is clear about "wa", so now let's look at "ga". I will again compare sentences (1) and (2). (1)Tanakasan ga ocha o nomimashita. (Tanaka drank tea.)(2)Tanakasan wa ocha o nomimashita. (Tanaka drank tea.)I have already explained that (2) tells "What Tanaka drank is ... (or, "What Tanaka did is...")". On the other hand, (1) tells "What happened is...", or "Who drank the tea is...". Anyway, "Tanakasan" is not the topic in (1). "Ga" is not a topic marker, it is a case marker. It was possible to bring the object to the beginning of the sentence in (3) because the case marker "ga" followed "Tanakasan" which prevented "ocha" from being misunderstood as the subject. I think it is quite clear now that "wa" is a characteristic particle that is related to the Japanese sentence structure (especially the < information structure >). To be proficient in the usage of "wa" is to be proficient in Japanese. There are many more points to refer to regarding "wa", or differences between "wa" and "ga", but here I focused only on the most basic point. For advanced learners who want to know more details, please refer to my report 'On wa and ga' ("UP" [PR magazine of the University of Tokyo Press] Vol. 31 No. 12, December 2002, written in Japanese). Points: Advise for Japanese learners (4) "X wa..." is the sign telling that "I am going to talk about X." ("Wa" is the topic marker.) Tanakasan wa ocha o nomimashita. ← What Tanaka drank (did) is... Ocha wa Tanakasan ga nomimashita. ← Who drank the tea is... Tanakasan ga ocha o nomimashita. ← What happened is ... or ← Who drank the tea is... Start studying with the polite style out of the two styles. Ikimasuka? - Hai, ikimasu. (polite style) Iku? - Un, iku. (casual style) ← Are you going? - Yes, I'm going. * The contents of this page are almost the same as the article "Learn the characteristics of Japanese language and study effectively (4) : Particle wa and " by KIKUCHI Yasuto (Former professor of the Center for the Japanese Language Education, the University of Tokyo), to appear in International Center News, The University of Tokyo, No.36."Ga" is a case marker
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