は vs が: The Difference, Explained Simply

By the Wabi-Sabi Japanese team · Last updated: July 12, 2026 · 3 min read

は vs が is the question every Japanese learner eventually asks — usually with a slightly haunted expression. Here's the reassuring truth: linguists write whole books about the edge cases, but five rules of thumb cover almost everything you'll actually say at the beginner level. This guide gives you those five, with examples you can steal. (If particles in general still feel slippery, the beginner grammar and particles guide lays out the wider set and basic word order first.)

The core idea: topic vs subject

は (wa) marks the topic — the thing the sentence is about. Think "as for ___, here's some information." が (ga) marks the subject — it points a spotlight at which specific thing does or is something. Getting into the habit of asking what is this particle actually doing here? pays off beyond this pair — に vs で is the next choice that trips beginners up.

The five rules of thumb

Tap each rule to see it in action:

The "old news / new news" trick

Here's the mental model that makes rules 1 and 2 click. In a story: the first time something appears, it's new → が. After that, it's a known topic → は.

むかしむかし、おじいさんが いました。
mukashi mukashi, ojiisan ga imashita — Once upon a time, there was an old man. (new → が)

おじいさんは やまへ いきました。
ojiisan wa yama e ikimashita — The old man went to the mountain. (now known → は)

Every Japanese folktale opens exactly like this — が to bring a character on stage, は once we know them. If you remember one thing from this page, remember the folktale. If you'd rather drill the pattern than read about it, you can try a lesson free, no sign-up.

When both are "correct" — the nuance

Often either particle produces a grammatical sentence — with different emphasis:

• わたしは すしを たべました — "As for me, I ate sushi." (Normal statement about your day.)
• わたしが すしを たべました — "I'm the one who ate the sushi." (Confessing to the crime. Someone asked "who ate it?!")

Neither is "wrong" — they answer different questions. That's why translation apps struggle here and why producing your own sentences (and getting them corrected) beats memorising rules — which is exactly what speaking practice with an AI tutor that corrects you is for.

Common は/が mistakes

• Using は after question words — だれは is never right; question words take が (rule 3).
• Using を with すき — "I like cats" is ねこがすきです, not ねこをすきです (rule 4).
• Re-introducing a known topic with が — once something is established, keep it as は unless you're picking it out specifically.
• Freezing over the choice mid-sentence — at N5, a "wrong" は/が is almost always still understood. Say it, get corrected, move on. Fluency first, nuance follows. (The JLPT N5 guide covers what else that level asks of you.)