Particles are a prick. They are a very different way to organise a grammar for an English speaker. The classic is “what is the difference between は and が?”, and to a lesser extent “when should I use に or で?”
As far as は and が go there are various explanations on their differences. The classic is は marks the ‘topic’ and が the ’subject’. This was always dissatisfying for me (a subject sure as hell sounds like a topic to me). Sometimes people translate は as “As for…” Not very good either. However, the best explanation I have heard is this:
は emphasises what comes after it.
が emphasises what comes before it.
For example: わたしはせいとです / わたしがせいとです would be the difference between “I am a student” / “I am the student”. In the second example it is maybe helpful to think of it as the answer to a question like “which of you many people here is the student?”
When it comes to に・で the difference is where something is ( に) versus where something happens ( で). So:
に shows that something exists in that location.
で shows what goes on in that location.
For example: しんじゅくにいます / しんじゅくではたらきます In the first case, “I am in Shinjuku” and the second “I work in Shinjuku”. It is a bit of a red-herring to associate に・で with “in” or “at”, since the choice also depends on the sort of action in question.
This rule collapses a little when it comes to verbs like すむ which takes に and not で. I think you have to recognise that the Japanese idea of a “happening” is a little different. But this is one way to make sense of the choice between に and で.
Filed under: Grammar, Particles, Textbooks, が, で, に, は |
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