Yep,this thread is for us to ask uhm....the rest of us anything that we dunno about the Japanese language,and i think this thread is the place for the people good in Japanese in the forum to show us their prowess.Ask anything you don't know about Japanese here,and hopefully other members can answer the question,eh!

I'll go first!

How,how,how!

Do i use は(wa) and が(ga)?

.sweat.

What do you mean by Wa or Ga?
Give an example I dont really know ur question.

Okay uhm llike for example:

１）今僕は寿司を食べました。

２）僕はギターが好きです。

So like how do you differentiate which particle (は、が）to use in what instance?

I actually learned about this today in my class haha, so I'll try to be of help.

Here's something I learned earlier today, after doing some research for class.

“Wa” is used to describe something that has already been introduced into the conversation, or is familiar with both a speaker and a listener. (proper nouns, genetic names etc.) “Ga” is used when a situation or happening is just noticed or newly introduced.

so, an example would be something like this
Mr. Tony is staying in this house. Mr. Tony is a teacher.
Toni-san ga kono ie ni sunde imasu. Toni-san wa sensei desu.

Since Toni-san is being introduced in the first sentence, "ga" is used. In the second sentence, "wa" is used, because Toni-san was already introduced.

I hope this helps, and maybe someone who is more fluent in this language can give you a little more info
.uhuh.

Heso....!!!

eugene-boy...The particles "wa" (は) and "ga": The particle "wa" marks the topic of the sentence and the particle "ga" marks the subject of the sentence. In the example, "i love that guitar" (僕はギターが好きです), "boku = I" would be the topic while "guitar" would be the subject. 私は学生 = i am a student 私が学生 = i'm that student.

Heso...!!!

Hmmm....About the particles right,i'm aware that は marks the topic of a sentence and が is like an identifier particle,but i always get it wrong when i use it in sentences...I think it's just my stupidity....Gah.Wah.

Ahhh I see...
To make it simple
WA your topicing something as in your refering to the word
GA is used more if the situation is known. Is how i remember it

Hmmm...Well just have to try lotsa times on this one.Gah.

Lots of times? LOL
good luck
I find it SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO easy when I read about particles WA and Ga. Trying finding reference book there GOOD to know terms. Its better than asking ur japanese teacher.

Trying to revive this thread, since I'm sure lots of members have questions about Japanese.

Btw, I read in another post about an idea someone had about a "Sentence of the Day", or some other kind of daily Japanese post in this thread. I would totally be up for doing that!

I personally think this is a good thread, for us to ask and clarify questions on the Japanese language. It'll definitely help us appreciate Scandal and the Japanese culture more.

Don't have any questions for now, but hope this will be here when the time comes.

if you have twitter, follow this: http://twitter.com/#!/ejmix_exchange

it provides both simple and complicated sentences with translations and updates a few times each day. pretty neat.

This is bothering me because I can't find a good answer to this, and I'd rather ask here than trying to find out on my own by like...searching through millions of lame sites that claim to explain Japanese verb rules well but really don't. haha.

So, obviously there are -te forms of verbs, but what exactly do they then mean, if anything, when -ru is then added back on after -te? Examples would be something like this (randomly grabbed from S.L.Magic): "続いてる [tsuzuiteru]," or (from Shoujo S) "言ってる [itteru]."

Thanks in advance!

thoseguiltyeyes wrote:
So, obviously there are -te forms of verbs, but what exactly do they then mean, if anything, when -ru is then added back on after -te?

Eyes, that's a very simple question. If you know how to make a verb in Japanese active (i.e., making it a verb currently taking place, or in English, a verb with -ing at the end), you know that it is made by adding いる to any -te form verb. Verbs that end in てる mean exactly the same thing - they are simply spoken versions of the ている verbs with the い dropped because it is easier to roll off the tongue. You will never really see てる in a formal written document.

I had a feeling it was something simple, but that's really all there is to it?! Wow, I feel stupid for not realizing that. haha. Thanks so much for answering!

Oh, btw, I am not sure if the original question has been answered, but eugene, the basic difference between "wa" and "ga" is that one is used for passive while the other active. Wa is more commonly used for active verb forms while ga the other.

For example, "Watashi wa blabla desu"

and if you used ga, you switched the subject, so it becoms "Blabla ga watashi desu"

That's one way of looking at it, but there are other ways of applying the two forms.

in addition to all the wonderful answers given to the 'ha' and 'ga' questions, 'ha' generally emphasizes on the noun behind it (watashi ha gakusei desu, emphasizing that i am a student) while 'ga' generally emphasizes on the noun before it (guitar ga suki, i like guitar). mostly you'll just have to listen loads and follow your instinct XD