The subtle usage of Japanese particles (2) -- Japanese particles: 「は」and 「が」
Dec 14th 2008 20:37
japanese
language
I'll give you an explanation for the examples in http://lang-8.com/journal/55656. I'll begin with example 2. and then proceed to example 1 since example 1 is much eaisir. In some situations using「は」 instead of 「が」 can be troublesome like in example 2:
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2.Tom: 田中さんの家どうだった？(How was Tanaka-san's house?)
Helen: (a) 食事がよかった。
(b) 食事はよかった。
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Both (a) and (b) mean that "The food was good.", but while (b) implies everything else was bad, (a) is focusing on the food she ate at Tanaka-san's house and says nothing about anything else. 「が」 puts a focus on what we are talking about while 「は」 is used to highlight the contrast between the subject and the others.
I'll move on to example 1.
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1. Tom: コーヒーと紅茶、どっちがいい？ (Which do you prefer, coffee or tea?)
Helen: (a) コーヒーがいい。
(b) コーヒーでいい。
(c) コーヒーはいい。
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1. (a) is quite easy: the usage of 「が」 in this sentence is the sama as that in 2. (a). and いい in 1. (a) means "good". The entire sentence means "I prefer coffee." (You can say "コーヒーの方がいい" to make it clear that you are comparing two things, but "コーヒーがいい。" is perfectly correct and it is suitable for this situation.) 1. (b) also indicates that she prefers coffee, but 「いい」 in 1.(b) works differently from that of 1.(a) since で can't be used for "be" verb (as far as I know). The word-to-word translation of 1.(b) is "I can do with coffee", and 「で」 and 「いい」 work like "with" and "can do" respectively. 1.(c) is the most difficult one: although it is similar to 1.(b), it means that she doesn't want coffee: In a situation like this, 「はいい」 is used for turning down something. (I tried hard, but I can't come up with the reason for this phenomenon.)
########################################################
2.Tom: 田中さんの家どうだった？(How was Tanaka-san's house?)
Helen: (a) 食事がよかった。
(b) 食事はよかった。
########################################################
Both (a) and (b) mean that "The food was good.", but while (b) implies everything else was bad, (a) is focusing on the food she ate at Tanaka-san's house and says nothing about anything else. 「が」 puts a focus on what we are talking about while 「は」 is used to highlight the contrast between the subject and the others.
I'll move on to example 1.
########################################################
1. Tom: コーヒーと紅茶、どっちがいい？ (Which do you prefer, coffee or tea?)
Helen: (a) コーヒーがいい。
(b) コーヒーでいい。
(c) コーヒーはいい。
########################################################
1. (a) is quite easy: the usage of 「が」 in this sentence is the sama as that in 2. (a). and いい in 1. (a) means "good". The entire sentence means "I prefer coffee." (You can say "コーヒーの方がいい" to make it clear that you are comparing two things, but "コーヒーがいい。" is perfectly correct and it is suitable for this situation.) 1. (b) also indicates that she prefers coffee, but 「いい」 in 1.(b) works differently from that of 1.(a) since で can't be used for "be" verb (as far as I know). The word-to-word translation of 1.(b) is "I can do with coffee", and 「で」 and 「いい」 work like "with" and "can do" respectively. 1.(c) is the most difficult one: although it is similar to 1.(b), it means that she doesn't want coffee: In a situation like this, 「はいい」 is used for turning down something. (I tried hard, but I can't come up with the reason for this phenomenon.)
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I didn‘t know those things before, so it‘s very useful. Thanks!
Greetings from Mr Spoon.
Your comment is very encouraging. I'll keep on writing journals related to Japanese!
I knew the nuance when I read the other answers, but the 2c was new to me. I should keep that in mind.
I'll give you an explanation for the examples in I'll begin with example 2.
In some situations, using「は」 instead of 「が」 can be troublesome, like in example 2:
Both (a) and (b) mean that "The food was good.", but while (b) implies everything else was bad, (a) focuses on the food she ate at Tanaka-san's house and says nothing about anything else.
I'll move on to example 1.
1.
(a) is quite easy: the usage of 「が」 in this sentence is the sama as that in 2.
and いい in 2.
" is perfectly correct and it is suitable for this situation.) 1.
The word-for-word translation of 1.(b) is "I can do with coffee", and 「で」 and 「いい」 work like "with" and "can do" respectively. 1.(c) is the most difficult one: although it is similar to 1.(b), it means that she doesn't want coffee: In a situation like this, 「はいい」 is used for turning down something.
"Coffee will do" is more natural than "I can do with coffee" (Coffee isn't what she would prefer, but of the two drinks offered, it is the better.)
I think コーヒーはいい is equivalent to コーヒーといえば、私はいい - when it comes to coffee, I'm fine (I can do without it.)
Helen: (a) 食事がよかった。 I understand, I think^^ this is like emphasizing that the food was good, right?
(b) 食事はよかった。 and this is kind of like saying "(well, at least) the food was good." right?
「結構です」 works like 「いい」: 「結構です」 sometimes mean "good", but you can use this phrase to turn down something.
to richvh:
Thanks. I reflected your corrections to my journal because mistaking 2 for 1 can be extremely confusing and I'd like to make this journal accessible to everyone.
> "Coffee will do" is more natural than "I can do with coffee"
Well, you're right. I guess "I can do with coffee" is somewhat unnatural, but it is more suitable for explaining the effect of "で".
> I think コーヒーはいい is equivalent to コーヒーといえば、私はいい - when it comes to coffee, I'm fine (I can do without it.)
Hmm, originally, 「コーヒーはいい」 might've meant 「コーヒーといえば、私はいい」 (I don't know its origin, so I'm not sure). But in today, this sentence carries a strong sense of rejection. 「コーヒーはいい」 in this case means she doesn't want to drink coffee for some reason. Maybe she doesn't like coffee, or she can't drink coffee because it keeps her awake at night, whatever. 「いい」 in 「コーヒーはいい」 is more like "遠慮します". It's kind of complex, because in some cases 「コーヒーはいい」 means "Coffee is good". I'm not sure why the meaning of the same sentence should change so drastically according to the situation it's placed in.
Yes, that's right!
I'm thinking maybe I should make posts about English (it would have to be in English; my Japanese isn't that good :P) in the future, now. :)
That's right. The nuance of sarcasm increases if you put "けどね" the end of "食事はよかった" like "食事はよかったけどね".
But I don't think it matters so much if you're a beginner of Japanese, because most native Japanese speakers know that using "は" and "が" correctly is extremely difficult, and nonnatives tend to use these particles improperly. (Things will be different if you are able to speak Japanese so fluently that everyone forgets the fact that Japanese is your second language, though.)
my Japanese isn't that good :P) in the future, now. :)
That's great! I'm looking forward to your posts!
(a) コーヒーがいい。 "Coffee is good (better)."
(b) コーヒー（だけ）でいい。 "I'll be fine with (just) coffee."
(c) コーヒーはいい。 "I'm good on coffee."
Sometimes it's impossible to literally translate sentences without adding parts that show the context that they're being used in.
> (b) コーヒー（だけ）でいい。 "I'll be fine with (just) coffee."
(a) is definitely correct, but I'm not sure (b) implies that "just coffee".
>(c) コーヒーはいい。 "I'm good on coffee."
Well, this is not correct, 'cause for some reason I don't know, this means that Helen doesn't want coffee. I asked some people what do they think of (c), and they all had the same idea about this sentence.
I've came to think that analyzing this sentence is almost impossible. We'd just memorize it.
Well, I guess in some situations (c) can mean that "coffee is good" depending on your intonation...