hayai densha wa benri desu ga, yasuku wa arimasen.

topic particle

Breakdown of hayai densha wa benri desu ga, yasuku wa arimasen.

• です: to be
• 安やすい: cheap
• 電車でんしゃ: train

Questions & Answers about hayai densha wa benri desu ga, yasuku wa arimasen.

What does 速い電車は literally mean, and why isn’t there a です after 速い?

• 速い電車 is an attributive phrase where the i-adjective 速い (“fast”) directly modifies the noun 電車 (“train”), giving “fast train.”
• In Japanese, when an i-adjective modifies a noun, you use its plain form (here 速い) without adding です, because です only appears in predicative (ending) positions, not before a noun.

Why is 電車 marked with は instead of が here?

• は marks the topic of the sentence (“As for fast trains…”), setting the frame for the comment that follows.
• が would mark the subject in a neutral way, but using は signals you’re talking about trains in general or contrasting them with something else.

Why does the first clause use 便利です? Isn’t 便利 an adjective like 速い?

• 便利 is a na-adjective, not an i-adjective. Na-adjectives require the copula です/だ when used predicatively (“is convenient”).
• In polite speech you use です, so 便利です means “is convenient.”

What role does the が in the middle play? It doesn’t look like the subject-marker が.