Japanese

<p>
	We've already learned that the particle <strong>は</strong> is used to mark the topic of a sentence.
	Apart from this usage, <strong>は</strong> is also used as a contrast marker.
</p>

<p>
	You can use the particle <strong>は</strong> as a contrast marker by using it multiple times.
</p>

<table class="ui celled table">
    <tbody>
		<tr data-item="218166"></tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Note that in the sentence above, <ruby>馬uma</ruby> and <ruby>犬inu</ruby> are subjects of the clauses they're in.
	But to emphasize the contrast, <strong>は</strong> is used instead of the subject marker <strong>が</strong>.
	We cannot use the particle <strong>は</strong> after the particle <strong>が</strong>.
	The contrast marker <strong>は</strong> can also not be combined with the object marker <strong>を</strong>,
	and therefore also replaces it if we want to contrast two objects.
</p>

<table class="ui celled table">
    <tbody>
		<tr data-item="251967"></tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Note that <strong>は</strong>'s role as contrast marker is consistent with its role as topic marker,
	as there are multiple topics that are talked about:
	as for <strong>A</strong> it is <strong>X</strong>, as for <strong>B</strong> is it <strong>Y</strong>.
</p>

<p>
	This becomes even more apparent in the following sentences,
	which show that the contrast marker does not need to be used multiple times in a sentence,
	and that making something the topic is already inherently contrasting it with other things that are not the topic.
</p>

<table class="ui celled table">
    <tbody>
		<tr data-item="251968"></tr>
        <tr data-item="251969"></tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

The contrast marker は

hiragana character

kanji

adnominal

adverb

auxiliary

conjunction

compound

i-adjective

interjection

noun

na-adjective

numeral

particle

case particle

conjunctive particle

discourse particle

prefix

pronoun

suffix

verb

sentence

hiragana writing

kanji writing

kanji component

reading vocabulary

katakana writing

katakana character

godan - group 1

itidan - group 2

group 3

transitive

intransitive

proper noun

discourse

phrase

expression

Word	馬うま　は　好すき　じゃ　ない　が、　犬いぬ　は　好すき　よ。 uma ha suki zya nai ga, inu ha suki yo.
Meaning	I don't like horses, but I like dogs.
Part of speech	sentence
Pronunciation

topic particle	は ha
dog	犬いぬ inu
assertion particle	よ yo
liked; likeable; loved; lovable	好すき suki
not	ない nai
but	が ga
horse	馬うま uma

Japanese

uma ha suki zya nai ga, inu ha suki yo.

Breakdown of uma ha suki zya nai ga, inu ha suki yo.

Elon.io is an online language learning platform