In this post we are going to look at the particle は. Note that the particle is not pronounce as it is reads. It is pronounced wa and not ha.

This particle has three main functions in Japanese. The first of these is to act as topic marker for conversations or texts. The main difference between a topic and a subject is that you can leave off a topic from a sentence, and it will still make perfect sense. This in contrast to a subject, which if removed creates a sentence with a gap in it:

Lets have a look at an example

きょうは　だれが　きましたか　Who came [here] today?

The same sentence on its own without the topic works just fine:

だれが　きましたか。Who came [here]?

However, the same sentence on its own without the subject won’t make sense.

きょう　はきましたか。 …came [here] today?

The second function of は is as contrast marker, as in an “[A]は something, [B]はsomething else” pattern.

Here is an example:

ちがいますよ。　これは　すしで、それはさしみ – [That's] not [quite] right. This is Sushi, and that’s Sashimi
Here a contrast is given between “this” and “that”, regardless of whether they were already topics.

The third function that は is the negative imperative when it follows a て form.

Here is an example;

きょう　こなくて　は　いけません　－　You have to come today.

In this use, it creates a negative imperative。The は could also be followed by だめ.

きょう　は　だめ 　－　Today is no good.

In our next post we will look at more particles. In fact I have decided to do a whole series on these little confusing monsters.