The は of Contrast
We've seen how は can be used to add context to a sentence. For this reason, it is often referred to as a "topic marker."
Another possible use of the particle は, however, is to contrast various things. We're actually going to cover this in more detail once we get to our N5 lessons. I think it's worth taking a look at here, however, as well.
This may seem off topic, but do you know how to say "I like pizza" in Japanese?
That would be:
私はピザが好きです。
わたし は ピザ が すき です。
I like pizza.
Literally: "I + は + pizza + が + liked + です."
With a bit of context making it clear that you're talking about your own personal liking for pizza, we can drop that first bit:
ピザが好きです。
ピザ が すき です。
I like pizza.
Literally: "pizza + が + liked + です."
And in a casual, spoken sentence, we can put nothing after 好き (すき) (although your textbook may very well tell you to put 好きだ [すきだ]), an issue we talked about back in this lesson:
ピザが好き。
ピザ が すき。
I like pizza.
Literally: "pizza + が + liked."
And if you don't necessarily need to add emphasis that you're explicitly pointing out the food you like, it would be fine to drop the が, as well, which is common in informal speech:
ピザ好き。
ピザ すき。
I like pizza.
Literally: "pizza + liked."
If you're a nerd like me, you may find it interesting that in Japanese we use a na-adjective, 好き (すき), which we could directly translated as "liked," "favored," etc., when saying "I like."
Since this is a na-adjective, do you know how we would write it when it comes directly before a noun? Well, if you remember this lesson, you would know that we add な to the end of it!
好きな食べ物はピザです。
すきな たべもの は ピザ です。
I like pizza. // Pizza is (one of) my favorite food(s).
Literally: "liked + food + は + pizza + です."
With me so far? I hope that you are because things are going to get slightly more complicated.
How would we say, "I like pizza, but I don't like pasta"…?
Initially, let's make a formal spoken sentence, so we'll use the copula です and the contrastive conjunction が.
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And the answer is…
(私は)ピザは好きですが、パスタは好きではありません。
(わたし は) ピザ は すき です が、 パスタ は すき ではありません。
(As for me,) I like pizza, but I do not like pasta.
Literally: "(I + は) + pizza + は + liked + です + が (=but), + pasta + は + liked + is not (=ではありません)."
We also would have accepted other forms of ではありません：
(私は)ピザは好きですが、パスタは好きじゃないです。
(わたし は) ピザ は すき です が、 パスタ は すき じゃない です。
(As for me,) I like pizza, but I don't like pasta.
Literally: "(I + は) + pizza + は + liked + です + が (=but), + pasta + は + liked + isn't (=じゃない) + です."
Ａ は Ｂ, but／が Ｃ は not-B. |
Tricky, maybe? No worries, if so. We'll talk about it more in our N5 lessons.
Before that, though, I have another question for you: How would we say the above sentence using casual language?
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Hint #1: Let's use a different contrastive conjunction than が.
Hint #2: For the sake of simplicity, let's leave out 私は, also.
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Answer:
ピザは好きだけど、パスタは好きじゃない。
ピザ は すき だ けど、 パスタ は すき じゃない。
I like pizza, but I don't like pasta.
Literally: "pizza + は + liked + だ + けど (=but), + pasta + は + liked + isn't."
Did you get it right?
If not, no worries. Blame me for not making the question clearer. ^_^
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