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は vs が

The single most-asked question in Japanese grammar. は names the topic; が points at the subject — here's how to actually choose, with real lines you can hear.

The short version

は marks the topic — "as for X", something you and the listener already have in mind. が marks the subject and spotlights new or identifying information — the answer to an unspoken "who?" or "what?". A handy tell: は puts the weight on what comes after it; が puts the weight on what comes before it.

私わたしは学生がくせい。 — as for me, (I'm) a student · topic
誰だれが学生？ — WHO is the student? · new / identifying

は — the topic you're talking about

は sets the stage: it announces the thing the sentence is about, then everything after is the comment on it. In the line below, は marks 僕 ("me") as the topic, and the real information — what I like — comes after.

As for me, I quite like movie theaters. (は = topic "me")
▶ Nihongo con Teppei · #1542 映画について · 7:07 — hear it →

が — the subject, and new information

Use が when you're introducing or picking out the subject — reporting what exists, what happened, or answering "who/what". When you notice something for the first time, it takes が.

And — there are animals. (が introduces new info)
▶ Nihongo con Teppei · #1538 山登りについて · 3:07 — hear it →
Question words always take が. "Who?" is 誰だれが, "what?" is 何なにが — the thing you're asking about is unknown, so it's が, and the answer comes back with が too.

が for likes, wants, having & being able

A whole family of Japanese expressions marks their object with が, not を: 好すき (like), ある／いる (there is), できる (can), 上手じょうず (good at). Very often you get は on the topic and が on the thing — one of each.

As for you all — do you like movies? (topic は + subject が)
▶ Nihongo con Teppei · #1542 映画について · 8:56 — hear it →

は for contrast

は has a second job: quietly contrasting one thing against others. Pairing it with でも ("but") makes the contrast explicit — "other people maybe, but as for my friend…".

But my friend, on the other hand… (は marks a contrast)
▶ Japanese with Shun · Ep268 Cold · 6:55 — hear it →

Watch out

🗣 が also means "but". Dropped in the middle of a sentence, が links two clauses like English "…, but …". You'll hear 〜ですが、 in polite talk and 〜けど among friends.
It's a little tough, but… (が = "but")
▶ やさしい日本語じかん · #12 お花見 · 4:20 — hear it →
🗣 In real speech, は and が often just vanish. Among friends the topic/subject is usually clear from context, so it's dropped — 「映画えいが、好すき？」 instead of 「映画が好き？」. You'll hear whole particles disappear, like the direction particle here:
September maybe — where are we going? (casual: particle dropped)
▶ Haru no Nihongo · EP‐327 · 14:14 — hear it →
Rule of thumb: known / already the topic → は; new, noticed, or the answer to who/what → が.
Hear は and が in real Japanese
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Next: を — object marker → · も — also → · All grammar

Free on Wakatta — learn Japanese by listening. Every example above is a real line from a Japanese podcast, timestamped so you can hear it.