Wa vs Ga: JLPT Particle Guide

If you've studied Japanese for more than a week, you've already hit the wall: は (wa) vs が (ga). Every textbook gives you a different explanation, every YouTube video contradicts the last one, and somehow you still guess wrong on JLPT practice questions. This guide skips the philosophy. The JLPT doesn't test you on topic-vs-subject theory. It tests you on a handful of concrete sentence shapes where only one particle is correct and the other is a trap. Once you see the shapes, the choice is mechanical. The 10-second rule は (wa) sets up what the sentence is about. が (ga) identifies who or what did something. When the sentence answers "what about X?", use wa. When it answers "who?" or "what?", use ga. Everything else in this guide is just clarification of that rule. Read my complete writeup at 👇 https://jlptmastery.com/blog/wa-...