Minna no Nihongo 18: Watashi wa Anata ga Sukidesu

Hi, I’m ojachan 🙂 Today’s lesson is;【第9課】 Lesson 9. Watashi wa Anata ga Sukidesu

If you want to learn lesson 8, you can learn from HERE!

Don’t you want to know how to learn Japanese like Japanese kids? This lesson is meant for students that are beginners at Japanese.

⭐️This lesson is following the textbook “Minna no Nihongo”. (*not perfectly)

⭐️I’m going to give a lesson easier to understand for Japanese learners without following textbook’s orders.

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Let’s get started!

Key Phrases

わたしは　あなたが　好きです。
watashi wa anata ga sukidesu
I like you.

わたしは　あなたが　好きではありません。
watashi wa anata ga sukidewaarimasen
I don’t like you.

あなたは　わたしが　好きですか。
anata wa watashi ga sukidesuka
Do you like me?

はい、好きです。
hai sukidesu
Yes, I do.

いいえ、好きではありません。
iie sukidewaarimasen
No, I don’t.

あなたは　どんな人が　好きですか。
Anata wa donna hito ga sukidesu ka
What’s your type of girls do you like?

わたしは　優しい人が　好きです。
washi wa yasashii hito ga sukidesu
I like someone with a kind heart.

The Difference Between “は wa” and “が ga”

It’s very difficult and confusing expressions of the difference between は and が.

I’m going to try explain the differences in my own way.

Japanese kids learn は as 副助詞 fukujoshi, and が as 格助詞 kakujoshi.

が	は
格助詞 kakujyoshi joshi	副助詞 fukujyoshi
to make a subject to show a new information to emphasize the topic	to make a subject to show a general or an old information to distinguish the others

What is 副助詞 and 格助詞?

📎 It’s difficult topic a little so you can skip what are 副助詞 and 格助詞.

・副助詞 is the participle that can add meaning to various words.

副助詞 is like a commentator.

・格助詞 mainly follows a noun. And it shows what kind of functions the noun is for the other words.

格助詞 is like an anchor.

So the both functions are totally different.

the Usage of は wa

1. To Make a Subject

You can use は to make a subject generally.

おじゃちゃんは　先生です。
ojachan wa sensei desu
Ojachan is a teacher.

2. To Show a General or an Old Information

■ General Information

You can use は if you want to tell general things.

ピカチュウは　黄色です。
Pikachuu wa kiiro desu
Pikachu is yellow.

I think everyone knows Pikachu and Pikachu’s color. It’s rare for us the answer is blue, right? So in this case, ピカチュウ and 黄色 is the general information.

Pikachu is usually yellow. So “ピカチュウが　黄色です。” is wrong.

But if you say, “Oh my…ピカチュウが　青です!😱” is correct.

I’m going to say “Really!? Show me!!” if you say so.

■ Old Information

The word adding は is an old information.

Miller:
おじゃちゃんは　どんな仕事ですか。
ojachan wa dona shigoto desuka
What does Ojachan do?

Kimura:
おじゃちゃんは　先生です。
ojachan wa sensei desu
She is a teacher.

In this situation, Miller has already known Ojachan. But He doesn’t know her occupation. So おじゃちゃん is the old information and 先生 is the new information for Miller.

3. To Distinguish the Others or limitations

You can use は if you want to distinguish the others or limitations.

■ To Distinguish the Others

Kimura：
あなたは　宇宙人を　信じますか。
Anata wa uchuujin wo shinjimasuka
Do you believe in aliens?

Mller:
わたしは　信じます。
watashi wa shinjimasu
Yes, I do.

The meaning of this sentence, This sentence distinguish the person who believes in aliens.

Miller only mentions his belief but he never tells whether the other people do so or not.

■ limitations

英語は　話せます。
eigo wa hanasemasu
I can only speak English.

You only know the speaker can speak English. But you don’t know whether this guy can speak other languages or not.

the Usage of が ga

1. To Show a New Information

You can use が if you want to tell a new information to the listener.

Kimura:
見て！たぬきが　あそこに　います。
mite tanuki ga asokoni imasu
Look! There is the raccoon over there.

Miller:
どこ？あぁ、本当ですね。
Doko? ah hontoudesune
Where? Oh you’re right.

In this situation, Kimura wanted to show the animal to Miller. たぬき was the new information for Miller. He didn’t expect to encounter the raccoon.

if Kimura said like 「たぬきは　あそこに　います。」

Miller has already known that there are たぬき near here. But he didn’t know where たぬき are.

Kimura:
ネズミは　チーズが　嫌いです。
nezumi wa chiizu ga kiraidesu
Mice don’t like cheeses.

Miller:
本当に？　知りませんでした。
hontouni? Shirimasendeshita
Really? I didn’t know that.

Mail online “Mice hate cheese, new study reveals”

In this situation, everyone knows mice. Of course you also know it right? However, He doesn’t know the new fact. So “mice” is the old information and “don’t like cheese” is the new information for Miller.

2. To Emphasize the Topic

You can use が if you want to emphasize the topic.

■ As a Subject

Miller:
毎日　誰が　料理しますか。
mainichi darega ryourishimasuka
Who cooks everyday?

Kimura:
わたしが　毎日　料理します。
watashi ga mainichi ryourishimasu
I cook everyday.

In this situation, Kimura emphasizes わたし. it’s not his Mum, Dad or siblings. it’s HIM.

If you Kimura says like 「わたしは　毎日　料理します。」, he just wants to tell the fact. So Miller would respond like “Oh, okay…😅 Sounds good. So does your sister cook too ?”

■ As an Object

Kimura:
どんな動物が　好きですか。
donna doubutsu ga sukidesu ka
What kind of animals do you like?

Miller:
わたしは　猫が　好きです。
Watashi wa neko ga sukidesu
I like cats.

Meaning of this situation, the animal which Miller likes is neither dogs nor rabbits, it is CATS.

If he says like 「猫は　好きです。」, Kimura might be think “Okay, he likes cats. So what about other animals…?”.

So, he is going to ask him;

Kimura:
他の　動物は　どうですか。
hoka no doubutsu wa doudesuka
What about others?

Miller：
犬は　好きですね。
inu wa sukidesune

Kimura: 😑
（ okay….he likes dogs. What about other animals!??? TELL MEEEEEE!!!😱)

Kimura might feel blurred in his head.

As I’ve already mentioned it, は sometimes means “limitations”.

Vocabulary Words

日本語	ふりがな	Pronunciation	English
好き	すき	suki	to like
嫌い	きらい	kirai	to dislike
上手	じょうず	jouzu	good at
得意	とくい	tokui	good at
下手	へた	heta	poor at
たくさん	–	takusan	a lot of
少し	すこし	sukoshi	a little / a few
全然	ぜんぜん	zenzen	not at all
早く	はやく	hayaku	early
速く	はやく	hayaku	fast

⭐️ 上手 is only used for 2nd or 3rd person. You can’t use it for yourself. If you want to use the word as “good at~”, you should use “得意”. Moreover, 得意 can use for 2nd and 3rd person too.

Words of Animals

We usually don’t use kanji for ⭐️ animals. Because these kanjis are difficult kanji for Japanese people too.

We generally use katakana or Hiragana for animals

You can watch the stroke orders of the kanji and practice pronunciations on my Youtube.

日本語	ふりがな	Pronunciation	English
⭐️ 鼠	ネズミ	nezumi	mouse
牛	ウシ	ushi	cow
⭐️虎	トラ	tora	tiger
⭐️兎	ウサギ	usagi	rabbit
蛇	ヘビ	hebi	snake
馬	ウマ	uma	horse
羊	ヒツジ	hitsuji	sheep
猿	サル	saru	monkey
鳥	トリ	tori	bird
犬	イヌ	inu	dog
⭐️猪	イノシシ	inoshishi	wild boar
猫	ネコ	neko	cat
⭐️狸	タヌキ	tanuki	raccoon
狐	キツネ	kitsune	fox