To give you a better idea of what we mean, let's look at an example. So, が is simultaneously telling us what the subject is, putting emphasis on it, and making it clear that nothing else is the subject. It is picking out the subject from a lineup of potential subjects, and saying, 'this is the one that did it.'Īs with a lineup, the act of picking out the subject - the doer - also lets the others in the lineup off the hook.

So just to recap, the particle が points a finger at the subject in the sentence, and in doing so puts emphasis on that subject, telling us that it is a very important piece of information in the sentence.　We like to think of が as the witness in a police lineup. What is 'this natto' doing? It's being delicious 🤤

In this final example, the subject is この納豆 (this natto). In this next sentence, the subject is 誰か (someone), and that someone is doing what comes next, in this case 'existing': For example, in the sentence below, あの犬 (dog) is the subject. The particle が always goes immediately after a noun - or something that behaves like a noun - to show that this noun is the subject. Beyond marking the subject, が also puts emphasis onto that subject, and excludes other possible subjects. In other words, が marks the grammatical subject. That is, the noun before が is the person or thing that's doing whatever comes next. The particle が goes after a noun to show us that the noun is the subject of a sentence. In other words, whatever comes before が is the person or thing that's doing whatever comes next.

In a sentence what is the subject