A. Wa indicates the topic (or something to be talked about) of a sentence and means "as for."
Examples
1. Sakana o tabemashita.
"Someone* ate fish."
2. Sakana ga tabemashita.
"A fish ate something."
3. Sakana wa tabemashita.
"As for fish, someone* ate it."or
"As for fish, it ate something."
(*"Someone"may be the speaker.)
ln the above examples, the same noun sakana "fish" and the same verb tabemashita "ate" are used in different sentences. The difference is the particle used in each sentence. Sakana in the first sentence is the object of the action of eating because the particle used in it is o, the object-indicating particle.
Sakana in the second sentence is something which does the action of eating because of the particle ga, the actor -indicating particle.
However, the third sentence cannot be interpreted in one specific way because the particle wa does not give any information about the grammatical case. The two interpretations above are possible because sakana means either an animal which eats, or food which is to be eaten.
The basic function of a wa-phrase is to present the topic of a sentence or a conversation and the rest of the sentence or a series of sentences give comments about the topic. The number of comments given about one topic cannot be limited.
You can give as many comments as you like.
Topic Comment
Ruin san wa Shokudoo e ikimashita.
Sakanafuraiteeshoku o tabemashita.
Sarada mo tabemashita.
Omuraisu wa tabemasen deshita.
E
E
E
Repeating the topic is usually unnecessary because both the speaker and the hearer know what they are talking about.
Wa is also used to show a contrast between two things, two actions, two events, etc.
Examples
1. A : Kinoo teepu o kikimashita ka.
"Did you listen to the tape yesterday?"
B : Iie. Kyoo wa kikimasu.
"No. I'll do so today."
2. A : Kyoo ikimasu ka.
"Are you going today?"
B : Iie, kyoo wa ikimasen. Kinoo ikimashita.
"No, I'm not going today. I went yesterday."
B. Mo also indicates the topic and means"too"or"also"in a positive sentence and "either"in a negative sentence.
Mo, like wa, does not indicate any grammatical case.
Examples
1. Ruin san mo tabemashita.
"Mr. Lwin also ate."
2. Sakana mo tabemashita.
"Someone* ate fish also."or
"The fish also ate something."
3. Ruin san mo sakana o tabemashita.
"Mr. Lwin also ate fish."
4. Shinbun mo Kaarin san ga yomimashita.
"Karin san read a newspaper also."
5. Kinoo ikimashita. Kyoo mo ikimasu.
"I went yesterday. l'll go today, too."
(*"Someone"may be the speaker.)
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