Xu Hướng 6/2023 # The Difference Between The Particles “Wa” And “Ga” # Top 11 View

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What is the difference between “wa” and “ga”「は」 and 「が」?

You’ve probably asked about it, maybe even compared a whole range of sentences trying to figure it out, but with no satisfying conclusion.

And do you know why you can never get a simple, straightforward answer?

Because it’s the wrong question to ask.

It does have an answer, but it doesn’t really tell the whole story.

Of course, there’s no way you could have known this. I certainly didn’t, and for a long time had the same trouble finding an answer that really made sense to me.

One day, however, when I was studying at a university in Japan, one of my teachers started talking about these things called “kaku joshi”「格かく助詞じょし」, or “case-marking particles”. These are a specific subset of particles that, for the most part, are the main particles we use in everyday Japanese – “de”「で」, “wo”「を」, “ni”「に」, and a few others.

But not “wa”「は」.

As she explained more, it became obvious why I could never get a clear answer. The problem was that instead of trying to figure out the difference between “wa” and “ga”「は」 and 「が」, I should have been asking…

What is the true purpose of “wa”「は」?

We know it defines the topic, but what exactly is that? And why do we use it in some situations but not others?

Understand this, and the choice between “wa” and “ga”「は」 and 「が」 becomes considerably easier, while also giving you a deeper understanding of the mindset behind the Japanese language as a whole.

Hopefully this article will help you see “wa”「は」 for what it really is, and as a result, be better equipped to choose between “wa” and “ga”「は」 and 「が」.

Disclaimer: I said easier. Not easy. Not crystal clear, never have to think about it again, but easier. The grammatical concept of the “topic” – which is what “wa”「は」 defines – is completely foreign to English (and most other languages for that matter), so of course it will take time and effort to fully understand. This article aims simply to remove a large portion of the confusion around it. It’s also somewhat generalised to make it more digestible.

Contents The difference between “wa”「は」 and the other major particles The true purpose of “wa”「は」 Comparing our options Sentences with both “wa” and “ga”「は」 and 「が」 Key take-aways

The difference between

“wa”

「は」

and the other major particles

What is so special about “wa”「は」?

The “kaku joshi”「格かく助詞じょし」, or case-marking particles, I referred to earlier are very simple in terms of their function – they tell us how the word or phrase before them relates directly to the action described by the verb.

And of particular note:

“ga”

「が」

tells us the subject of the verb; that is, who or what performs the action

So what is “wa”「は」?

“wa”「は」 marks the topic of the sentence; it tells us what we are talking about.

Let’s put that side-by-side for clarity:

“ga”

「が」

tells us who or what performs the action.

“ni”

「に」

tells us the destination of the action.

“de”

「で」

tells us where the action takes place.

“wa”

「は」

tells us what is being talked about in the sentence.

Unlike the other major particles, “wa”「は」 does not directly relate to the action in any specific way. Instead, it tells us information about the sentence (or, more accurately, the clause) in which it is used.

The reason “wa” and “ga”「は」 and 「が」 are so easily confused is because in a lot of cases, the sentence is talking about the person performing the action, so the topic and the subject are the same person (or animal or thing).

Let’s look at a really simple example:

Taro bought a book.

Here, the person who bought the book is Taro, so Taro is the subject of the verb “bought”.

At the same time, the sentence as a whole is talking about Taro, so in Japanese, the topic of the sentence would also be Taro.

As such, we could use either “wa”「は」 or “ga”「が」 to define Taro’s role:

tarō ga hon wo kaimashita

たろうがほんをかいました

太郎たろうが本ほんを買かいました

tarō wa hon wo kaimashita

たろうはほんをかいました

太郎たろうは本ほんを買かいました

Both of these sentences describe the exact same activity, and are also both 100% grammatically correct. They are, however, quite different.

To understand the difference, we need to understand the true purpose of “wa”「は」.

The true purpose of

“wa”

「は」

As we know, “wa”「は」 defines the topic. More specifically:

“wa”「は」 can be used in place of, or together with, other particles (as well as independently) to define the word or phrase before it as the topic of the sentence or clause.

The topic is basically the thing that we are talking about in the sentence.

But why do we ever need to define a topic, when it doesn’t even exist in most other languages?

Put simply: For clarification.

The true purpose of “wa”「は」 is to clarify the context within which the rest of the actions described in the sentence take place.

What does that mean?

Consider that when communicating in any language, there are two main parts:

Context

New information

We talk or write to communicate new information to others, and we do so with a certain amount of already understood or implied background information, or context.

Sometimes there is a lot of context, sometimes there is none, but it looks something like this:

What we have here is a context bubble, which is defined by all the contextual information we have at any given time. This changes constantly.

Next to it is the new or important information we are trying to communicate. In any given sentence, this new/important information only relates to whatever is inside the context bubble.

We can demonstrate this with a simple conversation in English:

Paul: What did Taro do today? Susan: He bought a book.

When Paul asks the question, there was no pre-existing context – the context bubble is empty. He had to express his question in full because if he didn’t, Susan wouldn’t know what Paul was talking about.

As he asks the question, though, the information in his question gets added to the context bubble for their conversation, which in this case is the person being spoken about (Taro) and the relevant time period (today).

This means that when it comes time for Susan to answer the question, she can just say “he” instead of “Taro”, since the context bubble tells us who “he” is. Similarly, she doesn’t need to say “today” in order for the timing of the action she’s describing to be understood. The constantly evolving context bubble saves us from repeating ourselves.

The same is true in Japanese, but with one small difference. Let’s take a look:

P: What did Taro do today?

P: tarō wa kyō nani wo shimashitaka

P: たろうはきょうなにをしましたか？

P: 太郎たろうは今日きょう何なにをしましたか？

S: (He) bought a book.

S: hon wo kaimashita

S: ほんをかいました

S: 本ほんを買かいました

As before, there is no context before Paul’s question, but as he asks it, Taro is added to the context bubble, together with timing of today – the same as we saw in English.

The difference is that in Japanese, instead of using “he”, the context allows Susan to not mention Taro in her answer at all.

In both languages, the information inside the context bubble doesn’t generally need to be repeated for the message to be understood.

In English, however, certain parts of the sentence need to be included for the sentence to be grammatical.

In this case, “he” is one of those words. It is necessary because English sentences must include a subject (the person/thing doing the action) to be grammatically complete. Depending on the verb, they sometimes also need an object (the thing the action was done to).

There are, however, no such requirements in Japanese, so we can just completely leave out the things that are already known.

This is part of the reason that pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, they, etc.) are far more common in English than in Japanese. We need them in English to form complete sentences without repeating the same information over and over again (imagine a five minute conversation in which Paul and Susan have to keep referring to Taro by name, instead of just as “he/him”…). In Japanese, however, these words simply aren’t needed.

So what does this have to do with “wa”「は」?

Recall what we said earlier – that “wa”「は」 clarifies the context for the rest of the actions in the sentence.

In other words, “wa”「は」 is used to redefine or clarify the contents of the context bubble, or part thereof.

The context bubble contains the background information we need to understand what we are talking about. The topic is basically just background information that needs clarifying.

In effect, the topic is the context bubble, or at least part of it. It gives us a way to explicitly state what we are talking about.

We would do this in situations where we start talking about something new, or when the context isn’t clear or has changed, either partially or completely.

The best way to illustrate this is to compare the different ways that we can communicate the same idea.

Comparing our options

You’ll recall that for our example, “Taro bought a book”, we had these two options:

tarō ga hon wo kaimashita

たろうがほんをかいました

太郎たろうが本ほんを買かいました

tarō wa hon wo kaimashita

たろうはほんをかいました

太郎たろうは本ほんを買かいました

As we have seen, we actually also have another option that can be used in certain situations:

(He) bought a book.

hon wo kaimashita

ほんをかいました

本ほんを買かいました

The question is, how do we choose between these three alternatives? Let’s look at each one.

The ‘nothing’ option

We already know that we can use the last option (which doesn’t mention Taro at all) when the context makes it obvious that we are talking about Taro, such as when answering a question that is specifically about Taro. This should be relatively straightforward, if not always easy.

The

‘ga’

「が」

option

“Ga”「が」 is basically the other extreme. It describes the full action literally, with the subject, object and verb defined in full.

This means that instead of using the context bubble, Taro is included in the new/important information part of the sentence.

Remember, “ga”「が」 marks the subject, telling us who or what performed the action, so the effect of this is that a direct connection is drawn between Taro and the act of buying.

Importantly, since it places him in the new/important information part, marking Taro with “ga”「が」 actually emphasises that Taro bought the book. Not someone else, but Taro.

We might want to emphasise Taro in a situation like this:

A: Who bought the book?

A: dare ga hon wo kaimashita ka?

A: だれがほんをかいましたか？

A: 誰だれが本ほんを買かいましたか？

B: Taro bought the book.

B: tarō ga hon wo kaimashita

B: たろうがほんをかいました

B:太郎たろうが本ほんを買かいました

In this case, B needs to emphasise “Taro” because that is the answer to the question being asked. Taro is new and important information.

This is also why “dare”「誰だれ」 should be followed by “ga”「が」 in the question. The ‘who’ is the information being sought, so of course it is important.

Quick note about this example

After A’s question, the book has, of course, moved into the context bubble…

…so B doesn’t need to include it. Instead, he could just respond:

B: Taro bought it.

B: tarō ga kaimashita.

B: たろうがかいました。

B:太郎たろうが買かいました。

Notice that in English, “the book” is replaced by “it”. The book has moved into the context bubble in English too, but because the English sentence would not be grammatically complete without an object (the thing that was bought), “it” is used to plug the hole.

The inclusion of the verb itself is a bit more optional. Complete sentences need verbs, so whether or not he includes “kaimashita”「買かいました」 would depend on whether or not he needs to answer in a complete sentence. If Taro were speaking with someone familiar, for example, he could avoid using a complete sentence answer and simply reply:

B: tarō (ga)

B: たろう (が)

B:太郎たろう (が)

“Ga”「が」 is optional here, and can help to emphasise that Taro is the person who performed the act of buying the book. It’s not usually necessary, however, when the verb is omitted and it is clear what role Taro played in the action being described (ie. it’s obvious that Taro bought the book, and wasn’t, for example the thing being bought).

The

‘wa’

「は」

option

“Wa”「は」 is somewhere in between the other two.

Where the ‘nothing’ option relies entirely on the context bubble, and the ‘ga’「が」 option doesn’t use the context bubble at all…

“wa”「は」 is used to clarify or add to the context bubble.

We use “wa”「は」 when:

it is not 100% obvious from context who or what is being talked about, AND

the ‘who’ or ‘what’ is not the important information trying to be communicated.

In the sentence…

tarō wa hon wo kaimashita

たろうはほんをかいました。

太郎たろうは本ほんを買かいました。

…“wa”「は」 is effectively used in place of “ga”「が」 to define Taro as the topic, so instead of putting him in the new/important information part of the sentence, we are adding him to the context bubble:

This difference is everything.

Taro is no longer emphasised, and we are basically putting him on the same level as background contextual information. We only mention Taro at all to clarify that he is the person we are talking about.

In effect, “wa”「は」 shifts the emphasis of the sentence away from the word or phrase it is marking, and onto the information that follows.

Instead of drawing a direct line between Taro and the act of buying, we are referring to Taro more generally. This is a bit like saying, “Speaking of Taro, …” or, “As for Taro, …”, and then describing what he did, as opposed to just directly saying, “Taro did this”.

We could therefore say that “tarō wa hon wo kaimashita”「太郎たろうは本ほんを買かいました」 is roughly equivalent to:

Speaking of Taro, bought a book.

Why do the Japanese phrase it in this more generalised way? Because that’s just how Japanese is. It is generally a vague and indirect language, and, as we’ve seen, even information that plays a major part in the action being described can be omitted entirely if it’s understood from context – not even a pronoun is required.

Although communication in Japanese may be vague, it’s important to note that what is actually communicated (eg. Taro bought a book) is usually just as specific as it might be in English. It is only the words used to describe it that tend to be more vague. As such, important information is often expressed in generic-sounding terms (eg. bought a book), with any other details just being implied by context. Then, if the existing context alone isn’t quite enough, “wa”「は」 is used to clarify it.

Now of course, “wa”「は」 is not only used at the beginning of conversations to define who we are talking about. It is used throughout conversations in many different ways to redefine and clarify the context bubble.

We can see this if we modify our example a little:

Speaking to Taro and Eriko A: What did you do today?

A: kyō nani wo shimashita ka?

A: きょう、なにをしましたか？

A: 今日きょう、何なにをしましたか？

Taro: I bought a book.

Taro: watashi wa hon wo kaimashita.

Taro: わたしはほんをかいました。

Taro: 私わたしは本ほんを買かいました。

Eriko: I went to school.

Eriko: watashi wa gakkō ni ikimashita.

Eriko: わたしはがっこうにいきました。

Eriko: 私わたしは学校がっこうに行いきました。

Here, if Taro were to simply say “hon wo kaimashita”「本ほんを買かいました」, it would imply that both Taro and Eriko bought a book. Because A’s question doesn’t mention anyone specific, the fact that she is talking to Taro and Eriko implies that she is asking about both of them. In effect, Taro and Eriko are both put inside the context bubble implicitly as the question is asked:

Their answers will apply to this context bubble unless it is changed, so to talk only about himself, Taro needs to clarify this by redefining the context bubble using “wa”「は」:

Taro: I bought a book.

Taro: watashi wa hon wo kaimashita

Taro: わたしはほんをかいました。

Taro: 私わたしは本ほんを買かいました。

Only then can he go on to provide the information that was being sought, since his answer only applies to himself.

We could say that his answer is roughly equivalent to:

Taro: As for me, bought a book.

Taro clarifies that he is speaking about himself, then conveys the important information.

We can see that Eriko then does the exact same thing.

She redefines the topic as herself (this time replacing Taro), then provides her answer as it relates to the new context bubble.

To be clear, if Taro (or Eriko for that matter) were to use “ga”「が」 in this situation, he would actually be emphasising that he did the act of buying, since this would place him in the new/important information part:

He does need to mention himself for clarity of course, but ultimately, the important information is what he did, not who did it. That is, after all, what the question was asking. The same is true for Eriko.

To recap, we have three main ways to describe a simple action that somebody did:

hon wo kaimashita

ほんをかいました

本ほんを買かいました

tarō ga hon wo kaimashita

たろうがほんをかいました

太郎たろうが本ほんを買かいました

tarō wa hon wo kaimashita

たろうはほんをかいました

太郎たろうは本ほんを買かいました

We can say that:

Neither

“wa”

「は」

nor

“ga”

「が」

is needed if it is obvious who/what we’re talking about

“Ga”

「が」

emphasises the information that comes before it as new or important information

“Wa”

「は」

helps clarify who/what we are talking about, shifting the emphasis to the information that comes after it

Now let’s look at some of the most common situations where “wa” and “ga”「は」 and 「が」 can be particularly confusing.

Sentences with both

“wa” and “ga”

「は」 and 「が」

Most non-complex sentences (ie. those without sub-clauses) will only contain either “wa”「は」 or “ga”「が」, but there are some that contain both. It is these sentences where the context bubble should start to be particularly handy.

“Wa” and “ga”「は」 and 「が」 usually appear together when we want to communicate information about someone or something, but do so by referring to them in relation to someone or something else.

One common situation is when we describe body parts; that is, we want to describe the body part, but in relation to the person to whom the body part belongs.

Let’s look at an example of this, starting with a sentence where the verb isn’t “desu”「です」:

His legs grew longer.

kare wa ashi ga nobimashita.

かれはあしがのびました。

彼かれは足あしが伸のびました。

Let’s break this down, working backwards.

First, let’s acknowledge the most important element in the sentence, our verb, “nobimashita”「伸のびました」, meaning “grew longer” or “lengthened”.

Next, let’s remember what “ga”「が」 does:

“ga”「が」 tells us the subject of the verb; that is, who or what performs the action.

So, who or what is it that grew longer? The thing marked by “ga”「が」 → “ashi”「足あし」.

Just using what we have so far, our sentence is:

(The) legs grew longer.

ashi ga nobimashita.

あしがのびました。

足あしが伸のびました。

That bring us to our last piece, “kare wa”「彼かれは」. Remember that:

“wa”「は」 is used to clarify or add to the context bubble.

By adding “kare wa”「彼かれは」 before “ashi ga nobimashita”「足あしが伸のびました」, we are just putting “kare”「彼かれ」 inside the context bubble.

With “wa”「は」, we are clarifying who we are talking about for the rest of the sentence, just as we did before.

Once we have that context bubble defined, we go on to say, “the legs grew longer”. This on its own is a generic statement about some legs, but since “kare”「彼かれ」 is in the context bubble, we know that the legs must belong to “him”. The result is something like this:

As for him, the legs grew longer.

This is obviously very different to English, where we would usually define the legs as being owned by him (his legs), and describe the action that his legs are performing (growing longer).

You can do this in Japanese too, so it’s not wrong to say, for example:

His legs grew longer.

kare no ashi wa nobimashita.

かれのあしはのびました。

彼かれの足あしは伸のびました。

This, however, isn’t a very natural way to express this kind of idea.

One thing I would like to point out here is that there is a major difference between this sentence and our example with Taro. The difference is:

Taro performed the act of buying the book.

“He” did not perform the act of growing longer.

Yet, both were marked by “wa”「は」 (at least in some cases).

The reason this is possible is because all “wa”「は」 did was tell us who the sentences were about. The important information was something else related to these people. In one case (Taro’s), it was what that person did. In the other, it was an action done by something else (his legs).

Now let’s see how this works with sentences that use “desu”「です」, both for body parts and various other things.

Using

“wa” and “ga”

「は」 and 「が」

when the main verb is

“desu”

「です」

“Desu”「です」 may be a special verb, but in terms of “wa”「は」 and our context bubble, nothing really changes.

Let’s look at an example sentence:

His legs are long. / He has long legs.

kare wa ashi ga nagai desu.

かれはあしがながいです。

彼かれは足あしが長ながいです。

We can break this down the same way we did a moment ago, except we need to clarify something first.

With adjectives, such as “nagai”「長ながい」, we should look at this as being grouped together with “desu”「です」 to form a single phrase meaning “being long” or “is long”. If we do this, we end up with a phrase that is comparable to other verbs, such as “nobimasu”「伸のびます」 (grow longer) from our previous example.

If we put them side-by-side…

nagai desu

長ながいです

= being long

nobimasu

伸のびます

= grow longer

This is simplifying things a little, but in order to make the highly irregular verb “desu”「です」 somewhat comparable with every other verb, we will group “nagai”「長ながい」 and “desu”「です」 together to be a single phrase that describes a certain act of being.

So, our action is “nagai desu”「長ながいです」, or “being long”.

Who or what is it that is “being long”? The thing marked by “ga”「が」 → “ashi”「足あし」.

Lastly, “kare wa”「彼かれは」 appears before “ashi ga nagai desu”「足あしが長ながいです」, so just like before, “kare”「彼かれ」 is inside the context bubble.

As always, we start by clarifying who we are talking about, then describe something related to that. In this case, that translates roughly to:

As for him, the legs are long.

Now, let’s apply this approach to a few more confusing situations.

Suki

好すき

kirai

嫌きらい

and

hoshī

欲ほしい

Coming from English, “suki”「好すき」 (like), “kirai”「嫌きらい」 (hate) and “hoshī”「欲ほしい」 (want) probably take some getting used to because they are adjectives, while their English equivalents are verbs. They are also often used in sentences that include both “wa” and “ga”「は」 and 「が」, so let’s see how we can apply the context bubble to make better sense of them.

Since they are adjectives, these words all work in exactly the same way as “nagai”「長ながい」 did in our previous example. Let’s take a look:

I like sushi.

watashi wa sushi ga suki desu.

わたしはすしがすきです。

私わたしはすしが好すきです。

If we break this down as we did before, we can see that the same rules apply.

What is the action? The adjective/verb combination “suki desu”「好すきです」, which roughly means “being liked”.

Who or what is performing that action? The word or phrase before “ga”「が」, which is “sushi”「すし」.

Our sentence so far is therefore:

Sushi is liked.

sushi ga suki desu.

すしがすきです。

すしが好すきです。

Lastly, who or what are we talking about? The word or phrase before “wa”「は」, which is “watashi”「私わたし」.

We therefore have “watashi”「私わたし」 in the context bubble, and this tells us who we are talking about when we say “sushi is liked”.

When talking about me, sushi is liked.

We can do exactly the same thing with “kirai”「嫌きらい」, “hoshī”「欲ほしい」, and other similar words.

I hate natto.

watashi wa nattō ga kirai desu.

わたしはなっとうがきらいです。

私わたしは納豆なっとうが嫌きらいです。

I want a new computer.

watashi wa atarashī pasokon ga hoshī desu.

わたしはあたらしいパソコンがほしいです。

私わたしは新あたらしいパソコンが欲ほしいです。

Again, this is obviously very different from English, where these ideas are expressed as actions that we perform – we like, hate and want things in the same way that we do things. Hopefully, though, you can see how this is entirely consistent with other Japanese expressions, and that the roles of “wa” and “ga”「は」 and 「が」 are clear and consistent. They just take a bit (or a lot) of getting used to.

Bonus: The

~tai

～たい

form of verbs

Verbs with the ~tai～たい ending, such as “tabetai”「食たべたい」, also work the same way as these adjectives because that’s exactly what they are. Let’s see an example:

I want to eat sushi.

watashi wa sushi ga tabetai desu.

わたしはすしがたべたいです。

私わたしはすしが食たべたいです。

Here’s what that looks like:

In this sentence, I’m talking about me, and then within that context, I’m saying in fairly generic-sounding terms that the eating of sushi is wanted.

Arimasu

あります

and

imasu

います

The verbs “arimasu”「あります」 and “imasu”「います」 can also be a little tricky, as they share similarities with “desu”「です」 as well as all other verbs. We can, however, apply all of the principles we’ve covered so far in the same way.

Let’s start by looking at an example where “arimasu”「あります」 is used just like any other verb that isn’t “desu”「です」:

Her bag is in the classroom.

kanojo no kaban wa kyōshitsu ni arimasu

かのじょのカバンはきょうしつにあります。

彼女かのじょのカバンは教室きょうしつにあります。

The first thing we need to make absolutely clear – just to be on the safe side – is that even though the English translation here uses the verb “is” or “to be”, it has a distinctly different meaning to when “desu”「です」 was used.

While “desu”「です」 is essentially used to equate two things as being the same (A = B), “arimasu”「あります」 describes existence (as does “imasu”「います」).

As such, we could kind of translate the above as, “Her bag exists in the classroom”. We could not, however, change our “desu”「です」 example sentence to “His legs exist long”. These “to be” words mean very different things.

Now, if we put this “arimasu”「あります」 sentence side-by-side with our example from earlier, we can see that they are very similar:

tarō wa hon wo kaimashita.

kanojo no kaban wa kyōshitsu ni arimasu.

たろうはほんをかいました。

かのじょのカバンはきょうしつにあります。

太郎たろうは本ほんを買かいました。

彼女かのじょのカバンは教室きょうしつにあります。

Who/what is performing the action in each of these sentences?

“tarō”

「太郎たろう」

is the person watching

“kanojo no kaban”

「彼女かのじょのカバン」

is the thing that is being/existing

As these are the person/thing performing the action, they could be marked by “ga”「が」, but as we have learned, this would emphasise them too much.

Instead, we use “wa”「は」 to define them as our topic, essentially demoting them to the context bubble. Then, using that context bubble, we describe the important information that we actually want to communicate:

This should be relatively straightforward.

However, “arimasu”「あります」 and “imasu”「います」 are also sometimes used in sentences that include both “wa” and “ga”「は」 and 「が」, and this is where it can get confusing.

Fortunately, our same rules apply – “wa”「は」 defines/clarifies the context bubble, and “ga”「が」 defines the thing that is performing the act of “being” (or, if it’s easier, “existing”).

For example:

I have an older sister.

watashi wa ane ga imasu.

わたしはあねがいます。

私わたしは姉あねがいます。

First, we clarify that “watashi”「私わたし」 is in the context bubble. Then, in that context, we describe the older sister as being/existing.

Within the context of “watashi”「私わたし」, an older sister exists.

Here’s another example:

He doesn’t have any money.

kare wa okane ga arimasen.

かれはおかねがありません。

彼かれはお金かねがありません。

Within the context of “kare”「彼かれ」, no money exists.

As a side note, notice how the way we express these ideas in English is with the word “have”, not “be” or “exist”. This is further evidence of the indirect nature of the Japanese language. In Japanese, I don’t own my sister, just as “he” doesn’t own money. My sister and money exist on their own; they just so happen to do so in a way that relates to me and him, respectively.

This reflects a broader cultural and linguistic difference that actually shapes the way we view the world. Generally:

In English, people do and own things.

In Japanese, things happen and exist.

I’ve often thought about the chicken-and-egg situation that this represents – did the Japanese culture of indirectness evolve due to the structure of the language, or did the language evolve to make vague expression easier? I suspect the answer is both, as ultimately, language is culture.

Key take-aways

Here are the main lessons I hope you can take from this article:

Particles like

“ga”

「が」

“wo”

「を」

and

“ni”

「に」

define how certain things relate to the action, while

“wa”

「は」

tells us what is being talked about in the sentence

There are two main things that determine the meaning of what we communicate – context, and new/important information

Marking something as the subject using “ga” classifies it as new/important information, giving it emphasis

“wa”

「は」

allows us to redefine or clarify some or all of the context before stating new/important information

“wa”

「は」

shifts the emphasis of the sentence away from the word or phrase it is marking, and onto the information the follows

Of course, this doesn’t cover absolutely everything. Entire books have been written about “wa” and “ga”「は」 and 「が」 simply because there are so many different variables at play in any given situation.

Hopefully, though, you now have a better understanding of the difference between these two essential particles, and will be able to apply these lessons much more widely than I have here.

The Difference Between The Particles “Wa” And “Ga”

You’ve probably asked about it, maybe even compared a whole range of sentences trying to figure it out, but with no satisfying conclusion.

And do you know why you can never get a simple, straightforward answer?

Because it’s the wrong question to ask.

It does have an answer, but it doesn’t really tell the whole story.

Of course, there’s no way you could have known this. I certainly didn’t, and for a long time had the same trouble finding an answer that really made sense to me.

One day, however, when I was studying at a university in Japan, one of my teachers started talking about these things called “kaku joshi”, or “case-marking particles”. These are a specific subset of particles that, for the most part, are the main particles we use in everyday Japanese – “de” 「で」, “wo” 「を」, “ni” 「に」, and a few others.

As she explained more, it became obvious why I could never get a clear answer. The problem was that instead of trying to figure out the difference between “wa” and “ga” 「は」 and 「が」, I should have been asking…

We know it defines the topic, but what exactly is that? And why do we use it in some situations but not others?

Understand this, and the choice between “wa” and “ga” 「は」 and 「が」 becomes considerably easier, while also giving you a deeper understanding of the mindset behind the Japanese language as a whole.

Hopefully this article will help you see “wa” 「は」 for what it really is, and as a result, be better equipped to choose between “wa” and “ga” 「は」 and 「が」.

Disclaimer: I said easier. Not easy. Not crystal clear, never have to think about it again, but easier. The grammatical concept of the “topic” – which is what “wa” 「は」 defines – is completely foreign to English (and most other languages for that matter), so of course it will take time and effort to fully understand. This article aims simply to remove a large portion of the confusion around it. It’s also somewhat generalised to make it more digestible.

The difference between “wa” 「は」 and the other major particles

What is so special about “wa” 「は」?

The “kaku joshi”, or case-marking particles, I referred to earlier are very simple in terms of their function – they tell us how the word or phrase before them relates directly to the action described by the verb.

And of particular note:

“wa” 「は」 marks the topic of the sentence; it tells us what we are talking about.

Let’s put that side-by-side for clarity:

Unlike the other major particles, “wa” 「は」 does not directly relate to the action in any specific way. Instead, it tells us information about the sentence (or, more accurately, the clause) in which it is used.

The reason “wa” and “ga” 「は」 and 「が」 are so easily confused is because in a lot of cases, the sentence is talking about the person performing the action, so the topic and the subject are the same person (or animal or thing).

Let’s look at a really simple example:

Taro bought a book.

Here, the person who bought the book is Taro, so Taro is the subject of the verb “bought”.

At the same time, the sentence as a whole is talking about Taro, so in Japanese, the topic of the sentence would also be Taro.

As such, we could use either “wa” 「は」 or “ga” 「が」 to define Taro’s role:

Both of these sentences describe the exact same activity, and are also both 100% grammatically correct. They are, however, quite different.

To understand the difference, we need to understand the true purpose of “wa” 「は」.

The true purpose of “wa” 「は」

As we know, “wa” 「は」 defines the topic. More specifically:

“wa” 「は」 can be used in place of, or together with, other particles (as well as independently) to define the word or phrase before it as the topic of the sentence or clause.

The topic is basically the thing that we are talking about in the sentence.

But why do we ever need to define a topic, when it doesn’t even exist in most other languages?

Put simply: For clarification.

What does that mean?

Consider that when communicating in any language, there are two main parts:

We talk or write to communicate new information to others, and we do so with a certain amount of already understood or implied background information, or context.

Sometimes there is a lot of context, sometimes there is none, but it looks something like this:

Next to it is the new or important information we are trying to communicate. In any given sentence, this new/important information only relates to whatever is inside the context bubble.

We can demonstrate this with a simple conversation in English:

Paul: What did Taro do today? Susan: He bought a book.

The same is true in Japanese, but with one small difference. Let’s take a look:

The difference is that in Japanese, instead of using “he”, the context allows Susan to not mention Taro in her answer at all.

In both languages, the information inside the context bubble doesn’t generally need to be repeated for the message to be understood.

In English, however, certain parts of the sentence need to be included for the sentence to be grammatical.

There are, however, no such requirements in Japanese, so we can just completely leave out the things that are already known.

Recall what we said earlier – that “wa” 「は」 clarifies the context for the rest of the actions in the sentence.

The context bubble contains the background information we need to understand what we are talking about. The topic is basically just background information that needs clarifying.

In effect, the topic is the context bubble, or at least part of it. It gives us a way to explicitly state what we are talking about.

We would do this in situations where we start talking about something new, or when the context isn’t clear or has changed, either partially or completely.

The best way to illustrate this is to compare the different ways that we can communicate the same idea.

Comparing our options

You’ll recall that for our example, “Taro bought a book”, we had these two options:

As we have seen, we actually also have another option that can be used in certain situations:

The question is, how do we choose between these three alternatives? Let’s look at each one.

The ‘nothing’ option

“Ga” 「が」 is basically the other extreme. It describes the full action literally, with the subject, object and verb defined in full.

This means that instead of using the context bubble, Taro is included in the new/important information part of the sentence.

Importantly, since it places him in the new/important information part, marking Taro with “ga” 「が」 actually emphasises that Taro bought the book. Not someone else, but Taro.

We might want to emphasise Taro in a situation like this:

In this case, B needs to emphasise “Taro” because that is the answer to the question being asked. Taro is new and important information.

This is also why “dare” should be followed by “ga” 「が」 in the question. The ‘who’ is the information being sought, so of course it is important.

Quick note about this example

After A’s question, the book has, of course, moved into the context bubble…

B: Taro bought it.

B: tarō ga kaimashita.

B: たろうがかいました。

The inclusion of the verb itself is a bit more optional. Complete sentences need verbs, so whether or not he includes “kaimashita” would depend on whether or not he needs to answer in a complete sentence. If Taro were speaking with someone familiar, for example, he could avoid using a complete sentence answer and simply reply:

B: tarō (ga)

B: たろう (が)

“Ga” 「が」 is optional here, and can help to emphasise that Taro is the person who performed the act of buying the book. It’s not usually necessary, however, when the verb is omitted and it is clear what role Taro played in the action being described (ie. it’s obvious that Taro bought the book, and wasn’t, for example the thing being bought).

“Wa” 「は」 is somewhere in between the other two.

Where the ‘nothing’ option relies entirely on the context bubble, and the ‘ga’ 「が」 option doesn’t use the context bubble at all…

it is not 100% obvious from context who or what is being talked about, AND

the ‘who’ or ‘what’ is not the important information trying to be communicated.

In the sentence…

…”wa” 「は」 is effectively used to define Taro as the topic, so instead of putting him in the new/important information part of the sentence, we are adding him to the context bubble:

In effect, “wa” 「は」 shifts the emphasis of the sentence away from the word or phrase it is marking, and onto the information that follows.

We could therefore say that “tarō wa hon wo kaimashita” is roughly equivalent to:

Speaking of Taro, bought a book.

Now of course, “wa” 「は」 is not only used at the beginning of conversations to define who we are talking about. It is used throughout conversations in many different ways to redefine and clarify the context bubble.

We can see this if we modify our example a little:

Speaking to Taro and Eriko A: What did you do today?

A: kyō nani wo shimashita ka?

A: きょう、なにをしましたか？

Here, if Taro were to simply say “hon wo kaimashita”, it would imply that both Taro and Eriko bought a book. Because A’s question doesn’t mention anyone specific, the fact that she is talking to Taro and Eriko implies that she is asking about both of them. In effect, Taro and Eriko are both put inside the context bubble implicitly as the question is asked:

We could say that his answer is roughly equivalent to:

Taro: As for me, bought a book.

Taro clarifies that he is speaking about himself, then conveys the important information.

We can see that Eriko then does the exact same thing.

To be clear, if Taro (or Eriko for that matter) were to use “ga” 「が」 in this situation, he would actually be emphasising that he did the act of buying, since this would place him in the new/important information part:

To recap, we have three main ways to describe a simple action that somebody did:

We can say that:

Neither “wa” 「は」 nor “ga” 「が」 is needed if it is obvious who/what we’re talking about

“Ga” 「が」 emphasises the information that comes before it as new or important information

“Wa” 「は」 helps clarify who/what we are talking about, shifting the emphasis to the information that comes after it

Now let’s look at some of the most common situations where “wa” and “ga” 「は」 and 「が」 can be particularly confusing.

Sentences with both “wa” and “ga” 「は」 and 「が」

Most non-complex sentences (ie. those without sub-clauses) will only contain either “wa” 「は」 or “ga” 「が」, but there are some that contain both. It is these sentences where the context bubble should start to be particularly handy.

“Wa” and “ga” 「は」 and 「が」 usually appear together when we want to communicate information about someone or something, but do so by referring to them in relation to someone or something else.

One common situation is when we describe body parts; that is, we want to describe the body part, but in relation to the person to whom the body part belongs.

Let’s look at an example of this, starting with a sentence where the verb isn’t “desu” 「です」:

Let’s break this down, working backwards.

First, let’s acknowledge the most important element in the sentence, our verb, “nobimashita”, meaning “grew longer” or “lengthened”.

Next, let’s remember what “ga” 「が」 does:

“ga” 「が」 tells us the subject of the verb; that is, who or what performs the action.

So, who or what is it that grew longer? The thing marked by “ga” 「が」 → “ashi”.

Just using what we have so far, our sentence is:

“wa” 「は」 is used to clarify or add to the context bubble.

As for him, the legs grew longer.

This is obviously very different to English, where we would usually define the legs as being owned by him (his legs), and describe the action that his legs are performing (growing longer).

You can do this in Japanese too, so it’s not wrong to say, for example:

His legs grew longer.

kare no ashi wa nobimashita.

かれのあしはのびました。

This, however, isn’t a very natural way to express this kind of idea.

One thing I would like to point out here is that there is a major difference between this sentence and our example with Taro. The difference is:

Taro performed the act of buying the book.

“He” did not perform the act of growing longer.

Yet, both were marked by “wa” 「は」 (at least in some cases).

The reason this is possible is because all “wa” 「は」 did was tell us who the sentences were about. The important information was something else related to these people. In one case (Taro’s), it was what that person did. In the other, it was an action done by something else (his legs).

Now let’s see how this works with sentences that use “desu” 「です」, both for body parts and various other things.

Using “wa” and “ga” 「は」 and 「が」 when the main verb is “desu” 「です」

“Desu” 「です」 may be a special verb, but in terms of “wa” 「は」 and our context bubble, nothing really changes.

Let’s look at an example sentence:

We can break this down the same way we did a moment ago, except we need to clarify something first.

With adjectives, such as “nagai”, we should look at this as being grouped together with “desu” 「です」 to form a single phrase meaning “being long” or “is long”. If we do this, we end up with a phrase that is comparable to other verbs, such as “nobimasu” (grow longer) from our previous example.

If we put them side-by-side…

This is simplifying things a little, but in order to make the highly irregular verb “desu” 「です」 somewhat comparable with every other verb, we will group “nagai” and “desu” 「です」 together to be a single phrase that describes a certain act of being.

Who or what is it that is “being long”? The thing marked by “ga” 「が」 → “ashi”.

As for him, the legs are long.

Now, let’s apply this approach to a few more confusing situations.

Coming from English, “suki” (like), “kirai” (hate) and “hoshī” (want) probably take some getting used to because they are adjectives, while their English equivalents are verbs. They are also often used in sentences that include both “wa” and “ga” 「は」 and 「が」, so let’s see how we can apply the context bubble to make better sense of them.

If we break this down as we did before, we can see that the same rules apply.

Who or what is performing that action? The word or phrase before “ga” 「が」, which is “sushi” 「すし」.

Our sentence so far is therefore:

Sushi is liked.

sushi ga suki desu.

すしがすきです。

Lastly, who or what are we talking about? The word or phrase before “wa” 「は」, which is “watashi”.

I hate natto.

watashi wa nattō ga kirai desu.

わたしはなっとうがきらいです。

Again, this is obviously very different from English, where these ideas are expressed as actions that we perform – we like, hate and want things in the same way that we do things. Hopefully, though, you can see how this is entirely consistent with other Japanese expressions, and that the roles of “wa” and “ga” 「は」 and 「が」 are clear and consistent. They just take a bit (or a lot) of getting used to.

Bonus: The ~tai ～たい form of verbs

Verbs with the ~tai ～たい ending, such as “tabetai”, also work the same way as these adjectives because that’s exactly what they are. Let’s see an example:

I want to eat sushi.

Here’s what that looks like:

The verbs “arimasu” 「あります」 and “imasu” 「います」 can also be a little tricky, as they share similarities with “desu” 「です」 as well as all other verbs. We can, however, apply all of the principles we’ve covered so far in the same way.

Let’s start by looking at an example where “arimasu” 「あります」 is used just like any other verb that isn’t “desu” 「です」:

While “desu” 「です」 is essentially used to equate two things as being the same (A = B), “arimasu” 「あります」 describes existence (as does “imasu” 「います」).

As such, we could kind of translate the above as, “Her bag exists in the classroom”. We could not, however, change our “desu” 「です」 example sentence to “His legs exist long”. These “to be” words mean very different things.

Now, if we put this “arimasu” 「あります」 sentence side-by-side with our example from earlier, we can see that they are very similar:

tarō wa hon wo kaimashita.

kanojo no kaban wa kyōshitsu ni arimasu.

かのじょのカバンはきょうしつにあります。

Who/what is performing the action in each of these sentences?

As these are the person/thing performing the action, they could be marked by “ga” 「が」, but as we have learned, this would emphasise them too much.

Instead, we use “wa” 「は」 to define them as our topic, essentially demoting them to the context bubble. Then, using that context bubble, we describe the important information that we actually want to communicate:

However, “arimasu” 「あります」 and “imasu” 「います」 are also sometimes used in sentences that include both “wa” and “ga” 「は」 and 「が」, and this is where it can get confusing.

Fortunately, our same rules apply – “wa” 「は」 defines/clarifies the context bubble, and “ga” 「が」 defines the thing that is performing the act of “being” (or, if it’s easier, “existing”).

For example:

This reflects a broader cultural and linguistic difference that actually shapes the way we view the world. Generally:

In English, people do and own things.

In Japanese, things happen and exist.

Key take-aways

Here are the main lessons I hope you can take from this article:

Particles like “ga” 「が」, “wo” 「を」 and “ni” 「に」 define how certain things relate to the action, while “wa” 「は」 tells us what is being talked about in the sentence

There are two main things that determine the meaning of what we communicate – context, and new/important information

Marking something as the subject using “ga” classifies it as new/important information, giving it emphasis

“wa” 「は」 allows us to redefine or clarify some or all of the context before stating new/important information

“wa” 「は」 shifts the emphasis of the sentence away from the word or phrase it is marking, and onto the information the follows

Of course, this doesn’t cover absolutely everything. Entire books have been written about “wa” and “ga” 「は」 and 「が」 simply because there are so many different variables at play in any given situation.

Hopefully, though, you now have a better understanding of the difference between these two essential particles, and will be able to apply these lessons much more widely than I have here.

Japanese Particles Guide: Wa, Ni, No, Ga…

Japanese particles are small words that indicate relations of words within a sentence. Most of Japanese learners are not found of particles and most teachers don’t make things easier. If you have trouble keeping all the particles straight, this guide will illuminate you by explaining how to perfectly use them. Take on the quiz at the end of this guide to test your understanding of Japanese Particles!

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How to use Japanese Particles? は (wa)

は (wa) follows the topic the speaker wants to talk about. Therefore, wa（は）is often called topic marking particle. The “topic” is often the grammatical subject, but can be anything (including the grammatical object, and sometimes the verb), and it may also follow some other particles.

Formation

[ A ] wa [ B ] desu. = [ A ] is [ B ].

Example

も (mo) functions as “also” or “too” in English. It is used to indicate that something that has previously been stated also holds true for the item currently under discussion. It replaces ga, wa or o when used.

Formation

[Object1] は [property1/action1] です [Object2] も [property1/action1] です.

Example

A: 私はフランス人です。Watashi wa furansujin desu. I am French. B: 私もフランス人です。Watashi mo furansujin desu.I am also French.

に (ni) indicates a place toward where someone or something moves. It is preceded by the name of the place and followed by a verb which indicates a moving action such as iku (行く) “to go.” It is also used with giving/receiving verbs and can then mean “from”. In the case of passive verbs, it marks the grammatical agent, making it the same as “by” in English. (i.e. “my wallet was stolen by my brother.” ). に is also used to indicate the location of existence when combined with the verbs いる or ある, making it the Japanese version of “at” (in some instances).

へ (e) is basically the same as に, except it emphasizes direction over arrival. The main difference is usage. へ is never used as “from”, “by”, “at”. In addition, the particle の can follow the へ particle directly, whereas it cannot follow に.

で (de) is used to indicate location of an action. The performer of the action (the subject) is followed by either of the particles wa or ga, and the place is followed by de. However it can’t be used with with the verbs いる or ある.

が (ga) marks the grammatical subject of a sentence when it is first introduced to a conversation. It can also be used to join sentences, like the word “but”, but that が is technically a different word. The particle が can also be used to emphasize the subject or distinguish it from others. While は is used when a question word (who, where, etc) comes after the topic in the sentence (レストランはどこですか。), we use the particle が when the question word is the subject or part of it.

や (ya) is used in the same way as the first sense of と, but the list is not exhaustive. It means “such things as A, B, and C”.

Formation Example

の (no) indicates possession (functioning like the English “apostrophe-S”). In the structure A no B, B belongs to A, however, many nouns act like adjectives when followed by no. It directly follows nouns and noun phrases.

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Let’s Learn Japanese Particles: が (Ga), から (Kara), And まで (Made) !

Particles: が (ga)

An indication of a location

The Japanese particle が (ga) marks the subject of a sentence when it is first introduced to a conversation. が (ga) can also be used for joining sentences, such as the word “but”. However, the Japanese particle が (ga) is technically a different word when using it.

The particle が (ga), in addition, can also be used as a way to emphasize the subject or distinguish the subject from others and can be used as “but” as well.

Although は (wa) is used when question words such as who and where comes after the topic in the sentence. However, the particle が (ga) is used when a question word is the subject or part is a subject in a sentence.

Example

白い犬が好きです。Shiroi inu ga suki desu.I like white dogs (as opposed to liking other colors of dogs). この駅で降りたのですが…Kono eki de oritani no desu ga…I want to go see a movie, but…

An indication of but/and

In addition, the Japanese particle が (ga) at the end of the sentence or phrase, means “but” or in some cases “and.” Furthermore, the usage of が (ga) as “but” can be used in the same way as “but” in English, and can also be used when wanting to be cautious.

Example

教授と話したいのですが…Kyoju to hanashitai no desu ga…I want to talk to the professor, and/but…

Japanese Particles : から (kara)

An indication of “from”

When the particle から (kara) is placed directly after a noun or a certain time phrase, it usually means “from”.

Example

アメリカから来ました。Amerika kara kimashita.I come from America. 来週からからゴールデンウイークです。Raishu kara go-ruden ui-ku desu.From (Starting) next week, it is Golden Week.

An indication of “because”

If the Japanese particle から (kara) is placed directly after a verb or an i-adjective*, it usually means “because.” Although から (kara) can also be used as “because” with na-adjectives⁑ and nouns, this can only occur if it is paired with endings です (desu / formal) or だ (da / casual). In addition, から (kara) can be used at the end of a sentence rather than in the middle. As long as から (kara) is still at the end of the phrase, it will be the “reason” part of the sentence.

Example

今日は休日ですから、学校に行きません。Kyou wa kyujitsu desu kara, gakkou ni ikimasen.Because today is a holiday, I will not go to school. 静かにしてください。図書館の中にいますから。Shizuka ni shite kudasai. Toshokan no naka ni imasu kara.Please be quiet. Since you are inside the library.

An indication of “after”

When the verb comes before the particle から (kara) and is a -Te form⁂ verb, から (kara) means “after” rather than “because”

Example

勉強してから、出かけます。Benkyou shite kara, dekake masu.After studying, I will go out.

*i-adjectives: Always ends with “i”. ⁑na-adjective: Conjugation is same as a noun. ⁂-Te form: a verb with a modified ending

Japanese Particles : まで (made)

Period of time

In the case of the particle まで (made), it described a period of time. In general, the Japanese particle まで (made) was defined as “until”. Grammatically, it is usually attached to the end of nouns and dictionary form of verbs.

Example

この授業は１時半から３時までです。Kono jyugyo wa ichi ji han kara san ji made desu.This class is from 1:30 until 3:00. 来年の三月まで教授の授業を受けます。Rainen no sangatsu made jyugyo o ukemasu.I’ll take the professor’s seminar until March of next year.

Point in time

In the case of the particle に (ni) is attached to the Japanese particle まで (made), which indicates the end of an exact point in time. For example, as in “before” or “by the time of”. Simply, the particle まで (made), in this case, was used for phrases mainly of “until I do something”.

Example

レポートを明日までに提出しなくちゃいけません。Repo-to o ashita made ni teishutsu shinakucha ikemasen.I have to submit the homework by tomorrow. 六時までに電話します。Rokuj made ni denwa shimasu.I will call you by 6 o’clock.

Indication of a location

In this case, the Japanese particle まで (made) is used to express the time or period related to a location. Usually, the Japanese particle まで (made) was defined as “by”.

Example

明日までにこのレポートを書かなければならないのです。Ashita made ni kono repo-to o kakanaikereba naranai no desu.I have to write this report by tomorrow. 東京から京都まではどのぐらい掛かりますか。Tokyo kara Kyoto made wa dono gurai kakarimasuka?How long does it take from Tokyo to Kyoto?

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Đi Tàu Hỏa Ga Đà Lạt – Ga Trại Mát

>> Kiến trúc tuyệt đẹp của nhà thờ Chánh Tòa Đà Lạt

Ga Đà Lạt nằm ở số 1 Quang Trung, phường 10, Tp. Đà Lạt, tỉnh Lâm Đồng. Giờ mở cửa: 07:00 – 17:00. Giá vé tham quan: 5.000 đ/ người (chưa tính phí gửi xe máy nếu bạn tham quan nơi này bằng xe máy).

Ga Đà Lạt được khởi công xây dựng vào năm 1932 và hoàn thành năm 1938, dưới thời Pháp thuộc, là tuyến đường sắt đầu tiên của Việt Nam – tuyến đường sắt kết nối Phan Rang và Đà Lạt. Kể từ khi có nhà ga xe lửa, Đà Lạt đã trở thành một địa điểm được nhiều người biết đến.

Năm 1972, tuyến đường sắt bị hư hỏng do chiến tranh, nên nhà ga Đà Lạt ngưng hoạt động. Đến năm 1975, sau khi giải phóng thì tuyến đường sắt được khôi phục. Nhưng nhà ga Đà Lạt chỉ còn phục vụ du lịch và không còn dùng vận chuyển hàng hóa như trước nữa.

Bên trong sân ga Đà Lạt. Hai nhà thiết kế Moncet và Reveron đã lấy ý tưởng từ hình ảnh của dãy Langbiang hùng vĩ, thiết kế nên nhà ga có hình dáng đặc trưng với 3 chóp nhọn.

Những đoàn tàu này, có tàu thì làm quán cà phê, có tàu thì để trưng chụp ảnh, có tàu thì vẫn còn hoạt động chở khách tham quan một đoạn từ ga Đà Lạt đến ga Trại Mát hoặc ngược lại.

Nhà ga Đà Lạt được xem là tuyến đường sắt độc đáo vì đường sắt có 3 đường ray, được thiết kế theo kiểu Thuỵ Sĩ. Nơi đây còn lưu giữ đầu máy kéo chạy bằng hơi nước cổ nhất ở nước ta.

Ga Đà Lạt hiện nay là công trình cổ với 5 kỷ lục Việt Nam: nhà ga xe lửa cao nhất, nhà ga xe lửa đẹp nhất, nhà ga xe lửa cổ nhất (cùng với nhà ga Hải Phòng), nhà ga xe lửa có đầu tàu chạy bằng hơi nước duy nhất Việt Nam, nhà ga xe lửa độc đáo nhất.

Bảng giá vé tàu, mỗi chuyến phải có ít nhất 20 khách thì tàu mới chạy

Giờ tàu chạy (khứ hồi) từ ga Đà Lạt đi ga Trại Mát:

Chuyến 1: 7:45 – 9:15 Chuyến 2: 9:50 – 11:20 Chuyến 3: 11:55 – 13:25 Chuyến 4: 14:00 – 15:30 Chuyến 5: 16:05 – 17:35

Vé tàu

Vé ngồi cứng khứ hồi ga Đà Lạt – ga Trại Mát – ga Đà Lạt là 135.000 đ/ người lớn. Nếu ngồi ở toa VIP thì sẽ là toa ở 2 đầu tàu, dễ dàng di chuyển ra phía ngoài mà quay phim, chụp ảnh phong cảnh hơn.

Bên trong toa ngồi cứng

Tàu bắt đầu lăn bánh

Từ ga Đà Lạt tới ga Trại Mát tàu đi mất khoảng 30 phút, cho đoạn đường chừng 7 km, ngang qua nhà cửa, những làng hoa, vườn hồng ăn trái,…

Khi đến ga Trại Mát, tàu sẽ dừng và đón khách khác về lại ga Đà Lạt. Nếu du khách đi chuyến khứ hồi, sẽ có khoảng 1 tiếng cho du khách tham quan gần đó (chùa Linh Phước hay còn gọi là chùa Ve Chai, chùa Sành). Ảnh: Li Yan.

Một quán cà phê bình dân ở Trại Mát, cảnh thiệt bình yên.

Gần cổng chùa Linh Phước có quán bánh mì Trang, bán cả chay lẫn mặn. Mình ăn thấy cũng được lắm.

Cổng chùa Linh Phước (120 đường Tự Phước, phường Trại Mát, Tp. Đà Lạt, tỉnh Lâm Đồng)

Chánh điện chùa

Đường về

Đoạn phim nho nhỏ về hành trình đi tàu khứ hồi ga Đà Lạt – ga Trại Mát

Nếu bạn muốn đi tàu, nên gọi trước tới ga để hỏi về giờ chắc chắn có tàu chạy nha, khỏi mất công đợi hoặc không có tàu, hay hết vé. Điện thoại: 0263 3834 409.

*** Bài viết có sử dụng tư liệu từ nhiều nguồn trên Internet.

Cập nhật thông tin chi tiết về The Difference Between The Particles “Wa” And “Ga” trên website Raffles-design.edu.vn. Hy vọng nội dung bài viết sẽ đáp ứng được nhu cầu của bạn, chúng tôi sẽ thường xuyên cập nhật mới nội dung để bạn nhận được thông tin nhanh chóng và chính xác nhất. Chúc bạn một ngày tốt lành!