LEARN + JAPANESE / 42 of 186 JLPT N4
Well, Actually... が
You like the apartment, but the rent is high: 部屋はいいですが、家賃が高いです. が links two clauses with a contrast. In a polite conversation, it can also soften the turn into a request or new point.
が: But
I have few friends, but my brother has a lot.
I can drive, but my brother can't.
Hint · 힌트
が attaches directly to a plain-form verb or i-adjective with nothing in between. な-adjectives and nouns need だ first (苦手だが, not 苦手が), the same だ that shows up everywhere else plain-form sentences need it.
が: Softening a Request
I'm heading to the convenience store, do you need anything?
I have a Japanese exam tomorrow, and I can't remember the kanji.
Hint · 힌트
This が isn’t contrasting anything, there’s no “but” in either translation above. Paired with んです, が just cushions the sentence before a request or a follow-up, giving the listener a beat to catch up before you ask for something. Dropping it entirely, 何かいりますか alone, isn’t wrong, it just sounds slightly more abrupt.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| to be few | |
| to be many | |
| driving | |
| good at, skilled at | |
| bad at, weak at | |
| exam | |
| to remember, memorize | |
| opposition, objection | |
| personality | |
| price | |
| taste, flavor | |
| opinion | |
| reason | |
| problem, question | |
| question | |
| answer | |
| explanation | |
| actually, to tell the truth | |
| as expected, after all | |
| weather |
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