What Is the Difference Between は and が? Context and Focus in Japanese (Level 5)

From Contrast to Context

In Level 4, you learned how は and が create contrast, limitation, and emphasis inside a sentence.

👉 Previous article: What Is the Difference Between は and が? Contrast and Emphasis in Japanese (Level 4)

At Level 5, は and が are no longer just sentence-level tools.
They begin to work across sentences and within shared context.

Ha and Ga Difference: Level-by-Level Overview

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What changes at Level 5?

From sentence meaning to context meaning

At earlier levels, choosing は or が often worked sentence by sentence.

At Level 5, that approach breaks down.

Now, the choice depends on context:

・what has already been said
・what both speakers already share
・what is assumed but not spoken
・what the speaker wants to bring into focus right now

This is why Level 5 is often described as:

は → contextual topic
が → information focus

However, these labels are only starting points.

To really understand them, we need to see how は and が feel in real conversations.

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は as a contextual topic (Level 5)

Example 1

「日本語は難しいが、面白い。」

Literal meaning:
“Japanese is difficult, but interesting.”

But at Level 5, は does more than soften the statement.

Hidden context:

• “We are already talking about Japanese.”
• “Japanese is the shared topic between us.”
• “I am adding my evaluation inside that topic.”

The speaker is not introducing Japanese.
They are continuing a conversation thread.

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Conversation example

Aさん：
「最近、外国語の勉強どう？」

Bさん：
「日本語は難しいけど、面白いよ。」

What は signals here:

• “Among the languages we could talk about…”
• “Staying inside the topic you just raised…”
• “Here is my view, not a universal fact”

If B said 日本語が難しい, it would sound like:
“I am pointing out a fact about Japanese.”

But B is not doing that.
B is responding within context.

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が as information focus (Level 5)

Example 2

「日本語が難しい。」

Literal meaning:
“Japanese is difficult.”

This sentence looks simple, but the focus is sharp.

Hidden context:

• Someone might think Japanese is easy.
• Or several languages are being discussed.
• Or the speaker wants to correct or clarify something.

Here, が pulls Japanese into the spotlight.

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Conversation example

Aさん：
「中国語と日本語、どっちが難しいと思う？」

Bさん：
「うーん…発音は中国語かな。でも文法は、日本語が難しい。」

Why が is natural here

This is a comparison in progress, not a final answer.

At first, B splits the comparison:

• pronunciation → Chinese
• grammar → Japanese

By doing this, B is no longer answering
“Which language is harder overall?”

Instead, B is zooming in on one aspect.

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Hidden nuance in

「日本語が難しい」

What B highlights is grammar.
The comparison pauses, and attention narrows to one point.
That is the feeling が creates here.

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What would は sound like here?

If B said:

「日本語は難しい。」

It would sound like:

• a general statement
• stepping outside the comparison
• shifting to a broader opinion about Japanese

That slightly breaks the flow of the conversation.

Same sentence, different meaning in a paragraph

This is the key Level 5 idea.

Look at these two sentences:

1. 日本語は難しい。
2. 日本語が難しい。

They can both be correct.

But they do different jobs.

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Why Level 5 feels unstable (and that’s okay)

At Level 5:

・both は and が can be grammatically correct
・the difference is not visible on the surface
・context does the work silently

This is why learners often say: “I know the grammar, but I’m not confident.”

That feeling is not a failure.
It means you are reading between sentences, not just words.

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What you will learn in Level 6

At the final level, the question changes again.

You will see cases where:

• both は and が are fully correct
• the difference is stylistic
• the choice reflects the speaker’s attitude or tone

This is where personal judgment starts to matter more than explanation.

👉 Level 6 will explore that shift.