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The sentence

Ashita wa ame ga furu deshou

uses a "wa" after ashita. But the sentence

Ashita kaerimasu

doesn't. Why is that? Is it being omitted or would it be wrong to say

ashita wa kaerimasu

?

Pablo
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  • Asita kaeru is an answer to question "when will you return?" while "asita wa kaeru" is that to "what will you do tomorrow?". – user4092 Jul 17 '17 at 09:21

2 Answers2

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あした{ashita}は{wa}　あめ{ame}が{ga}　ふ{fu}る{ru}で{de}しょう{syou}。

It has は because あした is the theme/subject of the predicate/sentence.

あした、かえり{kaeri}ます{masu}。

Here, あした is an adverb. It's just saying 'when.'

If you say

あしたは　かえります

あした becomes the theme/subject of the sentence. You can say this, too. It's no problem. Just it sounds like comparing with something, maybe comparing with きょう (today), or きのう (yesterday).

[Reply to additional request]

あした、かえります sounds simple; ex. "I'll be/go/come back/home tomorrow."

あしたはかえります most likely does not say someone or something named あした goes back. The action maker of かえります is someone you can tell from the context. It could be "(Sorry that I couldn't leave here by now, but) I'll come back tomorrow" or "(I enjoyed the sightseeing today.) Tomorrow, I'm going home."

karlalou
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  • how would you translate as literally as possible あした、かえります and あしたは　かえります. ? – Pablo Jul 17 '17 at 12:46
  • I've added the answer in the answer section above. :) – karlalou Jul 17 '17 at 14:51
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    "It has は because あした is the theme/subject" I think you meant to say 'topic' instead of 'subject'. The difference between topic and subject is already confusing to many people so mixing up the terms should be avoided – maritsm Jul 23 '21 at 10:52
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First thing you should know: "は" particle is a topic-marker particle used to form a statement. The comprehensive usage already explained here.

Given first example you have:

明日は雨が降るでしょう (It will rain tomorrow)

Here a noun (雨) and particle-が is used, then 明日 is a subject of the sentence which has particle-は before the noun as topic marker.

And the second example:

明日帰ります

Here "明日" used as adverb, there is unnecessary to use another "は". But if you want to place "明日" as a subject (i.e. for emphasis), you can add particle-は between the subject & verb:

明日は帰ります

Both are having same "I will return tomorrow" meaning. However the former structure is more often used, especially when combined with other subject:

パブロは明日帰ります。(Pablo will return tomorrow)

Here are some adverbs which have similar traits like 明日 or 昨日 (kinō, yesterday):

  • 去年 (kyonen)
  • 去月 (kyogetsu)
  • 一昨日 (ototoi)
  • 来週 (raishū)
  • 来月 (raigetsu)
  • 来年 (rainen)
Tetsuya Yamamoto
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    去月 (kyogetsu) Any particular reason for giving a rare term 去月 when we have far more common [先月]{せんげつ}? – chocolate Jul 21 '17 at 14:23