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According to Google, I should use ga:

(Anata wa) sushi ga sukidesuka?

Why ga and not wa?

Earthliŋ
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alex
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    Google knows nothing about the context of your conversation, so it cannot determine whether は or が is more appropriate. Sadly, after three years of study I still don't feel confident enough to explain it well. – user3856370 Apr 07 '18 at 15:26
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    Related: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/22/whats-the-difference-between-wa-%E3%81%AF-and-ga-%E3%81%8C?noredirect=1&lq=1 ; see especially "contrastive は" and が as a neutral descriptive – mamster Apr 07 '18 at 15:47
  • I'd strongly urge you to first get your katakana down. It matters if you really want to learn, and, subsequently, use Japanese. Regarding your question, I suggest reading the post mamster provided above, and then watch this video, which was decisive in helping me establish a better understanding of は and が: The Ultimate Guide To: は vs が I had read more than a handful of articles concerning this topic, and, as thorough and well written as they were, they really only confused me more as a beginner. This video, however, made a huge difference. – Yeti Ape Apr 08 '18 at 01:40

2 Answers2

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This is a big question, because it can't be answered fully without going deep into the semantics of は and が, and I linked in the comment to an excellent post that does just that.

However, without context, here's what we can say.

すしが好きです。

This is a neutral statement that simply means "I like sushi." In Japanese, the thing that is liked is marked as the subject. (If you've studied any Spanish, this will seem familiar.) When I say "neutral," I mean that you're expressing your like for sushi in a way that doesn't contrast with anything else. What kind of Japanese food do you like? I like sushi.

すしは好きです。

This statement feels contrastive. In English, imagine it as "Well, I like sushi, [but...]" with a lengthening of the last syllable of "sushi." On its own, it would sound very odd as a response to "What Japanese food do you like?" But it would feel at home in a statement like:

すしは好きですが、さしみはちょっと...

In general, if you're not using this type of construction in a contrastive way, choose が. This also goes for がきらい、が上手、が下手、and others.

mamster
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  • Your answer addresses the statement "I like sushi" but doesn't really say anything about the question "Do you like sushi?" Do you think you could give contexts in which the question with は and the question with が would be appropriate? That would be a great help. Thanks. – user3856370 Apr 07 '18 at 16:36
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    For the contrastive use of は, take for example: 肉と比べて、魚は好きですか？ –  Apr 07 '18 at 19:26
  • The poster is probably at a level where they might not be able to understand this answer properly, especially regarding the disjunctive が used in the last example. (Not 100% certain this is the right term.) – Yeti Ape Apr 08 '18 at 01:30
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    肉と比べて、魚は好きですか？ -- With or without 肉と比べて, I'd say 魚は好きですか？ rather than 魚が好きですか？ – chocolate Apr 08 '18 at 02:18
  • @Chocolate So, is there ever a context in which 魚が好きですか would be the right question? – user3856370 Apr 08 '18 at 07:54
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    @user3856370 「あなたは/鈴木さんは魚が好きですか？」とか・・・「えっ？魚が好きなんですか？( ﾟДﾟ)ﾍｪｰ」とか・・ – chocolate Apr 09 '18 at 01:29
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I was taught that が is the subject marker which puts emphasis on the topic of the sentence. You can use either は or が in this sentence, but with が you're just emphasising how much you like something (in this case).

K.ashington
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