は
Marks the topic of a sentence: what the speaker is talking about.
N5particletopic
Examples
私は学生です。
わたしは がくせいです。
I am a student.
The topic is 私, marked by は.
今日は暑いです。
きょうは あついです。
As for today, it is hot.
Meaning
は marks the topic: the thing the sentence is about. It is written with the hiragana は, but pronounced wa when used as a particle.
Usage
Use は after a noun or noun phrase when introducing, contrasting, or returning to a topic.
| Pattern | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Noun + は | As for noun |
| Topic + は + comment | Speaking of topic, comment |
Notes
は does not always identify the grammatical subject. It frames the sentence around a topic, then the rest of the sentence says something about that topic.