[Error Correction] If the question word comes before the particle, use が.
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Today, I am going to share a homework correction from my JLPT Course!
The student’s sentence is not correct. Can you find the mistake?
[Student’s sentence]
山田さんがどこですか。
*やまださんがどこですか。
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[My correction]
山田さんがどこですか。
→山田さんはどこですか。
Where is Yamada-san?
[Question word]+が〜
〜は＋[Question word]
If the question word comes after a particle, use は. If the question word comes before the particle, use が. The focus point of a は sentence comes after は, but the focus point of a が sentence comes before が.
In this sentence, you want to know where Yamada-san is (‘どこ’ is the focus point), so you should use は.
e.g.
財布(さいふ)はどこですか。
Where is my wallet?
あの人(ひと)はだれですか。
Who is that person?
これは何(なん)ですか。
What is this?
I hope my explanation helps you.😊
I interact like the above correction with my JLPT All-in-One Course student. (Today’s homework sentence is from the N5, beginner level. Don’t know your Japanese level? Then take a level test here.) I can explain in English or Japanese, depending on your level.
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