は(wa) — Topic & Contrast Particle

• 私は学生です。

  Watashi wa gakusei desu.

  I am a student.

  私 (I) は (topic) 学生 (student) です (polite copula)

• 肉は食べますが、魚は食べません。

  Niku wa tabemasu ga, sakana wa tabemasen.

  I eat meat, but I don't eat fish.

  は is used twice here to strongly contrast meat (eats) with fish (does not eat)

• 京都には行きました。

  Kyouto ni wa ikimashita.

  I went to Kyoto (at least there, if not elsewhere).

  に (destination) + は (contrast) = stacking particles

• ・Pronunciation: Written as "ha" (は) but pronounced "wa" when used as a particle.
• ・Contrast usage: は is essential for highlighting contrast. When you say "A is X, but B is Y," you use は for both A and B.
• ・Particle Stacking: は can replace が and を, but it stacks onto other particles (には, では, からは) to add a topic/contrast nuance.
• ・Known vs New: は presents established/known information, whereas が introduces new subjects.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones は is tested against.

• が (ga) — Subject Marker & Exhaustive Listing
• を (o) — Direct Object & Traversal
• に (ni) — Target, Time, and Existence Location
• で (de) — Context of Action (Location, Means, Condition)
• と (to) — And (Exhaustive), With, and Quotation
• か (ka) — Question, Or, and Uncertain Identity
• の (no) — Possession, Modification, & Nominalization
• も (mo) — Also, Too, Both/And, Emphasized Quantity