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〜が、〜 (Conjunction 'But')

Learn how to connect two complete clauses with contrastive meaning using the particle が to mean 'but' or 'however'.

In Japanese, you can join two complete sentences to express contrast (like 'but' or 'however' in English) by placing the particle が (ga) at the end of the first clause, usually followed by a comma.

日本語は難しいですが、おもしろいです。

Japanese is difficult, but it is interesting.

You can use this to express contrasting attributes of an object, such as something being clean but small, or expensive but high quality.

この部屋はきれいですが、狭いです。

This room is clean, but small.

Practice

Follow along with these examples to strengthen your understanding.

日本語はどうですか？

How is Japanese?

日本語は難しいですが、おもしろいです。

Japanese is difficult, but it is interesting.

そのカメラはどうですか？

How is that camera?

このカメラは高いですが、良いです。

This camera is expensive, but it is good.

テニスはどうですか？

How about tennis?

テニスは好きですが、下手です。

I like tennis, but I am bad at it.

お茶を飲みますか？

Do you drink tea?

お茶は飲みますが、コーヒーは飲みません。

I drink tea, but I do not drink coffee.

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