AはB emphasizing B, rather than A
There are quite a few comments on anotherquestion discussing the sentence 彼が持っているのは二百円です, in which the emphasis apparently falls on 二百円. I posted a comment asking if this could be explained as the...
View ArticleAnswer by Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams for AはB emphasizing B, rather than A
One way to interpret 「ＡはＢ」 is "something [that is] (B), which happens to be (A)".Conversely, 「ＡがＢ」 can be interpreted as "(A) is [doing] something, which happens to be (B)".
View ArticleAnswer by tbxi for AはB emphasizing B, rather than A
が is not always emphasis, it is also used as a subject marker in the subordinate clause, and things like passive form.(私が)持つ200円を私が落とした。 - It was me who dropped 200 JPY (derp!)私が持つ200円を落とした。 - Dropped...
View ArticleAnswer by user1016 for AはB emphasizing B, rather than A
So, in the sentence 彼が持っているのは二百円です, I interpreted は as marking a subject, and in particular, marking known information (彼が持っているの). This causes the focus to fall on the right half, as described above. I...
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