が vs を?

[Maikeru0407]

This is a question I've had for a long time, and I don't really know the difference. For example
僕は水を飲む (Boku wa mizu o nomu)
僕は犬が好き (Boku wa inu ga suki)
So in the first sentence you use を but in the second one you use が, why is that? Does it depend on the verb?

 

[Toritoribe]

Yes.
形容詞 | Japan Forum

 

[Mike Cash]

Forgive me for answering your question with a question, but what have you been using for learning Japanese?

This is the sort of thing that would have been addressed very early on in any sort of decent textbook or even half-baked teach-yourself-Japanese-EZ guide one might find online. If you can actually read the characters in your question but haven't learned the functions of が and を, it indicates you have your Japanese learning cart about a million miles out in front of your horse and would benefit from getting a proper beginner's textbook and starting through it from Chapter 1.

が
Japanese particles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

を
Japanese particles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Maikeru0407]

Forgive me for answering your question with a question, but what have you been using for learning Japanese?

This is the sort of thing that would have been addressed very early on in any sort of decent textbook or even half-baked teach-yourself-Japanese-EZ guide one might find online. If you can actually read the characters in your question but haven't learned the functions of が and を, it indicates you have your Japanese learning cart about a million miles out in front of your horse and would benefit from getting a proper beginner's textbook and starting through it from Chapter 1.

が
Japanese particles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

を
Japanese particles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I've just been using some handbooks and a little Rosetta stone for some vocab and simple grammar, but I learned how to read hirgana and katakana before studying grammar

 

[Mike Cash]

I've just been using some handbooks and a little Rosetta stone for some vocab and simple grammar, but I learned how to read hirgana and katakana before studying grammar

There are some free online guides available, which in my opinion are worth exactly what you pay for them. And there are various textbook options available as well. The most frequently recommended one is the Genki series. They are a bit costly but you can often find used ones on Amazon at reasonable prices.

You've done well teaching yourself the kana; that's a good start. Rosetta Stone (for Japanese, anyway) is pretty worthless. They expect you to intuit stuff from pictures and Japanese and English grammar are just too different to make that practical. Get yourself some proper textbook and we'll be happy to help you with questions you may have as you work your way through.

 

[SomeCallMeChris]

I've just been using some handbooks and a little Rosetta stone for some vocab and simple grammar, but I learned how to read hirgana and katakana before studying grammar

I kind of agree with Mike, although I don't think sites like imabi and Tae Kim's guide are all that bad. They aren't as good as just picking up Genki though.

I will say though, that people often neglect listening practice and Rosetta stone seems like it's pretty good at getting your listening comprehension up to speed.

However, practicing listening in isolation is just going to leave you picking out words here and there without really understanding the sentences. So while I wouldn't abandon using Rosetta, I'd treat it simply as an audio supplement to whatever textbook course you decide on.

 

[Timelyn]

Sorry for the off-topic, but what is this Rosetta Stone you talk about? Is it some kind of dictionary in 3 languages or something like that?

 

[Mike Cash]

Sorry for the off-topic, but what is this Rosetta Stone you talk about? Is it some kind of dictionary in 3 languages or something like that?

Rosetta Stone (software) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia