Grammar help

[AkiraChan25]

I was practicing writing Japanese (who knew right?) and I just wanted to know if I said this right.
「わたしはドラエモン」かれ言たに答えて。
I am attempting to say: "I am Doraemon," he said in reply. Do I have to put って after the quote in this case?
I feel like such a noob. Sorry if I got it completely wrong.

 

[Mike Cash]

「私はドラエモン」とかれが答えた。

 

[AkiraChan25]

「私はドラエモン」とかれが答えた。

oh kay thanks. Yeah that is simpler. It sounds good in English though.

 

[Mike Cash]

No questions about it? Don't be shy.

 

[AkiraChan25]

No questions about it? Don't be shy.

Well, for the life of me I can't figure out when to use "ga" or "wo".

 

[Mike Cash]

Use を with direct objects. Use が (generally) to indicate who/what is doing something.

For example, in "I eat cake" the word "cake" is the direct object. It is the thing receiving the action. Since it is being acted upon, that is indicated by the choice of を. So the choice between が and を is pretty easy. The choice between は and が is a more complicated.

 

[AkiraChan25]

Oh, that makes sense. The は and が thing is annoying. I have spent so much time on that one, but I still don't fully understand it.

 

[Mike Cash]

Here is a simple way to remember it that works most of the time (and if you're correct over 50% of the time, you're ahead of random chance, which ain't bad):

Just remember that "g" comes before "h" in the alphabet. "G" comes before...."H" comes after.

"Ga" emphasizes what comes before it. "Ha" emphasizes what comes after it. This is a communications task that we usually do in English by stressing words:

JOHN is a teacher.
John is a TEACHER.

Same exact words and construction, yet communicating two different things.

Who is a teacher?....JOHN is a teacher.
What does John do?....John is a TEACHER.

Now imagine if you swapped the answers to those two questions and how odd and unnatural they would sound. Japanese native speakers probably find は／が equally as jarring and for the same reason.

I've never been smart enough to understand all that "topic marker" and "subject marker" stuff.

Please avoid the universal habit of translating は into "As for xx," every time you see it. It is annoying, unnatural, and serves no purpose. So long as you're aware of what communicative function is being done, go ahead and translate it into natural English. Or, better yet, don't translate at all.

 

[Toritoribe]

Oh, that makes sense. The は and が thing is annoying. I have spent so much time on that one, but I still don't fully understand it.

That's one of the hardest things to grasp in Japanese grammar. The following thread might be somewhat helpful to understand an aspect of them.

は, が and を what's the difference between the following sentences? | Japan Forum

As our veteran member Glenn-san said in the thread, don't worry too much about that in the first step of the learning. It's coming gradually to you.

 

[AkiraChan25]

Thank you guys.