Yo.
I still don’t quite understand what it means when I read “something” のは,では or には, etc. I understand what each of these guys do as individuals, but when they combine with は I don’t quite get it…
5 Likes
では and には mark a location as being the topic.
Verb-related particles - Tae Kim's Japanese grammar guide
The rules for when to use で or に follow the usual rules of when you use one or the other to mark location.
You can also even do things like にも, でも, へは, etc. as well.
For のは the の is for nominalizing the preceeding adjective/verb/phrase/etc. as a noun and then the は is marking that as the topic. As well, の can act as a placeholder for a noun.
For example you can have one of the following:
⽩いのは、かわいい。
Thing that is white is cute.
or
毎⽇勉強するのは⼤変。
The thing of studying every day is tough.
16 Likes
Ah ha! The “topicness” of those particles hadn’t quite clicked for me, either. Thank you for the clear explanation.
9 Likes
Yeah, you’re welcome. The one thing to keep a watch on is not to confuse things like では, でも, にも with other contexts in which these can appear but are not for marking locations as topics. That’s where things can sometimes get a bit tricky as some of these can appear as part of other grammar constructions with a different meaning such as something like わけではない.
4 Likes
には can also be a contraction of (ため)には or (の)には. As in “in order to”, “regards to”, “as for”.
4 Likes
Even をも, though it took me forever to actually see that one in practice 
Took me a bit by surprise when it happened!
3 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.