For questions, when is it ok to use Wa instead of Ga?

In the earlier Genki chapters, Wa is used for questions.

However in Chapter 8, page 195, we are told to use Ga for questions using question words.

I am having difficulty understanding explicitly when to use Ga, since on page 60, we have
“Kore wa ikura desu ka?” (How much is this / This is how much?)
Would saying “Kore ga ikura desu ka” be any good?

Thanks!

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So the rule is that you can’t put は on the question-word, not that it can’t appear anywhere in a sentence that’s a question.

This is because は is marking the topic, the “thing we know about that’s the background, not the focus of this statement”. By definition, question-words can’t be that.

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I think the important thing here is that “kore” is not a “question word.” By which, I imagine they’re referring to things like “nani”, “doko”, etc. where you cannot use “wa” after them in a question.

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Thanks, that makes sense.

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