Grammar structure question

Hello, I just took a Japanese exam. I had typed out an answer to a question and wanted to check here if my grammar is correct. Trying to say “three people will play the game.” I got excited thinking, “oh wow, I wonder if you can make a verb/direct object interaction the topic.”

I typed out” ゲームをしますは三人です。

Is this grammatically correct? I have another attempt on the exam and depending on my response here, I may go back and type ”三人はゲームをします。”

for the verb phrase, you use plain form+の to make it a noun, not ます form.
ゲームをするのは三人です。

But I think the safer bet is your second sentence. 三人はゲームをします。

anyone feel free to correct me. I don’t actually know what the grammar points involved are. I just know しますは is wrong

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TBH this was the exact part I felt just sounded strange and probably needed modification. I am excited to hear what anyone else has to say.

@potatonaught pretty much got it.

The main thing is what you want to emphasize:

ゲームをするのは三人です - In this game, there are three people playing.

三人はゲームをじます - Three people are playing this game.

However, depending on context either could also mean this is a 3-player game. But I doubt they’d want you to extrapolate on that nuance for that kind of test.

Also, する is usually used for video games.If it’s something like dodgeball, it would be 遊ぶ. see @Belthazar ’s clarification below

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This is definitely a better sentence than the first one. It’s grammatically correct, whereas the other isn’t. @potatonaught’s sentence works too, grammatically speaking, but in my opinion, it changes the emphasis: ‘The ones who will be playing a game are three people.’ That doesn’t sound very natural in English, but that’s how it feels.

I think the most neutral way to phrase it, however, which would match the factual tone of ‘three people will play a game’, is 「三人 ゲームをします。」が is the usual particle for verbs when a factual statement is being made. が doesn’t have to be used for a factual statement, because you may want to change the nuance of what you’re saying, but to me, は implies that the identities of the 三人 are already known or they have been mentioned previously. That’s why they’re the ‘topic’ of the sentence. I could be wrong, but that’s the feeling I get. It’s also worth noting that が is generally used when introducing something for the first time, which I feel supports what I’ve just said.

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The prompt was following a genki audio lesson so I am pretty sure は is sufficient considering the people were mentioned prior in the audio. Thank you for this deeper information.

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It’s something I’d expect to hear at an esports final:

そのゲームをするのは、二人です!!!:wink:

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Just to throw another possible solution out there (and shamelessly train my writing skills):

ゲームをする人数は三人です。

Would that make sense?

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That makes sense to my mind. :wink:

No, that’s still する. テニスをする. サッカーをする. Et cetera.

遊ぶ is just generally playing around and having fun. Not playing [something]. Aside from anything else, it’s intransitive.

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Ah, ok, my bad. I edited my post.

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