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こにちは
In Grammar news letter #4 the sentence reads こひはすきですか。 If coffee is the subject or the improtant point of the sentence why don't you use が　instead?

Thanks

こんにちは！

This sentence is asking a question, and ka (か)is used to indicate this.

I hope this helps

Maverick... wrote:こにちは
In Grammar news letter #4 the sentence reads こひはすきですか。 If coffee is the subject or the improtant point of the sentence why don't you use が　instead?

Thanks

You don't use "が" or ga to denote the subject unless it is a new subject, or if you want to emphasize that it is COFFEE that you like. With は in that sentence it is emphasizing that you LIKE coffee. So more it's a matter of whether or not this is a new subject being talked about or if it is emphasizing one or the other.

Konnichiwa!

Ah, yes, the difference of は(wa) and が (ga) can be a bit tricky.

In the sentence: コーヒーはすきですか？ -the particle は(wa) is used to mark コーヒー ("coffee")- There is no real equivalent in English for the Topic particle は (wa). But to give you an approximate idea of the effect of は (wa) in English, we can use "As for..." or "Speaking of...". So, the sentence would roughly translate as "As for coffee, do you like it?"

Some notes on は(wa)...

は Wa Marks the Topic
A topic is the word about which the rest of the sentence provides information – in other words, anything that a speaker wants to talk about: an object, location, person, and so on.
は (wa) marks a previously introduced and understood topic in the conversation.
は (Wa) is used to mark something that is familiar to both the speaker and the listener, or something that is obvious and they are both aware of.
は (wa) sharpens the contrast between two items, and can be used more than one time in a single sentence.

While は(wa) is used to mark something that is familiar to both the speaker and listener, が (ga) is used when a situation or happening is just noticed or newly introduced.