Noriは vs が: the particle contrast that actually sticks
は vs が is the first wall most beginners hit. Charts say "topic" and "subject" and your brain files that next to "I'll look it up later."
Try one pair instead. わたしは がくせいです — as for me, I'm a student. The sentence is about you. ねこが います — there is a cat. You're pointing at the thing that exists, not setting a topic for a longer story.
If you only remember one rule this week: は frames what you're talking about. が often flags new information or existence. That's enough to stop coin-flipping on every blank.
Practice this in five minutes, not another Anki deck.
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You will still mix them up. That's normal. Native speakers correct with a look, not a lecture. Write one は sentence about yourself and one が sentence about something in the room. Say them out loud once. Close the tab.
The contrast sticks when it's tiny, not when it's a twelve-row table.
は marks the topic — 'as for this…'. が marks the subject, especially when you first notice something exists. Start with わたしは and ねこがいます. Don't memorize a chart.
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