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むかし、 むかし、 ある ところ に おじいさん と おばあさん が いました。

Here's what I got so far:

(adv. time), (adv. time), (to be - infinitive) (somewhere) (ni particle), (old man) (to - conjunction) (old woman) (ga subject marker) (iru - polite past)

Does the subject marker が always have to be there before a conjugated verb?

user27251
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  • いました is a full sentence by itself, so is 彼{かれ}はいました. None of these have a が. But maybe this is not what you're asking? Could you clarify the question? – dainichi Mar 28 '12 at 06:54
  • Hrmm .. like would I have to say 私がいました ? – user27251 Mar 28 '12 at 06:55
  • That's dictionary form, not the infinitive. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Mar 28 '12 at 06:59
  • Instead of what? 私はいました is a correct sentence, but means something else. 私、いました and maybe even いました、私 are heard in speech, although not correct by the strictest of measures. Again, it's not very clear what you are asking. – dainichi Mar 28 '12 at 07:01
  • The exact particle you use before the verb depends on what you want the sentence to say, and is not limited to 「は」, 「が」, and 「を」. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Mar 28 '12 at 07:05
  • If you're asking if you can omit the が in your example sentence, the answer is no. – dainichi Mar 28 '12 at 07:09
  • The subject marker が doesn't always have to be before a conjugated verb. It has to be after a subject. –  Mar 28 '12 at 07:27
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    in あるところに, ある is not "to be - infinitive". It means "A certain ~" – Flaw Mar 28 '12 at 07:57
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    You should see Japanese particle as being always after something. What is after the particle is not important. What is before it, is everything. – oldergod Mar 28 '12 at 09:13

1 Answers1

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I think your confusion may be arising from thinking that が is a prepositional particle. It is not preposed(placed before a word) to the verb. It is a post-positional subject marker, it is postposed(placed after a word) after the subject.

By extension, there is no requirement for が to immediately precede the verb. The element of Xが may be freely moved around the sentence.

Flaw
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