Is it 'みたことがない' or 'みたことはない'? I'm not sure about the particle for this. Can both be used? Or which is better? (And why is it so?)
Thanks!
Answer
This is a good question because quite a few Japanese-learners do use the two as if they were completely interchangeable. They are not.
「みたことがない」
makes a simple and neutral statement saying you have not seen something. You just do not have the experience. If I said:
「パイプオルガンを見{み}たことがない。」
all it means is that I have not seen a pipe organ. Plain and simple. I am not implying anything.
「みたことはない」
, however, implies either:
1) you have not seen A, but you have B (or C)
or
2) you have not seen something, but have done something else (other than seeing) with/about it.
This is all made possible by the use of the contrastive は.
Thus, if I said:
「パイプオルガンを見たことはない。」
I would be implying either:
1) I have never seen a pipe organ, but have seen another instrument.
or, for instance,
2) I have not seen a pipe organ but I have listened to pipe organ music.
The smallest words are often the most important words in Japanese. I am, of course, referring to our particles.
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