Desu ga

Please explain the function of the particle ga in sentences ending with desu ga.

こんにちはsabine-veronikaさん！

The primary use of the particle が  in sentences ending with 「ですが」 is to mean "but".
E.g. 行きたいですが用事があります　ー　いきたい　です　が　ようじ　が　あります
I want to go but I have a previous engagement

There are also sentences where が is used without a second sentence.
E.g. 行きたい　です　が。。。
I want to go but...
These sentences are usually used to indicate reluctance (e.g to do something) instead of refusing directly, similar to how we can do so in spoken English. This is commonly used in Japanese as it is considered more polite to imply things instead of saying things directly.

I hope that helps. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have further questions.
頑張って下さいね！

Crystal

Hello,

Based on what Crystal responded above, can I please get some help understanding the usage of desu ga with this statement in lesson 2.3:

そう　です　か。へや　を　よやく　したい　の　です　が.
Sō desu ka.  Heya o yoyaku shitai no desu ga. / I see.  I'd like to book a room.

In the lesson, it was simply stated that it "shapes and softens a sentence" but from that explanation, I really don't understand how and when to apply it.

I'm also trying to understand the use of の  in the same sentence.  After doing some research, I understand its use to mean:
1) at/of
2) the thing is...  here's the reason... (when explaining something)
3) generally expressing an explanation (I think?)

In the sentence above, is it being used because it's explaining that I'd like to book a room?  Or does の mean something different when used in conjunction with  です が? 

ありがとう　ございます!

Hi there, I wrote an explanation for の in another question, but this is a similar context. の is used to make a noun phrase around an action (like「こと」). In this case, 「よやくしたい」(want to make reservation) becomes something like "the act of wanting to make a reservation" when you add the の: 「よやくしたいの」。

In Japanese, the sentence construction is more like "The act of wanting to make a reservation, there is" to mean "I'd like to make a reservation."

Did you look at lesson 2.8? It explains の です and が in that situation.

Oh, well - lesson 2.8 did it, lol.  I'm not there yet and had no idea it was explained in such detail.

Thank you both very much - I'm feeling better now :-)