O (wo) particle confusion

Hello my fellow Japanese learners! みなさん　おげんき　ですか？ Perhaps I'm being premature in asking, (as it might come in more detail at later lessons) but I'm becoming more baffled by particles. My question in this instance is when to use を and when to use は . for example I have seen は used here: おすし　は　すき　ですか？ (O sushi wa suki desu ka?) but then を used here: おすし　を　たべ　に　いきましょうか？ (O sushi o tabe ni ikimasho ka?) I know を is used to mark the previous word as the object of the sentence, but couldn't は do the same thing? for example: おすし　は　たべ　に　いきましょうか？ (O sushi wa tabe ni ikimasho ka?) That's what I'm confused about. I hope someone can help, I'll understand it all eventually. I wont let grammar get the best of me! むずかし　でも　すき　です！ <--- that is supposed to say "It's difficult but I like it!" please correct me :) ありがとう！

Hi there Bradley-san. As you may already know, を marks the object of the sentence, while は marks the topic (or sometimes subject) of the sentence. For the first 2 examples, in the first one, すし is the topic of the sentence (what are we talking about - sushi), so は is appropriate. In the second one, the topic of the sentence is understood from the context (we/ you + someone else/you + a group of people), while すし is the object of the sentence (what is going to be eaten) -> therefore, を is used. A more complete version of the sentence would be: わたしたち は おすし を たべ に いきましょうか？ Now let's take a look at the third example: You use は on すし, which implies that すし is the topic of the sentence. Here, it sounds as if you're inviting the sushi to go eat with you :). Here, you are also part of the topic of the sentence, because even if you didn't mention yourself, it is understood from the fact that you used the "invitation" form of the verb いく (to go). As for the last sentence, it would be more fluent to use けど for "but" (and you lost an い at the end of the むずかしい): むずかしいですけど、すきです！ Hope this helps :), Coddo

Thank you so much コッド さん! You explained it so well and I totally understand! I can see where I went wrong now. Thank you for correcting my examples, I think i have a decent understanding of Wa and Wo now! :) I cant believe I missed the extra い in むずかしい haha thats my bad. Oh and also thank you for correcting me, I haven't come across けど in my lessons yet so its nice to know :) Thank you again, you helped me a bunch! Brad.

Bradleyさん、 It's good to see you studying hard! And having Coddoさん help you! :) I will try to explain the best I can using your two examples. 1. おすしは　好きですか？ (O sushi wa suki desu ka?) Do you like sushi? Here we know that the main topic is sushi and the question is whether you like it or not.　 *We always use either が　or は　before 好き. 日本が好きです。 I like Japan. 本は好きですが　忙（いそが）しくて読（よ）む時間（じかん）がありません。 I like books but I'm busy and don't have much time to read． 忙しい＝　Busy 時間＝　Time However in the second example: 2. おすし　を　たべ　に　いきましょうか？ (O sushi o tabe ni ikimasho ka?) While sushi is still the main topic we have a verb（行く） in the form of an agenda- there's an invitation/suggestion to go out TO eat sushi. As you may know, when we have a verb we generally use を 水（みず）を飲（の）む/飲みます。 本を読む（よ）/読みます。 The　食べに行く　is still a verb, we're going out TO eat． The "verb に verb" is a grammar form we use when there's an objective: go/come TO DO SOMETHING. E.g.　見に行く/来る Go/Come to see 昨日マイクのお母さんが赤ちゃんを見に来ました。 Yesterday Mike's mother came to see the baby. 昨日（きのう）＝　Yesterday 赤ちゃん（あかちゃん）=　Baby 見（み）に行（い）く＝　Come to see Hope this cleared things up!