I just learned about が and は. I just want to say "If I died" in Japanese. So I
typed it. All I see is 私が死んだら

Can I say "私は死んだら" (は is put to emphasize what comes after は. So I think in
the sentence "If I died", we should emphasize "died" (死んだら should be the main
focus)

I don't understand why we use が here. (I learned that が is used to stress what
comes before it) In this case, I have no idea why we stress 私.
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2019-10-03T19:43:33.890
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2022-07-13T06:57:59.890
2022-07-13T06:57:59.890
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question
particle-は particle-が は-and-が
は and が in 私が死んだら
Assuming you already know [the
basics](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/22/5010), here are the relevant
rules you may be missing:

  * が is normally used to mark subjects in subordinate clauses.
  * But は is still used in subordinate clauses when contrastive meaning is important.
  * Both contrastive-は and exhaustive-listing-が "emphasize" something before it, but in different ways.

Therefore, 私が死んだら is the normal way to say "when I die" or "if I died". 私は死んだら
is fine when the contrast between 私 and someone else is important. It's like
"if **_I_** died" or "in **_my_** case, however, if I died".

> 私が死んだらこの日記を読め。  
>  When I die, read this diary.  
>  (が is used because no contrast is made.)
>
> 彼が死んだら彼女は悲しむ。私は死んだら彼女は喜ぶ。  
>  If he died, she would feel sad. If **_I_** died, she would feel happy.  
>  (私は is used in a subordinate clause to contrast **_my_** case with his
> case.)
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2019-10-03T23:33:01.280
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2019-10-04T01:30:04.200
2019-10-04T01:30:04.200
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answer