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This is an example sentence from a set of learning materials called _Kanji
Odyssey 2001_ :

> 北極にはシロクマなど陸上の動物 **が** いる。南極には陸上の動物 **は** いない。

My question is about the bold. I understand the には I think because it is
showing contrast between the two locations. I feel like the は at the end has
to do with contrast as well... but I don't know? Can you contrast the same
thing? And if so why aren't there two は's, why is one a が?
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2014-03-08T22:40:37.707
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2014-03-09T14:43:57.400
2014-03-09T13:42:49.253
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particles particle-は particle-が
What is the difference between は and が in this sentence?
It is more a comment than an answer but since I lack reputation so as to write
a comment I write it as an answer.

In fact, you can also use が in the second sentence but (as you guessed) は
stresses the fact that there are land animals at the North Pole but at the
Southern Pole there are not.

The particle が in the first sentence is just the subject particle が used to
introduce your subject 陸上の動物 land animals, here が cannot be replaced by は
because the subject has not been introduced yet.
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2014-03-08T23:38:13.383
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2014-03-08T23:38:13.383
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As you say は is used for contrast. It also places emphasis on what comes after
it. In this sentence the writer is placing emphasis on the absence of land
animals such as polar bears from the South Pole as opposed to their presence
in the North.

The most highly voted question is very good summary of は and が but for a short
explanation relevant to your question I would refer you to the following
answer and comments to this question which cemented this for me: [What is the
difference between でなくand
ではなく？](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/8280/what-is-the-
difference-between-)

This question from yesterday might also be of interest: [Particle は replacing
を - where does the stress
lie?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/14708/particle-)
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2014-03-09T01:15:14.387
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2014-03-09T14:43:57.400
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answer
In fact, this は, seldom mentioned in research works, (at least in the hundreds
of papers and books I have read), is a little different.

In short, I think it is used to **show and show how the statement agrees or
disagrees with an existing proposition.**

In your example, it clear to see the two sentence are almost the same except
the parts before and after は.

> **北極** にはシロクマなど陸上の動物が **いる** 。  
>  **南極** には 陸上の動物は **いない** 。

* * *

Let's see some more examples of the second は. (I think we don't normally use
the verbose form to answer, though.)

> A: りんご **は** **好き** ですか  
>  B: いいえ。りんご **は** **嫌い** です。
>
> A: 雨 **が** 降っていま **す** か  
>  B: いいえ。雨 **は** 降っていま **せん** 。
>
> A: 酒 **を** 飲みま **す** か？  
>  B: いいえ。酒 **は** 飲みま **せん** 。
>
> A: 東京 **に** 止まりま **す** か？  
>  B: いいえ。東京 **には** 止まりま **せん** 。
>
> A: みんな **と** **同じで** すか？  
>  B: いいえ。みんな **とは** **違いま** す。
>
> A: 仕事だけが人生 **で** **す** か？  
>  B: いいえ。仕事だけが人生 **では** **ありません** ？ (actually, ではない is a little special)
>
> A: ここ **から** 見えま **す** か？  
>  B: いいえ。ここ **からは** 見えま **せん** 。

You may argue that the only contradictory part is the negation part, that is,
the ません, ない part. But normally, you don't split a verb(e.g. 行かない→行きはしない),
unless you want to emphasize. It's common not to insert a は between a verb or
an adjective and its auxiliary verb. In these case, は has to be moved the to
the last case particle before the verb, whenever it is possible.

> A: 行き ま **す** か。  
>  B: 行き **は** しま **せん** 。 (expected form, sometimes used)  
>  B: 行き ま **せん** 。(normally used form)
>
> A: 高い ですか。  
>  B: 高く **は** **ない** です。 (expected form, but may imply different meaning)  
>  B: 高く **ない** です。(normally used form)
>
> A: 雨が 降ってい ま **す** か？  
>  B:* 降ってい **は** しま **せん** 。 (expected form, but I have never heard)  
>  B: 降って **は** いま **せん** 。 (often used)  
>  B: 降って いま **せん** 。 (normally used)  
>  B: 雨 **は** 降って いま **せん** 。 (は is moved backward)
>
> 妹を お前 **には** 渡さない。(は is moved backward to に)  
>  行動しない者に、幸福 ** ~~が~~ は** 訪れない (は is moved backward to が)

The kind of は can be used in statements, questions, imperatives, and adnominal
clauses,

> 酒 **は** 飲みません。  
>  そう **は** 思いませんか？  
>  冗談 **は** ほどほどにしなさい！  
>  人 **とは** 違う道

while it doesn't seem to get along with conditional clauses (ば, なら, etc.), but
I'm not sure.

* * *

Many particles like など, なんか are sometimes used instead of or in front of は.

> 嘘 **なんか** ついてねーよ。

As far as I know, it usually safe to use は in sentences containing verbs like
～ない or 違う,etc. For other verbs, an explicit context is usually required to
make it natural.

> A:異世界 **は** **ない** でしょ。 (Containing ない, so no context required. The
> statement contradicts the common sense.)  
>  B:異世界 **は** **ある** よ。 (context required. Contradicts to A's proposition.)

Sometimes は is lightly used to contrast with logically contradictory facts. In
this case, they are most like “whereas/but”.

> 雨が・は降りましたが、傘は持って行きませんでした。 (We normally expect one to take an umbrella with
> him if it rains, but it isn't.)

Last word about ではない. It's often lightly used instead of でない, so the は may
carry little meaning. ではなく and でなく are somewhat interchangeable. The
difference is even neutralized if you use じゃない. So in the following example,
you see は is used twice.

> A: あなたはりんご **が** 好き **で** **す** か？  
>  B: いいえ。りんご **は** 好き **では** ありま **せん** 。  
>  B: いいえ。りんご **は** 好き **じゃ** ありま **せん** 。

* * *

I examined the most common case particles like が, を, に, へ, から, と and で, and
believe they are obligatorily followed by は in many situations. (see above)

そう is a little different. そう思いません is used as well as そうは思いません. But そうはいかない
seems more common than そういかない, but I'm not sure.

Both まで and までは often contain an semi-negative sense. Adverb suffix に, く and と
are not used with this type of は, either, except when they are used with verbs
like なる, 見える, etc.

For other case-marker-like structures like について, において, にとって, ために, etc. I feel
this kind of は is not often used with them. But I haven't investigated on
them, so it's just a speculation.

This kind of は is not used with other adverbials.

* * *

Depending on your intent and where you put your stress, same は can often be
used to introduce a semi-negative or reticent sense. e.g.

```

    高くはない（が低くもない)
    
    A: みんな行きますか
    B: 私は行きます。 (For others, I don't know.)
    
```

I think these two types of は are somewhat complementary.
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2014-03-09T05:07:53.753
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answer