How to Say ‘Speaking (as the topic/subject)’ in Japanese
話すのが
hanasu no ga
[hah-nah-soo noh gah]
💬 Usage Tip: Grammar trick: verb + [の] turns it into a noun (“the act of…”). [話すのが苦手です] = “I’m bad at speaking.”
🇯🇵 In Japan: This [〜のが] pattern is extremely common in interview self-descriptions: [説明するのが得意です] (“I’m good at explaining”).
Phrase Breakdown
話す
hanasu
[hah-nah-soo]
to speak; to talk
Verb used here as a nominalized activity (話すの) meaning 'speaking'.
人前で話すのが緊張します。
Speaking in front of people makes me nervous.
の
no
[noh]
(nominalizer) "-ing" / "the act of"
Turns a verb into a noun phrase: 話すの = 'speaking (as an activity)'.
話すのが上手になりたいです。
I want to become better at speaking.
が
ga
[gah]
subject marker (particle)
Marks the noun phrase as the subject: 話すのが苦手です = 'Speaking is difficult for me.'
準備するのが大切です。
Preparing is important.
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