39185
I'm studying japanese from not that long and a doubt came to my mind studying
ある and いる verbs, so sorry in advance if the question isn't clear.

If we take those two phrases as example:

A. つくえ **は** へやにあります

B. へやにつくえ **が** あります

For what I've understood, in the phrase A, I want to underline the location of
the desk, in this case the room. In the phrase B, instead, I want to underline
that in the room there's a desk, so I give more importance to the object, not
to the location.

If I would want to translate the phrase "there's a desk" without pointing out
the location, I can choose between:

C. つくえ **が** あります

D. つくえ **は** あります

indifferently or, if my previous argument is correct, I have to choose C?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-13T20:41:42.250
39180
2016-09-14T05:58:14.513
2016-09-14T03:03:22.277
5010
13673
question
grammar verbs particle-は particle-が は-and-が
Use は or が with ある when the phrase doesn't explicit the place
Comparing A and B. -- I'd say in A there may be emphasis on what's sentence-
initial == つくえは.

An indifferent assertion "There's a desk." (a certain, particular desk), like
a scientific statement, like Spock or Data or HAL might say:

> C. つくえがあります

D. つくえはあります sounds like (for example) ---- [ We don't have that other X that
you asked about, but we do have a desk (for sale). ]

* * *

Please see: 「電話は切れた」 vs. 「電話が切れた」

<https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/38782/16344>

> 「AがBである」の時は、Aに重点がある。 .......... 「AはBである」の時はBに重点がある。 ......
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-13T21:29:59.393
39181
2016-09-13T21:37:07.173
2017-04-13T12:43:44.207
-1
16344
39180
answer
The basic difference is already covered in this question: [What's the
difference between wa (は) and ga
(が)?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/22/5010)

The following is a brief summary. As you can see in the above link, each
sentence has two different meanings.

>   * C. つくえがあります。  
>  ① There is a desk.  
>  ② (Among the aforementioned options,) The desk is what exists. [exhaustive-
> listing]
>   * D. つくえはあります。  
>  ① The desk (we are talking about) exists. [thematic]  
>  ② (By contrast / However,) There is a _desk_. [contrastive]
>

Regarding Sentence C:

  * ① You are bringing a desk into the current conversation. In English, you mention something firstly using 'a' (e.g., "a boy") and then talk about it using 'the' (e.g., "the boy"). In sentence C, が in つくえがあります is similar in purpose to the article 'a' in English.
  * ② is a bit tricky, but this is possible when someone asks you "What do you have at home, a desk or a [_kotatsu_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu)?".

Regarding Sentence D:

  * ① When you have been already talking about some desk, and someone asks you "Does the desk exist?" or "Do you really have the desk?" then you would answer, "はい、つくえはあります。"
  * ② If you stress は when you read this out loud, it would be "contrastive." For example, when someone asks "Do you have a _kotatsu_ at home?", you could answer, "いいえ、こたつはありません。つくえはあります。". In English, you would directly stress the "desk" in this situation.

So when you simply want to say "(Look!) There is a desk.", you **have to use
が**. If you said "つくえはあります" in an inappropriate situation, it would sound very
awkward to native speakers.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-14T03:36:31.077
39185
2016-09-14T03:36:31.077
2017-04-13T12:43:48.447
-1
5010
39180
answer
To add to @Naruto's brilliant answer:

When asked "What's there? / What do you have?" (なにがありますか？), you'll reply with
(C) つくえ **が** あります, not つくえは...*

When asked "Are there any desks? / Do you have a desk?" (つくえはありますか？), you'd
reply with (D) つくえ **は** あります, not つくえが...

*You might reply つくえ **は** あります to mean "We have desks, _at least_ (but we may not have other things)."

* * *

Similarly, you might say (A) つくえ **は** へやにあります as a response to "Where's the
desk?" (つくえはどこにありますか？)

You might say へやに **は** つくえがあります as a response to "What's in the room?"
(へやにはなにがありますか？)

You might say (B) へやにつくえがあります to simply state that there's a desk in a room (≂
つくえがへやにあります), or to emphasize that the desk is _in the room_ and not in other
places (with a stress on へやに).
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-09-14T04:12:31.130
39186
2016-09-14T05:58:14.513
2016-09-14T05:58:14.513
9831
9831
39180
answer