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I am attempting to translate some sentence and got some weird solutions.

1) There is a post office over there. There is a bank, too.  
あそこはゆうびんきょくですあそこもぎんこうです。

I guess what I am saying is there (over there) is a post office. Apparently
the correct solution is あそこにゆうびんきょくあります。あそこにもぎんこうあります。I am assuming in this
context "there" is a place why can't I use wa?

2) There's professor yamashita in front of high school students.

Why can't I start this sentence with やましたせんせいは isn't he the subject of the
sentence? I think one has to write こうこうせいのまえにやましたせんせいがいます。but then I have no
idea what the subject of the sentence is?
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2018-06-04T01:44:16.940
59222
2018-06-05T14:13:16.210
2018-06-04T01:47:57.753
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question
grammar translation
Translation of basic sentence confused on subject placement
1. You're missing a particle in the "correct" answers:

> あそこにゆうびんきょく _が_ あります。

The particle に marks the location in which something exists. The particle が
marks the subject.

  2. Professor Yamashita is the subject of the sentence. In Japanese, when the subject appears in the sentence (and very often it doesn't!), it can be marked with が or は, depending on the context. Because Prof. Yamashita is marked with が in this sentence, it implies that you weren't already talking about him; i.e., he's not the existing _topic_ (which is marked with は). Here's a valid, if stilted, conversation:

> Q: やましたせんせいはどこですか。  
>  A: やましたせんせいはこうこうせいのまえにいます。

I say stilted because you wouldn't really repeat the topic in the answer,
although in a language class you're obviously expected to follow particular
forms. Here's a somewhat more natural response:

> A: こうこうせいのまえにいます。

Note that Prof. Yamashita is the subject of this sentence even though he
doesn't appear in it. This is completely normal in Japanese.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-04T02:51:54.293
59225
2018-06-05T14:13:16.210
2018-06-05T14:13:16.210
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answer