24885
Suppose there is a box which can contain either an animal or object. I am
confused in choosing either あります or います when asking the contents of the box.

  * 箱の中に何がありますか。

  * 箱の中に何がいますか。

Which should I use in this case? Any comments are welcome.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-08T12:42:26.393
24883
2015-06-09T06:26:40.143
9896
question
grammar
箱の中に何がありますか versus 箱の中に何がいますか when I don't know whether it is an animal or object
> 1.「[箱]{はこ}の[中]{なか}に[何]{なに}が **あります** か。」
>
> 2.「箱の中に何が **います** か。」

First of all, 「には」＞「に」 if you want to sound natural.

**_If you absolutely must choose between the two_** , you would choose #1.
That is because it is not natural to choose #2 unless you already know it is
an animal inside.

There is, of course, a possibility that you say #1 and it turns out that it is
an animal inside, but you would not be held responsible for using the "wrong"
verb when you indeed did not know what was in the box but somehow thought it
was an inanimate object.

If you did not have to choose between those two, you would have better choices
and those include:

> 「箱の中には何が[入]{はい}っていますか。」
>
> 「箱の中に入っているのはなんですか。」 ← Only 「に」 is possible here.
>
> 「箱の[中身]{なかみ}はなんですか。」

Both of those are more neutral in the sense that whatever you find in the box
in the end, you will be saved from having used the wrong word in asking your
question.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-08T14:11:56.337
24885
2015-06-09T06:26:40.143
2015-06-09T06:26:40.143
24883
answer