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What is doing てある in 文字を紙に書いてある? I have thought of 書いてある and 書かれている as
basically the same, but in 文字が紙に書かれている it is clear that 文字 is doing ている while
it isn't clear what is doing てある in 文字を紙に書いてある.
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2016-06-21T03:16:17.877
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2019-09-20T08:28:27.440
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question
grammar
What is the subject of a sentence like 文字を紙に書いてある?
As someone commented, I think the meaning of this is clear: "The letter are
written on the paper".

The [link](https://www.alc.co.jp/jpn/article/faq/03/131.html) pointed out by
broccoli forest about 〜てある mentions the following:

>
> 「～てある」は基本的には他動詞にしかつくことができません。このような「～てある」は「ページの端を折ってある」のように動詞の表す行為の結果として目的語が被る位置変化や状態変化を表します

So here we can see the difference between 〜てある and 〜ている is that the former is
used only with transitive verbs, and the を＋〜てある form can represent a change of
state of position of the object which resulted from some action (that is
represented by a verb).

However, ultimately I don't think there is much difference between using が and
を with the 〜てある form, and I think "文字が紙に書いてある" would have pretty much the same
meaning. The way I think of "？を書いてある" is that "(someone) wrote ？ and it exists
in that state".

As for the "subject" of the original sentence (with を), I don't think there is
much point in trying to distinguish to what is the "subject" and what is the
"object". Whether someone "wrote" the letters on a paper (as an action) or
whether they just "exist", the result is the same. However, if you really
wanted an answer, I would say this original sentence has no subject.
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answer
In 文字を紙に書いてある, the actor (subject) that performed the writing is some
unspecified human, but that's not your question.

> <http://www.geocities.jp/niwasaburoo/24asupekuto.html>
>
> 「テ形」に続くものの代表は「Ｖ－ている」です。これは動詞のテ形に動詞「いる」がついた形ですが、こ
> の「いる」はふつうの存在の意味を表す「いる」とは違います。本来の「存在」という意味を失って、助動詞のような働きをしています。
>
> このような、「Ｖ－て」に続く「いる・ある・しまう」などを「補助動詞」と呼ぶことにします。
>
> . . . . . . . . . .
>
> 置いてある 開けてある 調べてある

I think... in all these ( 書いてある, 置いてある, 開けてある, 調べてある) there is no subject (of
the kind you're looking for).

Just as in

> Marseille se trouve dans le sud de la France. ( マルセイユはフランス南部にあります. )
>
> Marseille is found in the south of France.

there is no "subject" who/which finds Marseille.

* * *

My French is quite modest, but [ Marseille se trouve dans le sud de la France.
] sounds like [Marseille finds itself in the south of France.]

( anthropomorphism )

But in the Japanese ( 書いてある, 置いてある, 開けてある, 調べてある), i don't get this sense of
some object being anthropomorphized.
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answer