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[This](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1905/when-is-it-okay-to-
use-%E3%81%82%E3%82%8A%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99-with-a-living-subject) interesting
thread got me thinking about the various forms of the copula and how `です` is a
contraction of `で（は）あります`. I am wondering why the standard X は Y で（は）あります does
not seem to work for certain words, like i-adjectives. Please correct me if I
am wrong, but I think that the following examples show what I mean:

> **(1)** これは高いです。 **O**
>
> **(2)** これは高いではあります。 **X**
>
> **(3)** 彼は元気です。 **O**
>
> **(4)** 彼は元気ではあります。 **O**

**(2)** is the only one that feels unnatural to me but I'm not sure why.
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grammar adjectives copula
Why is 高いです acceptable but 高いではあります not acceptable?
This is because an i-adjective does not require だ (or its te-form で) in the
first place. です at the end of a sentence like これは高いです is **not a copula** but
a politeness marker which never conjugates.

  * [Why should I use つかれました and not つかれたです](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/15300/5010):

> Usually, です is a polite copula, similar to だ but more polite. But です can
> also be a politeness marker added to adjectives. When it's a politeness
> marker, です doesn't inflect for tense.

  * [です after some verbs](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/35950/5010)

> In Japanese, there's no need for a verb like be to show tense on adjectives.
> Adjectives can indicate tense all on their own, using the endings -い and
> -かった. In this case, です doesn't have its usual grammatical function. Instead,
> it's functioning as a politeness marker.

Instead, you can say これは高くはあります without using だ/で at all.
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### Addendum: derivations and grammar

Adding onto naruto's answer.

One additional way of looking at this that might help explain why で[は]あります
cannot be used with ～い adjectives, is that で (not だ nor です) evolved from
earlier にて. This is a hint -- the に is essentially the same as the adverbial に
added to な adjectives. Examples:

  * 元気な `[NOUN]`
  * 元気に `[VERB]`
  * 元気だ (where the だ is the copula "is")
  * 元気です (where the です serves as _both_ the copula "is", and as a politeness marker)
  * 元気‍ **で** ある → older form 元気‍ **にて** ‍ある

The corresponding grammatical structures for an ～い adjective:

  * 高い `[NOUN]`
  * 高く `[VERB]`
  * 高い (where the ～い adjective all on its own already forms a complete predicate -- we don't need a copula. Saying 高い‍ **だ** is a bit like saying "it is **is** tall".)
  * 高いです (where the です serves _just_ as a politeness marker)
  * 高‍ **く** ‍ある  
The く here aligns with the に particle in the older form にてある for ～な
adjectives.

To modify ある, both ～い and ～な adjectives must be in the adverbial form,
although this is obscured by the contraction にて → で.

(As for why ～な adjectives also require the connecting auxiliary ～て before ある,
whereas ～い adjectives do not [*高く‍ **て** ‍ある is incorrect], I haven't found
any cogent explanation, so if anyone can add that, I'd be most grateful.)
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