9676
白い箱はカウチの上に緑のランプは机の上にあります。

This sentence looks like it has two topics in it. But when I try to translate
it, it doesn't make sense (to me obviously). My direct translation is: `A
white box on top of the couch a green lamp is on top of the desk.` Obviously,
that's not gonna work. To me, it's like the first phrase is missing a verb.
What am I missing?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-12-04T05:17:27.687
9674
2012-12-13T13:11:59.977
2012-12-04T20:04:49.510
769
question
particle-に syntax particle-は
I have no idea what this is saying. Can you have two topics in a sentence?
As ssb and fefe wrote, the sentence consists of two clauses which share the
main verb あります. In this particular case, it would be easier to read if the
author put a 読点 (“、”) in the sentence:

> 白い箱はカウチの上に、緑のランプは机の上にあります。

However, unlike commas in English, 読点 in Japanese is rarely ~~(if ever)~~
grammatically required. Authors are free to use 読点 wherever they feel that it
makes sense to make a pause when pronounced. (But see [this post by
snailplane](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/9764/%e3%80%8c%e3%81%93%e3%82%8f%e3%81%84%e3%81%a0%e3%81%8b%e3%82%89%e3%80%82%e3%80%8d-versus-%e3%80%8c%e3%81%93%e3%82%8f%e3%81%84%e3%80%81%e3%81%a0%e3%81%8b%e3%82%89-%e3%80%8d)
for an example where omitting 読点 would make a sentence ungrammatical.)
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2012-12-04T08:02:10.087
9676
2012-12-13T13:11:59.977
2017-04-13T12:43:43.857
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9674
answer