Hello there!
I have something from my JLPT 5 materials that I don’t understand.
I have 2 templates for some grammar rules and I can’t comprehend the difference. These are the templates:
P に N が あります / います
Nは P に あります/います
I see that they are different in structure but for the translation, I get the same thing from the examples in my book, which makes me confused.
Here are my examples of how I understood the previous templates:
つくえのとなりにいすがあります
いすはつくえのとなりにあります
From what I got, they would both mean: ‘’There is a chair next to the desk’’.
Can someone please help and explain it or tell me as exact of a translation as possible for my example or any other example used for both templates so I can understand exactly the difference between the 2 and when to use which.
Thank you!
2 comments
Next to the desk there is a chair.
The chair is next to the desk.
The first answers the question “What else is in the room other than the desk?” or “What is next to the desk?”
The second answers the question “Where is the chair?”
ある was originally written as either 有る or 在る in Kanji
有る means “has”, 在る means being (at)/exist
[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B)
いす、は、つくえのとなり、に、あります
chair, the thing being concerned, (desk’s side, at, has)
So, if you are asking where you can find a chair, someone can answer:
chair….. (the location at) the side of the desk has (it) (ある here is 有る)
つくえのとなり、に、いす、が、あります
desk’s side, at, chair, the subject matter, being
at the side of the desk, a/the chair exists (is there) (ある here is 在る)