"There are eight desks."
Translation:机が八つあります。
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Did you have a particular sentence order that you believe to be correct but isn't accepted?
In my Japanese classes, they said that putting the counter right before the verb is the easiest order. Although it's possible to put the counter earlier in the sentence, it involves more complicated grammar. It looks like you need to put の between the counter and the noun being counted.
“Numeral + Counter + の + Noun” https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-grammar/how-japanese-counting-systems-work-in-a-sentence/
Although word order might be somewhat flexible in Japanese, my understanding is that there isn't an unlimited amount of flexibility. Certain words really do have to go in a particular order. I've also heard that some word orders sound a lot more natural than others. So even if it's technically okay to vary the order gramatically, it might sound a bit odd.
because が and は are very context dependant. In general, the latter is used when introducing new information into the conversation. The former is used when something has already been mentioned and can be understood from the context It's more complex and I am far, far from fluent at Japanese, so take my awnser with a big grain of salt
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Why are the "number" sounds for counting different than regular numbers or to tell time? Eg 8 is "hachi" everywhere else but here it is "yatsu"
According to this: https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-grammar/how-japanese-counting-systems-work-in-a-sentence/
"There are two basic sentence patterns:
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Numeral + Counter + の + Noun, e.g. 3冊さんさつの本ほんを(買かう / 買かいます)
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Noun + Particle + Numeral + Counter, e.g. 本ほんを3冊さんさつ(買かう / 買かいます"
For some reason this also accepts the following as a correct answer: 机八つがあります。 The が particle being after the counter. Is this right as well?