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- "The chair is next to the tab…
"The chair is next to the table."
Translation:椅子はテーブルの隣にあります。
90 Comments
This might sound arbitrary, but if someone said いすがテーブルのとなりにあります it would sound like just an observation, so more like "a chair is next to the table." But with いすはテーブルのとなりにあります it puts emphasis on いす so it feels like "THE chair is next to the table." Know what I mean? But they are both correct translations.
This is one of the only explanations that actually made sense to me! Thank you!
You have it right in spirit. が would be for introducing the chair. は would be for talking about THE known chair.
Not correct according to Duolingo :(
テーブルの横に椅子があります marked as wrong... Says I must use は, not が
So would テーブルの隣に椅子はあります be accurate or does は not work that late in the sentence to specify THE chair?
That doesn't make sense. Search anywhere on internet and you'll see that が emphasizes what comes before it, and は emphasizes what comes after it.
You would use は if the chair was already known or spoken of, being a specific chair in the context. が would be for a random chair not previously mentioned or known of.
I.e.: Q: Where is THE chair? A: 椅子はテイブルの隣にあります. THE chair is next to the table Q: Are there any chairs? A: 椅子がテイブルの隣にあります. There ARE/IS (a) chair(s) next to the table.
Again: は is for known or previously mentioned subject. が is for new unkown subject.
Also は carries the connotation of talking about something like where it is. Whereas が is more about the object doing something in this case existing next to the table. The first answer would be telling you where the chair is. The second sentence is telling you there are chairs at a location.
Because we're describing an attribute of the chair. On top of that it's THE chair, not some random or newly introduced chair.
This one confuses me--there are similar sentences that seem to go (<A> の <location word> に) (<B> が) あります。to mean the same thing.
This one seems to switch the order of the two things I have in parenthesis and switch the が to は, but I don't understand why.
agree, confused by when to use the different structures. I also replied using that structure as it was used in one of the previous phrases [there is a chair next to a table = テーブルのよこにいすがあります] but after that it only accepts "A" は "B" の location あります
423
That's because there is a subtle difference between "There is a chair next to the table." & "The chair is next to the table." But they are technically different.
Yes! So frustrating to not have ANY explanation about this. Drives me nuts that I have to rely on comments from other users before this starts to make sense.
Much thanks to the folks working for Duo for free, you guys are the real MVPs
I am struggling with the same thing I never know what order to put things in when の is involved
Think of it like the English "of" except reversed: "AのB" --> "B of A". this sentence for example could be thought of like "テーブルのとなり" --> " となりof テーブル" --> "adjacent space of table"
- 194
(Object + no + position) Seems to be the most common, to me.
As a native English speaker, i tend to the think of it like an apostrophe s ('s).
Taberu no hidari = to the table's left.
Yoda would what do?
- 1251
Same here. Right beforw this, I got "My mother is next to me," and the sentence structure was the reverse of this sentence.
- 2524
DL, make up your mind!
When I answered "椅子がテーブルの横にあります。", I was told to use "いすはテーブルのとなりにあります。"
When I answered ""椅子はテーブルの隣にあります。", was told to use "いすはテーブルのよこにあります。"
Really confusing!!!
Most cases, "yoko" and "tonari" are interchangable. The difference is that "yoko" can be used with different types of things (like plants next to dogs), and "tonari" can't (must be dogs next to dogs). If I remember correctly. The problem may be the use in kanjis.
What qualifies as same? Chair and table are not really identical and it's not the same as dog - dog situation. What about a cat next to a dog? What about a person next to a dog? Both are living things. Where do we draw the line?
Because it's THE chair, a chair within the conversation, not a new chair like が would imply. は for specific known subject, が for new unknown subject.
I don't think the が is wrong—it's probably the 隣 since it can't be used for dissimilar things. I might be wrong though
Can anyone please explain to me the difference between "あります” and ”います”? I'm a bit confused on when to use the former or the latter.
- 1270
For indication of existence:
あります is for things, plants
います is for human, living creatures such as animals, fishes.
Thank you for replying! Does that mean I can't use "います" in this case?
- 1270
となり means "neighbour" so you would use it when 2 things are right next to each other, without anything in between, or at least not anything of the same sort.
よこ means "horizontal" (it is a noun though). You would use it when 2 things are in the same row.
隣(となり) is used when two or more things are of the same kind, quality or status (you cannot use it when you are talking about objects next to people or viceversa); also, it is used to refer to the closest thing next to an object, regardless of the distance. Also, 隣 is used to refer to neighbours or neighbouring houses.
横(よこ), on the other hand it is used simply to mean "next to", just like となり, but not caring about kind, quality or status.
Taken from here: http://yesjapan.com/YJ6/question/4683/soba-_tonari-_yoko_what_039-s_the_differen
What is stumbling me the most isn't what to say but the order you say it. Is there a trick to this?
- 256
Depends if you want to say: There is a chair next to the table Or The chair is next to the table If someone asks you: Where can I get a chair? You'd answer: The chair is next to the table So in Japanese start with chair: Isu wa ... teeburu no yoko ni arimasu Otherwise if you are describing a room and there is a table and there is a chair next to it-> start with the table Teeburu no yoko ni ... isu ha arimasu
You just have to make your subject, figure out what's going on with it(はがをで), and say what's going on.
Examples: 椅子(subject)が(doing)外に(the place it's doing)あります(existing) this is more telling of it existing in the first place
兄(subject)は(known, being described)家の中に(the house's inside as a place)います(existing) this is more just where he is as a description of him
レストランの中にテイブル(this is a subject, the first part is just an attribute of it, so an inside-the-restaurant-table)が(doing)あります(exists) subjects can be complex but everything before what the sentence is about, in this case レストランの中に, are attributes of the subject, so it's a table within the restaurant. This would then mean: There is a table that is in the restaurant.
猫(object)を(being done to)買い(buying)ました (past conjugation of 買い(i think)) this would mean: A cat was bought; but through context you could infer that the speaker did the buying
レストランの中(the restaurant's inside)で(by means of which)食べ(eat)ます(non past conjugation) this would mean: I'm going to eat by means of the inside of the restaurant. Basically: I'm going to eat in the restaurant.
あの(that)水(water)を(is the object of)ください(please (give it to me)) over theres (that place's) water is being asked for. の is always possessive you just have to think about it the right way.
Remember; attributes and subject, what's going on with it, the thing describing the action and the action itself, and which form the action takes(done/past ました でした, or future ます, or current/present します)
You will be able to make tons of sentences with that formula, which is what the comment that this wall of text is a reply to was asking.
Alot of these structures are in english too; it's just that people don't think about them. I think alot of people's grief with learning a second language is that they don't understand language in general. Once you master your first language you are more well equipped to defeat another language. I try my darndest to understand everything. And now i impart that understanding unto you.
Also immersion is important; that's how you can use and understand your first language before you ever study it. Do the same thing with your target language, that with studying and boom: aquisition.
- 1569
this one is set up as an 「…あります」 sentence, but would 「椅子はテーブルのとなりです」 (いすはテーブルのとなりです) also be correct? it seems like responding with です should also work.
"テーブルの隣" can be rawly translated as "[the] next of the table", or you can think of it as "[at the] side of the table" (although "隣" means "next" or "neighbour"); the table comes first, although it comes last in the sentence in English.
Whatever it actually is comes last. Everything before that is an attribute and part of the subject. テイブルの隣に椅子 is a whole subject that literally means next-to-the-table-CHAIR it is a chair with the attribute of being next to the table, all within the subject. Then that subject will go on to があります (exist) or を買います (be bought) or で食べます (be the means by which you eat) or はあか (be described as red).
Because となり is used when items of the same category and size are next to each other, with nothing between them. In this case, the chair and the table are not the same size.
This may be, but となり was in the word bank and よこに was not. The hover hint suggested よこに, though?
There seems to be an error one way or another.
The hover hints are just that: hints, suggestions, possible transliterations. Just because it’s listed in Duolingo’s list of hints doesn’t mean that it’s applicable to the current sentence.
- 733
Here is it "テーブルのとなり." Elsewhere it is "となりのレストラン." Why does となりchange sides of the noun? And how does one know where to put it?
as you probably know, の is a particle that shows posession. So テーブルのとなり can be thought of as "the table's side" I guess.
- 1270
Support the answer above.
The same usage as in テーブルの上、テーブルの前 which should look more familiar to us.
Your sentence is perfect except for tonari not being 隣: the kanji form
First of all, 'the chair' is the subject. So the sentence shouod technically start with いすは. Think of wa as putting more emphasis on the preceding noun whereas ga is less specific. (The chair vs a chair)
Secondly, when using a particle like に(ni) to denote location, it usually comes right before the verb . (にあります)
As you have it written it wouod read something like, "Next to table a chair is" It should be, "The chair, next to the table it is'
This is an absolute farce for the level of knowledge at this stage of Japanese learning, especially when they only want you to give a specific answer. Bad Duolingo, naughty!
What's wrong with 椅子はテーブルの横です? Some of these can be ended in desu and others not?
- 423
For everyone asking, there is a nuanced difference between "The chair is next to the table" & "There is a chair next to the table." The first sentence would go like Duolingo accepts it, but the second sentence is worded as: "テーブルのとなりに椅子があります。" (I.e, "next to the table, a chair exists.")
テーブルのよこに椅子があります. I wrote this and it said I should have used は instead of が。Is that right?
- 1569
i don't think so... grammatically, the が and に particles are typically used with あります and います. the が would also make the point of emphasis (subject) of the sentence the chair, which seems right.
- 350
I read in other discussions that you're referring to something previously mentioned if you're using「は」, while「が」is used for subjects which are new, like
"Where's the chair?"
"The chair is beside the table." 「椅子はテーブルの隣にあります」
"What do you like?"
"I like chairs"「椅子が好きです」
- 539
I still think that 椅子がテーブルの隣にあります should be the right answer, because we are talking about THE chair right?
Pretty sure the answer should be 床 instead of 隣 because a chair and a table are not the same thing, yeah?
- 350
Do you mean 横 instead of 隣?
I'd say they belong to the same category of furniture, that's why use 隣.
E. g. 兄の隣は僕です(I'm beside my brother). My brother and I are not the same thing, but we're both humans so use 隣
I was told that you can't put は right before あります. There were other contexts in Duo where it would mark it wrong if は was right before あります, but in this case I wrote the sentence as テーブルの隣に椅子はあります and it was marked correct. Would anyone be willing to clarify this for me?
Sort of. I'm pretty sure that you can replace 隣 with 横, but not the other way around. From what I read, 横, meaning "side" can be used for any pair of nouns. 隣, meaning "next-door/neighbor/adjacent" is used when the two nouns are similar in some way or have something in common. Duolingo uses 隣 here because the chair and table are both pieces of furniture
Technically correct but SUPER Awkward. It be like in English saying "The (empty) space next to the table is inside the chair.
Part of the problem is that you put the location marker に next to the "wrong" noun, 椅子(chair) instead of 隣(neighboring space). The other part (assuming は is substituting for が) is that what you denoted as the topic/subject is also weird. With あります meaning "to exist", you are saying that the space next the table exists.
It is tonari.. Not donati. Difference between tonari and yokoni had been explained as above. Hope it helps..
Just one little mistake made it incorrect. You WILL explain when to use which markers OR ELSE. Do you understand???????
