In lessons 2.9, it is written :
"To say “there is” something, we use います or あります with the particle が . "
But in lessons 2.4, Kenny uses は instead of が with います :
"英語を話せる人はいますか？"
Why that ?
“There Is” and I “Have”
GregV84
October 28, 2020
EarleyGrave
October 28, 2020
That's a good question, hmm. Maybe it's because が generally identifies concrete nouns, and “a person who can speak English” is rather a vague entity and could be anyone… or no one? I'm interested to know the answer too. ;)
It feels like using GA could make the sentence sound like “Does a person who can speak English exist?”, which would be awkward, but WA makes it “As for a person who can speak English, do you have (one)?” That's just my thought at this point.
Emma-Rocket-Japanese-Tutor
October 29, 2020
こんにちは (Konnichiwa) GregV84 and EarleyGrave,
Good question!
Just as you say, normally we would use います (imasu) or あります (arimasu) with が (ga); however, it is also correct to use は (wa).
The particle は (wa) is usually used with nouns and adjectives, but we can also use it with verbs when we want to show contrast.
By using は (wa) here instead of が (ga), we can contrast people that speak English, to people that don't. Basically, what it's really saying is this:
"Is there a person that speaks English (and not a person that speaks Japanese)."
A good example of when you might use は (wa) here instead of が (ga) would be if you're in Japan, where everyone speaks Japanese and were looking for an English speaker specifically.
We have recently updated our Language and Culture lessons and have a new lesson on how you can use は (wa) to show contrast. You can check it out here, under the section "using は (wa) to contrast."
https://members.rocketlanguages.com/members/japanese/lessons/5045/2-7-Joining-Words
I hope this helped! Please let me know if you have any other questions.
べんきょう を がんばって ください！ (Benkyō o ganbatte kudasai!)
Good question!
Just as you say, normally we would use います (imasu) or あります (arimasu) with が (ga); however, it is also correct to use は (wa).
The particle は (wa) is usually used with nouns and adjectives, but we can also use it with verbs when we want to show contrast.
By using は (wa) here instead of が (ga), we can contrast people that speak English, to people that don't. Basically, what it's really saying is this:
"Is there a person that speaks English (and not a person that speaks Japanese)."
A good example of when you might use は (wa) here instead of が (ga) would be if you're in Japan, where everyone speaks Japanese and were looking for an English speaker specifically.
We have recently updated our Language and Culture lessons and have a new lesson on how you can use は (wa) to show contrast. You can check it out here, under the section "using は (wa) to contrast."
https://members.rocketlanguages.com/members/japanese/lessons/5045/2-7-Joining-Words
I hope this helped! Please let me know if you have any other questions.
べんきょう を がんばって ください！ (Benkyō o ganbatte kudasai!)
EarleyGrave
October 29, 2020
Thanks Emma!
GregV84
October 29, 2020
どうもありがとうエマ先生! :)