A grammatical question in Japanese
Hi guys,

could somebody please explain the difference between the following two sentences to me?

1.
彼は　自動車の中に　います。

2.
自動車の中に　彼が　います。

I know that は introduces the topic, whereas が indicates the subject, and I am comfortable with that difference on a theoretical level. However, I am left wondering what that actually means in practice: is there any difference between the two sentences above? Perhaps a different emphasis on some or other aspect?

Thank you!

Yair

Question

A grammatical question in Japanese
Hi guys,

could somebody please explain the difference between the following two sentences to me?

1.
彼は　自動車の中に　います。

2.
自動車の中に　彼が　います。

I know that は introduces the topic, whereas が indicates the subject, and I am comfortable with that difference on a theoretical level. However, I am left wondering what that actually means in practice: is there any difference between the two sentences above? Perhaps a different emphasis on some or other aspect?

Thank you!

Yair

Answer

I think it is easy to understand the difference of 2 sentences when asking to these sentence.
1.彼は自動車の中にいます。←Q　彼はどこにいますか？（where is he?)
2.自動車の中に彼がいます。←Q　自動車の中に誰がいますか？（Who is in the car?)
Two sentences are almost same.1 emphasizes 自動車の中. 2 emphasizes かれ. sorry to be poor English.

Answers · 2

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