The nuance of てある can change depending on which particle you're using: — with が it simply expresses a state resulting from an action done intentionally by someone (e.g., ドアが開けてある。 = The door is open. [someone left it open]); — with を it generally carries a nuance of preparation, much like ておく does (e.g., 日本語の辞書を買ってある = I bought a Japanese dictionary. [bought it to get ready to study Japanese]).
Note that てある does not conjugate in the way that ておく does [ておく/ておいた/ておいて]. Besides, it can't be used to talk about preparatory actions that would be done in the future.
8
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(13 years ago)
It can help to keep in mind that this verb form closely corresponds to the passive present perfect simple form ("has been" + past participle) in English. They express the same things: a completed action and a current state of being for the subject of the clause.
For example:
壁に何かが書いてある ------> Something has been written on the wall.
This structure basically turns a transitive verb into an intransitive one, so you always use the particle が (and not を) after the object of the sentence.
Not a big deal, but there's a typo in the third sentence.
"The address is written on the postcard, so please make a not of it so you don't forget it."
Should be "...please make a NOTE of it..."
Even though it's something insignificant, would you like me to continue notifying you of typos in the future, or not bother? I don't want to seem like a spelling/grammar nazi or anything haha ^^
I appreciate all fixes, large or small! I'll be adding a feature in the future where you can directly write in suggestions for fixing the reibuns without having to deal with comments.
Maybe you can put a note that you have to use が and not を when referring to the object affected, since this structure basically turns a transitive verb into an intransitive one.
the difference between てある and ておく is the sense of purpose. Something that was done and that's the end of it would use てある (the door has been closed, something has been written, etc). Something that was done to prepare for something else (put papers on the desk *so that someone can use them,* prepared food *for someone to eat* etc) would use ておく. Does that make sense? Also, like the note above says, てある is always a current state, so it's always written in the present tense. ておく is an action that happens, so it can be in the past tense as well.
noooo lol i understand the teoku form when it is"doing something to prepare for something" i understand that perfectly im talking about another usage under teoku and it says "to leave as in the state A" and the example sentences dont look like the planned or did anything in advance now that i think of it the do kinda of run together but, i want to know for sure.
what is the differences between teiru and tearu?
Because both of them describe the state after action A takes place.
Arigatou
Well, what is the difference between ある and いる? They both refer to a state of being. The former verb is for inanimate objects, while the latter is for animate objects. Is it true that this concept would apply to the てある and ている constructs as well?
In the first user note, in this sentence, "— with を it generally carries a nuance of preparation, much like ておく does (e.g., 日本語の辞書を買ってある = I bought a Japanese dictionary. [bought it to get ready to study Japanese])", shoudn't it be ''teoku" rather than "tearu" in the example?
Good question. The way that I've often seen them as different is that てある focuses on the state of something already having been done, while ておく focuses on the action taking place specifically for something else. I cannot say 100%, but it is often the case where multiple ways of saying something exist, and they're all correct, they just each carry a difference nuance or focus.
てある and ておく are alike in the sense of an action preparing for something else (but not in their other usages).
The book 初級を教える人のための日本語文法ハンドブック gives the following pair of sentences:
試験のために、たくさん勉強をしておきました。 = I studied a lot for the exam.
試験のために、たくさん勉強をしてあります。 = I have been studying a lot for the exam.
While both have a very similar meaning, the second implies that the effects of the action (the studying) still remain, while the first includes no such nuance. You can think of it as me being in a state of 'readiness for the exam'.
Also, take note of the different tenses being used here. 勉強をしてありました would be gramatically incorrect.
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2 years ago
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