Questions & Answers about teeburu wa anteishite inai.
は marks テーブル as the topic of the sentence.
So テーブルは安定していない is literally something like:
- As for the table, it is not stable.
In natural English, we usually just say:
- The table isn’t stable.
- The table is unstable.
- The table is wobbly.
(depending on the situation)
The important point is that は does not directly mean is. It tells you what the sentence is about.
テーブル is a loanword borrowed from English table, so it is written in katakana.
Katakana is commonly used for:
- foreign loanwords
- some onomatopoeia
- emphasis
- scientific names, etc.
So:
- テーブル = table
- 机 = desk/table, but usually a more native Japanese word
In this sentence, テーブル sounds natural if you mean an actual table, especially a Western-style one.
