Breakdown of matigai ga aru to komaru kara, syorui wo nikai yonda.
をwo
direct object particle
読むyomu
to read
がga
subject particle
からkara
reason particle
とto
conditional particle
あるaru
to exist
〜た〜ta
past tense
間違いmatigai
mistake
困るkomaru
to be troubled
書類syorui
document
二回nikai
twice
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Questions & Answers about matigai ga aru to komaru kara, syorui wo nikai yonda.
Why is 間違い followed by が instead of は?
In this clause, が marks the existence or occurrence of something new or important—in this case, mistakes. 間違いがあると困る literally means “if there are mistakes, it’ll be a problem.” If you used は (as in 間違いはあると困る), it would shift 間違い into a topic or contrast, implying you already have mistakes in mind or are contrasting them, which doesn’t fit the intended “if mistakes appear” sense.
What does ある mean in 間違いがある? Why not いる?
Japanese uses two existence verbs:
- ある for inanimate or abstract things
- いる for animate beings
Since 間違い (mistakes) are abstract/inanimate, you must use ある, not いる.
How does the と function in 間違いがあると困る? It doesn’t look like “and.”
This と is the conditional と, expressing a natural or inevitable consequence: “if/whenever X happens, then Y follows.” Here it means “if there are mistakes, it will naturally be a problem.” It differs from other conditionals:
- ～たら often has a one-time or specific condition
- ～ば can be more formal or hypothetical
But XとY emphasizes a general cause-effect relationship.
What nuance does 困る carry in this sentence?
困る means “to be troubled,” “to be inconvenienced,” or “to be in a bind.” The speaker expresses concern that mistakes in the documents would cause trouble, so they read the documents carefully.
Why is から used after 困る? Isn’t から usually at the end of a sentence?
から is the conjunction meaning “because.” You can place the reason clause first, then the main clause. Here:
“間違いがあると困るから, 書類を二回読んだ。”
= “Because it would be a problem if there were mistakes, (I) read the documents twice.”
Why is there no subject like “I” in this sentence?
Japanese commonly omits subjects when they’re understood from context. Since the speaker is clearly the one who read the documents, adding 私は or 僕は is unnecessary and would sound redundant.
Why use 二回 instead of 二度 or 二回も?
- 回 is the standard counter for occurrences: 二回読んだ simply states “read twice.”
- 度 can also be used (二度読んだ), but it’s slightly more formal or literary.
- Adding も (二回も読んだ) would emphasize “as many as two times,” suggesting the speaker felt it was quite a lot.
Could you repeat the verb instead, like “読んだ、読んだ” to show “read twice”?
No, Japanese doesn’t use verb repetition to indicate frequency. Instead, you use counters (e.g., 二回, 三度) or adverbs (e.g., もう一度) to express how many times an action occurs.