Learn Hardcore Japanese: kayou no yuugata ha kaigi ga arimasu.

火曜日 = full form, neutral/polite, fine in speech and writing.
火曜 = abbreviated form, common in:
- Schedules
- Calendars
- Informal conversation
- Notes, memos

Grammatically, they work the same in this sentence. You could say:

火曜の夕方は会議があります。
火曜日の夕方は会議があります。

Both mean the same thing and are correct.

What does the particle の do in 火曜の夕方?

の is connecting the two nouns 火曜 (Tuesday) and 夕方 (evening). It’s like saying “Tuesday’s evening” or “the evening of Tuesday.”

So:

火曜の夕方 = “Tuesday evening”

In general, A の B often means:

“B of A”
“A’s B”
“B that belongs to/relates to A”

Here, it’s “the evening that belongs to/relates to Tuesday.”

Why is the particle は after 夕方 and not に? I thought times use に.

Both は and に can appear with time expressions, but they do different jobs:

に marks a specific point in time:
- 火曜の夕方に会議があります。
  “There is a meeting on Tuesday evening.”
は marks the topic of the sentence:
- 火曜の夕方は会議があります。
  Literally: “As for Tuesday evening, there is a meeting.”

So in your sentence, the speaker is making 火曜の夕方 the topic, emphasizing “Tuesday evening” as the thing being talked about.

Both:

火曜の夕方は会議があります。
火曜の夕方に会議があります。

are correct, but:

は: “Talking about Tuesday evening: there is a meeting (then).”
に: “There is a meeting at Tuesday evening (stating the time more neutrally).”

Why is 会議 marked with が and not は?

The pattern Noun があります is the standard way to say “There is / There exists Noun” (for inanimate things or events).

会議がある = “There is a meeting.” / “A meeting exists.”

If you changed it to 会議はあります, the nuance shifts:

会議はあります
- “There is a meeting (at least).”
- Often contrasts with something else, like:
  - 今日は授業はありませんが、会議はあります。
    “Today there are no classes, but there is a meeting.”

So:

会議があります = simply stating existence.
会議はあります = highlighting/contrasting the meeting against other possibilities.

In your sentence, が is the natural choice because it’s just stating that a meeting exists at that time.

Why do we use あります and not です or します?

あります is the polite form of the verb ある, which means “to exist / there is / to have” for:

inanimate objects (books, chairs, buildings)
events (meetings, parties, plans)

Patterns:

本があります。 – “There is a book.”
パーティーがあります。 – “There is a party.”
会議があります。 – “There is a meeting.”

Why not です?

です is used to equate things:
- これは本です。 – “This is a book.”
- 会議は明日です。 – “The meeting is tomorrow.”

Why not します?

します means “to do”:
- 会議をします。 – “(We) will hold a meeting / do a meeting.”

So:

会議があります。 = “There is a meeting.”
会議をします。 = “We will hold a meeting.”

Both might describe the same real-world situation, but the grammar and nuance differ. Your sentence focuses on the existence of the meeting at that time, so あります is correct.

Who is having the meeting? There is no subject like “we” or “I.” How is that understood?

Japanese often omits subjects when they’re clear from context. 会議があります literally means:

“There is a meeting.”

It does not explicitly say who the meeting is for. Depending on context, it could be understood as:

“We have a meeting.”
“I have a meeting.”
“They have a meeting.”
“There is a meeting (on the schedule).”

In a typical workplace context, if you say:

火曜の夕方は会議があります。

people will normally interpret it as “We (our team/department) have a meeting Tuesday evening,” unless something in the conversation suggests otherwise.

Can I change the word order, like 会議が火曜の夕方はあります?

会議が火曜の夕方はあります sounds unnatural and confusing.

Natural word orders include:

火曜の夕方は会議があります。
(Topic first, then statement.)
火曜の夕方に会議があります。
(Time + に, then “there is a meeting.”)
会議は火曜の夕方にあります。
(Topic = meeting, then time.)

but not:

会議が火曜の夕方はあります。 ✗

Reason: は marks the topic, and topics normally appear near the start of the sentence. Also, mixing が and は that way here does not serve a clear purpose.

If you want to emphasize the meeting rather than the time, use:

会議は火曜の夕方にあります。
“The meeting is on Tuesday evening.”

What exactly does 夕方 mean? Is it “evening” or “late afternoon”?

夕方 (ゆうがた) covers roughly “late afternoon to early evening.” It’s a bit broader than English “evening” and can overlap with “late afternoon.”

Very roughly:

午後 (ごご) = afternoon (after noon)
夕方 = late afternoon / early evening (around 4–6 or 7 pm, but flexible)
夜 (よる) = night/evening (after it’s properly dark)

Exact times aren’t fixed; Japanese uses these words more flexibly. In context, 火曜の夕方 means something like “on Tuesday in the late afternoon / early evening.”

Is 会議 singular or plural? Does this mean “a meeting” or “meetings”?

Japanese nouns usually don’t mark singular or plural explicitly. 会議 by itself can mean:

“a meeting”
“the meeting”
“meetings” (in general)

Context decides. In this sentence:

火曜の夕方は会議があります。

it is most naturally understood as:

“There is a meeting on Tuesday evening.”

If you wanted to emphasize plurality, you’d use context or extra words, e.g.:

火曜の夕方は会議がたくさんあります。
“On Tuesday evening there are many meetings.”

Could I say 火曜の夕方、会議があります。 with a comma instead of は or に?

Yes, that is natural and common:

火曜の夕方、会議があります。

Here, 火曜の夕方 is just a time expression placed at the start, then a pause (comma in writing, slight pause in speech). It’s like:

“On Tuesday evening, there is a meeting.”

Nuances:

火曜の夕方は会議があります。
Slightly more “As for Tuesday evening, there is a meeting” – topic feeling.
火曜の夕方、会議があります。
More neutral: “On Tuesday evening, there is a meeting.”

Both are correct; the difference is subtle in many contexts.

What is the politeness level of 会議があります? Is this formal enough?

あります is the polite -ます form, so:

会議があります。 is polite and fine in most situations:
- workplaces
- with teachers
- with people you’re not close to

More casual forms:

会議がある。 – plain form (used among friends, family, casual settings)

More formal or honorific forms are possible in very polite business Japanese, but 会議があります is already appropriate for standard business politeness.

How do you read the whole sentence, and how does it break down?

Reading:

火曜の夕方は会議があります。
かようのゆうがたはかいぎがあります。

Breakdown:

火曜 (かよう) – Tuesday
の – connects nouns (“of”)
夕方 (ゆうがた) – evening / late afternoon
は – topic marker (“as for …”)
会議 (かいぎ) – meeting / conference
が – subject marker in the “there is” pattern
あります – polite form of ある, “there is / there exists / to have”

Literal structure:

“As for Tuesday evening, a meeting exists.”

Natural English:

“There is a meeting on Tuesday evening.” / “We have a meeting Tuesday evening.”