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yaruki ga areba, mainiti nihongo wo benkyou dekimasu.

やる気き　が　あれば、　毎日まいにち　日本語にほんご　を　勉強べんきょう　できます。yaruki ga areba, mainiti nihongo wo benkyou dekimasu.
If you have motivation, you can study Japanese every day.
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Questions & Answers about yaruki ga areba, mainiti nihongo wo benkyou dekimasu.

What exactly does やる気 mean? Is it just “motivation”?

やる気 (yaruki) is usually translated as motivation or drive, but its nuance is:

  • the willingness to do something
  • the inner energy / get‑up‑and‑go to act

It’s fairly casual and very common in everyday speech. You can use it for all kinds of actions:

  • 勉強するやる気 – motivation to study
  • 仕事のやる気 – motivation for work
  • やる気が出ない – “I can’t get motivated”

So in やる気があれば, the idea is “If you have the motivation / drive (to do it) …”

Why is が used after やる気 instead of は?

In やる気があれば, the が marks やる気 as the grammatical subject of the verb ある (to exist / to have).

  • やる気がある = “(I/you/etc.) have motivation.”

Using は here would shift the focus to やる気 as a topic, which sounds a bit unnatural in this specific conditional pattern. Native speakers almost always say:

  • やる気があれば … (If there is motivation / If you have motivation …)

Compare:

  • やる気はあるけど、時間がない。
    “As for motivation, I do have it, but I don’t have time.”

Here は is okay because you are contrasting “motivation” with something else. In the original sentence, we’re not contrasting; we’re just stating a condition, so が is natural.

What does the ～ば form in あれば mean, and how is it different from other “if” forms like ～たら?

あれば is the conditional ば-form of ある:

  • ある → あれば = “if there is / if (someone) has”

In this sentence:

  • やる気があれば = “If (you) have motivation” / “If there is motivation”

Nuance compared to other conditionals:

  • やる気があれば
    Neutral, slightly “rule-like” or general:
    “As long as you have motivation, you can study Japanese every day.”

  • やる気があったら
    More everyday / colloquial. Often feels a bit more situational / hypothetical, but here the meaning is very close.

  • やる気があるなら
    “If (it’s true that) you have motivation …”
    Has a slight nuance of checking or questioning that condition.

All three are possible; あれば sounds simple and slightly more formal or “proverb-like.”

Could you rewrite やる気があれば with another phrase? For example, やる気があるなら or やる気があったら?

Yes, you can say:

  • やる気があるなら、毎日日本語を勉強できます。
  • やる気があったら、毎日日本語を勉強できます。

Both are grammatically correct and natural. Nuances:

  • あれば – neutral, general condition (used in the original).
  • あるなら – “if (indeed) you have it”; slightly more like “if that’s the case”.
  • あったら – everyday, conversational, but in this sentence it doesn’t change the meaning much.

For a textbook-style, clear sentence, やる気があれば is very standard.

Why is it 勉強できます (“can study”) instead of just 勉強します (“study”)?

できます is the potential form of できる (“can do / be able to do”).
Here, 勉強できます means “can study / are able to study.”

  • 毎日日本語を勉強します。
    “I study Japanese every day.” (a statement of habit)

  • やる気があれば、毎日日本語を勉強できます。
    “If you have motivation, you can study Japanese every day.”
    → Emphasizes ability made possible by motivation.

So the sentence focuses on what becomes possible when you’re motivated, not just describing a routine.

What level of politeness is 勉強できます and the whole sentence?

勉強できます is in the polite (ます) form, so the whole sentence is:

  • polite,
  • neutral in tone (not very formal, not very casual).

A more casual version would be:

  • やる気があれば、毎日日本語を勉強できる。
    (plain form できる instead of できます)

You might say:

  • できます to teachers, coworkers, people you’re not close to.
  • できる with friends, family, people of the same age in casual situations.
Is the word order 毎日 日本語 を 勉強 できます fixed? Can I move 毎日 or 日本語 around?

Japanese word order is relatively flexible as long as you keep the verbs at the end and keep particles attached to the right words.

All of these are natural:

  • 毎日日本語を勉強できます。
  • 日本語を毎日勉強できます。
  • 日本語は毎日勉強できます。 (with a nuance “as for Japanese, you can study it every day”)

The most neutral are:

  • 毎日日本語を勉強できます。
  • 日本語を毎日勉強できます。

They both mean “You can study Japanese every day.”

What does the particle を do in 日本語を勉強できます?

を marks the direct object of a verb — the thing that the action is done to.

  • 日本語を勉強する
    “to study Japanese”
    → 日本語 = object of 勉強する,
    → を connects them: “[do] studying of Japanese”.

In the potential form:

  • 日本語を勉強できる / 勉強できます
    “to be able to study Japanese”

日本語 is still the object; を still marks it. The verb meaning changed to “can study,” but the grammar of the object did not.

Can you drop particles in this sentence, like saying やる気あれば、毎日日本語勉強できる?

In casual spoken Japanese, it’s common to drop some particles when the meaning is still clear:

  • やる気があれば、毎日日本語を勉強できます。 (full, polite)
    → casual spoken: やる気あれば、毎日日本語勉強できる。

However:

  • This is not recommended in writing (especially in learning materials, exams, or formal writing).
  • As a learner, you should first master the full forms with particles.
  • Once you get comfortable, you’ll start to hear and naturally understand these dropped-particle versions.
What’s the difference between やる気 and something like 勉強する気?

Both relate to motivation, but their focus differs:

  • やる気
    General “motivation / drive (to do something)” without specifying the action.
    Context tells you for what.

  • 勉強する気
    Literally “the feeling/will to study” → motivation specifically to study.

So:

  • やる気があれば、毎日日本語を勉強できます。
    “If you have motivation (in general), you can study Japanese every day.”

  • 勉強する気があれば、毎日日本語を勉強できます。
    “If you feel like studying / if you have the will to study, you can study Japanese every day.”
    (explicitly about the motivation to study)

In many contexts, both are understandable and natural; やる気 is just broader and very commonly used.