Learn Hardcore Japanese: kabegiwa ni ha ookina hondana ga oite atte, ue ni ha tokei mo kakete arimasu. - Along the wall, there is a big bookshelf, and a clock is also hung on top of it.

壁ぎわに本棚が置いてあります。
= There is a bookshelf at/by the wall. (neutral statement)
壁ぎわには本棚が置いてあります。
= As for the area by the wall, there is a bookshelf there.
(focus/contrast: “at the wall (at least)…”, possibly compared with other places)

So 壁ぎわには means roughly:

As for the space by the wall… / By the wall, (at least)…

What exactly does 壁ぎわ (壁ぎわ) mean? How is it different from just 壁 or 壁のそば?

壁ぎわ is usually written 壁際（かべぎわ） and literally means “the edge/near side of the wall” – i.e. right next to the wall.

Nuance:

壁 – “the wall” itself
壁のそば – “near the wall” (fairly neutral)
壁際（壁ぎわ） – “at/by the wall”, with a sense of right along the wall / up against the wall

You see the same 〜際（ぎわ） in words like:

窓際（まどぎわ） – by the window
川際（かわぎわ） – by the river

So 壁ぎわには is “as for (the space) right along the wall…”.

What’s the difference between 大きい本棚 and 大きな本棚?

Both are grammatical and both mean “a big bookshelf.”

大きい本棚 – uses the regular い-adjective form before a noun.
大きな本棚 – uses a special prenominal form of 大きい that’s used only before nouns.

Nuance:

Meaning: practically the same in everyday use.
Style: 大きな + noun can feel a bit more literary, story-like, or slightly more emphatic/specific.
In speech you’ll hear both; many speakers use them almost interchangeably.

So in this sentence, 大きな本棚 simply sounds natural and slightly story-ish; it’s not a different “kind” of big.

Why is it 本棚が and not 本棚は or 本棚を?

Here 本棚が置いてあって follows the same basic pattern as X がある / X がいる:

X が置いてある ≈ “There is X placed (there).”

So:

本棚が置いてある
= “There is a bookshelf (that has been) placed (there).”

Particle choice:

が marks what exists / what is there.
は would topicalize it: 本棚は壁ぎわに置いてあります。 – As for the bookshelf, it is placed by the wall.
を would make 本棚 a direct object of an action (本棚を置く = to place a bookshelf), which is not what’s happening here; we’re describing the resulting state, not the action of placing.

So 本棚が is natural because we are saying “a big bookshelf exists there (by the wall), placed there.”

How is 置いてあって formed? Why not just 置いてあります or 置いています?

Breakdown:

置く – to put/place (something)
置いて – て-form
置いてある – “is in the state of having been placed (by someone, on purpose)”
→ result of an intentional action
置いてあって – て-form of 置いてある used to connect to the next clause.

So:

大きな本棚が置いてある。
A big bookshelf has been placed (there) / is sitting (there).
大きな本棚が置いてあって、上には…
There is a big bookshelf (that has been placed there), and (in addition) up above…

Why not 置いています?

置いている from 置く would usually sound like a continuing action (“is in the middle of placing”) or, in some contexts, a state, but for objects that someone has deliberately arranged, Japanese prefers 〜てある to express “has been put there and remains so.”

Why not 置いてあります here?

置いてあります is the polite form of 置いてある.
In a polite sentence, only the final verb needs ます; non-final clauses often stay in plain form:
- 大きな本棚が置いてあって、上には時計もかけてあります。

So 置いてあって is just the linking form of 置いてある, and かけてあります is the final polite verb of the sentence.

What is the difference between using 〜てある (置いてある, かけてある) and 〜ている (置いている, かかっている)?

〜てある and 〜ている both describe states, but they have different nuances.

〜てある (with a transitive verb):

Describes the resulting state of a deliberate action.
Implies someone intentionally did it, and it is left that way.
Pattern: [object] が [location] に〜てある

Examples:

本棚が壁ぎわに置いてある。
A bookshelf has been placed by the wall (and stays there).
時計が上にかけてある。
A clock has been hung up above (and stays there).

〜ている:

With an intransitive verb (like かかる): describes a state / condition.
With a transitive verb (like 置く) often sounds like a continuing action (“is placing”).

Examples:

壁に時計がかかっています。
A clock is hanging on the wall. (neutral state)
本棚を置いています。
Normally “(someone) is (in the process of) placing/putting the bookshelf,”
not “the bookshelf is sitting there.”

That’s why in this sentence, 置いてあって and かけてあります are used: they emphasize “have been arranged/put there and are now in place.”

What does 上 refer to here? On top of the bookshelf? The wall above it?

In 上には時計もかけてあります, 上 means “up above (there)” or “on/above that area.”

Context clues:

The clock is かけてあります (“has been hung”), which strongly suggests a vertical surface (like the wall), not the horizontal top surface of the shelf.
The first part puts the bookshelf by the wall; then 上には naturally refers to the upper part of that same wall, above the bookshelf.

So a natural interpretation:

There is a big bookshelf by the wall, and up above (on the wall above it) there is also a clock hanging.

Japanese often omits the explicit “of what” after 上; the listener infers it from context.

Why is there another には in 上には? Is it okay to have more than one は in the same sentence?

Yes, it is perfectly natural to have multiple は-phrases in one sentence. Each X は / X には is its own topic (often with a mild contrastive nuance).

Here:

壁ぎわには – As for the space by the wall, there is a big bookshelf placed there.
上には – And as for up above (that), there is also a clock hung there.

So the sentence is like:

As for by the wall, there’s a big bookshelf placed there, and as for up above (that), there’s also a clock hung there.

Multiple は just reflect multiple “as for X” topics.

What does the particle も do after 時計? How is 時計も different from 時計が?

も means “also / too / as well.”

時計がかけてあります。 – There is a clock hung (there).
時計もかけてあります。 – There is also a clock hung (there).

In this context, も implies:

There is already something else mentioned (the big bookshelf),
and in addition to that, there is also a clock.

Grammatically, も here replaces the particle が:

Underlying structure: 時計がかけてあります。
Replace が with も → 時計もかけてあります。

So the subject is still 時計, but we add the nuance of “also.”

How does かけてあります work grammatically?

Breakdown:

かける – to hang something (transitive)
かけて – て-form
かけてある – “is in the state of having been hung (by someone, on purpose)”
かけてあります – same as かけてある, but in polite form (あります).

The pattern is the same as 置いてある:

時計を壁にかける。 – to hang a clock on the wall.
時計が壁にかけてある。 – a clock has been hung on the wall (and is now there).
時計が壁にかけてあります。 – same meaning, but polite.

In the sentence:

上には時計もかけてあります。
= Up above, there is also a clock that has been hung (and is there now).

Again, 〜てあります is the polite resultative form, emphasizing a deliberate arrangement.

Why isn’t there a が after 時計 in 時計もかけてあります?

Because も is taking the place of が.

Underlying pattern is:

時計がかけてあります。 – A clock has been hung (there).

When you want to say “also a clock,” you change:

時計が → 時計も

You do not say 時計もが; も itself functions as the particle in place of が / は / を.

So:

時計もかけてあります。
= (There) is also a clock hung (there).

Could you say 壁ぎわに大きな本棚が置いてあって instead of 壁ぎわには? Would the meaning change?

Yes, you can say:

壁ぎわに大きな本棚が置いてあって、上には時計もかけてあります。

This is completely grammatical and natural. The difference is nuance:

壁ぎわに – just marks the location (“by the wall, a big bookshelf is placed…”).
壁ぎわには – makes “by the wall” the topic and gives it a slightly contrastive feeling:
- As for the area by the wall, there’s a big bookshelf…
  (maybe implying that other places are different: in the middle of the room, by the window, etc.)

So には adds a bit more focus/emphasis on “by the wall,” but the basic scene being described is the same.