Learn Hardcore Japanese: kaisya no iriguti ni ha, sinnyuusyain no syuugousyasin ga kazatte arimasu. - At the company entrance, a group photo of the new employees is displayed.

会社の入口
- Literally: “company’s entrance / the entrance of the company”
- 会社 (company) modifies 入口 (entrance).
新入社員の集合写真
- Literally: “group photo of the new employees”
- 新入社員 (new employees) modifies 集合写真 (group photo).

In both cases, の shows that the first noun describes or “belongs to” the second noun.

Why is it 入口に and not 入口で? What’s the difference between に and で here?

に and で both mark locations, but they’re used differently:

に is used for:
- Location of existence / placement / result state
  - e.g. 入口に写真が飾ってあります。
    “A photo is displayed at the entrance.” (It’s positioned there.)
で is used for:
- Location where an action is performed
  - e.g. 入口で写真を撮りました。
    “We took a photo at the entrance.” (The taking happens there.)

In 会社の入口には、新入社員の集合写真が飾ってあります。, the focus is that the photo exists / is placed there, not that some action is being done there, so 入口に is correct.

Why do we have には after 入口? Why combine に and は?

には is simply に + は, two particles stacked:

に: marks the location (at the entrance).
は: marks the topic (what the sentence is “about”).

So 会社の入口には roughly means:

“As for (at) the company entrance…”
It sets the location as the topic of the sentence.

Compare:

会社の入口に、新入社員の集合写真が飾ってあります。
→ Neutral: “At the company entrance, there is a group photo of the new employees.”
会社の入口には、新入社員の集合写真が飾ってあります。
→ Adds a nuance like “At the company entrance (at least)…” or “Speaking of the company entrance…”.
It can hint at contrast with other places (e.g. maybe the hallway doesn’t have one).

Grammatically, both are correct; には adds topical/contrastive nuance.

What exactly does 集合写真 mean? Is it just “photo”?

No, 集合写真 (しゅうごうしゃしん) is more specific:

集合 = gathering, assembling
写真 = photograph

Together: 集合写真 = “group photo (everyone gathered together in one picture)”.

So 新入社員の集合写真 =
“the group photo of the new employees”, not just any random photo of them.

Why is 新入社員の集合写真 followed by が and not は?

In this sentence, the structure is:

Topic: 会社の入口には (As for at the company entrance,)
Subject: 新入社員の集合写真が (a group photo of the new employees)
Predicate: 飾ってあります (is displayed / has been put up and is there)

So:

は is already used in 入口には to mark the topic.
が marks what specifically exists / is in that state at that location.

If you used は here (新入社員の集合写真は飾ってあります), it would make the photo the topic instead and change the overall focus, e.g.:

新入社員の集合写真は、会社の入口に飾ってあります。
“As for the group photo of the new employees, it is displayed at the company entrance.”

The original sentence is:
“As for the company entrance, (there) is a group photo of the new employees displayed.”

I’m confused about 飾ってあります. What grammar pattern is this, and what nuance does it have?

飾ってあります is the 〜てある pattern:

Form: [transitive verb in て-form] + ある
Here: 飾る (to decorate / to display) → 飾って
- ある
Literal: “has been decorated/displayed and is (still) in that state”

Nuance of 〜てある:

Emphasizes a resulting state caused by someone’s intentional action.
Implies “someone put it there (for some purpose), and now it’s there.”

So 飾ってあります suggests:

“(It has been) put on display and is now there (for people to see).”

Compare:

飾っています (〜ている)
- More neutral: “is being displayed / is in a displayed state.”
- Doesn’t strongly highlight the earlier act of placing it there.
飾ってあります
- Highlights: someone deliberately put it there, and it’s left there.

In many real-world situations (stores, offices, notices, decorations), Japanese often prefers 〜てある for this purposeful “set up and left” feeling.

Why is it あります and not います in 飾ってあります?

あります and います both mean “there is / exist,” but:

あります: used for inanimate things (objects, places, events).
います: used for animate things (people, animals).

A photo, decoration, poster, etc. is inanimate, so the correct form is:

写真が飾ってあります。
“The photo is displayed / has been put up and is there.”

Using 飾っています would change only the grammar pattern (see previous answer), but the auxiliary must still be ある/いる depending on animacy. Here, the pattern is 〜てある, so we must use あります.

Why isn’t it 集合写真を飾ってあります with を? Why が飾ってあります?

In the 〜てある pattern, the noun that has undergone the action is typically marked with が, not を:

Pattern: N が [transitive-verb-て] ある
- 窓が開けてあります。
  “The window has been opened (by someone) and is open.”
- ポスターが貼ってあります。
  “A poster has been put up (by someone) and is posted.”

So:

新入社員の集合写真が飾ってあります。
“A group photo of the new employees has been put on display and is there.”

Using を would make it sound more like a straightforward transitive action (especially outside the 〜てある pattern), but with 〜てある, the natural and standard marking is が for the thing in the resulting state.

Could we say 飾っています instead of 飾ってあります? What would change?

Yes, you could say:

会社の入口には、新入社員の集合写真が飾っています。

It would still be understood, but there is a nuance difference:

飾ってあります (〜てある)
- Emphasizes an intentional action and its resulting state.
- “(Someone has) put it up there, and it’s there (for a reason).”
飾っています (〜ている)
- More neutral “is displayed / is in a decorated state.”
- Focuses less on the deliberate act of putting it there.

In many contexts like stores, offices, foyers, etc., 〜てある feels especially natural when talking about things set up on purpose (posters, signs, decorations).

What is the topic of this sentence, and how would you roughly “topic-translate” it into English?

The topic is 会社の入口には.

The structure is:
- Topic (with location): 会社の入口には
- Subject: 新入社員の集合写真が
- Predicate: 飾ってあります。

A “topic-style” English gloss would be:

“As for the company entrance, there is a group photo of the new employees displayed (there).”

Natural translation (dropping the explicit topic feel):

“At the company entrance, a group photo of the new employees is displayed.”

Is there any difference between 入口 and 入り口?

Both 入口 and 入り口 are read いりぐち and mean “entrance.”

入口
- Written entirely in kanji.
- Very common in signs, official writing, etc.
入り口
- Uses 入る (to enter)
  - 口 (opening) in a more “transparent” way.
- Also correct, somewhat more “spelled out.”

In modern Japanese, both forms are acceptable, and you’ll see both on signs. The choice here is just orthographic; the meaning and grammar in this sentence are the same.