Learn Hardcore Japanese: kaisya no kyuukeisitu ni ha, tiisana sofa ga hitotu dake oite arimasu. - In the company break room, there is only one small sofa placed there.

会社 = company
休憩室 = break room, lounge (literally “rest room”)
の is the possessive/attributive particle, linking two nouns: “N1 の N2” → “N2 that belongs to / is related to N1.”

So 会社の休憩室 can be understood as:

the company’s break room
the company break room (natural English)

Why is it 会社の休憩室に plus は → 会社の休憩室には? What does には mean?

You have two things happening:

に marks the place where something exists:
- 休憩室にソファがある = “There is a sofa in the break room.”
は marks the topic (what the sentence is “about”):
- 休憩室は… = “As for the break room, …”

When you combine them:
会社の休憩室には = “As for in the company’s break room, …”

Nuance:

It sets the location as the topic and often implies contrast:
- “In the company break room, (at least) there is only one small sofa (maybe other rooms have more or different furniture).”

Grammatically, に is still the location marker; は just turns 会社の休憩室に into the topic of the sentence.

Why is ソファ marked with が and not は or を?

が marks ソファ as the grammatical subject of the verb phrase 置いてあります (“is placed”).

ソファが置いてあります
= “A sofa is placed (there).” / “There is a sofa (placed there).”

Why not を?

を marks the direct object of an action (e.g. ソファを置く = “to place a sofa”).
Here we are not directly describing the action of placing; we’re describing the resulting state: “A sofa is (in the state of having been placed).” So ソファ becomes the subject.

Why not は?

You could say ソファは一つだけ置いてあります, but:
- は would turn ソファ into the topic (“As for the sofa, there is only one…”) and slightly shift focus.
- With 会社の休憩室には, the topic is already the location, and ソファが naturally marks what exists in that location.

What is the difference between 小さな and 小さい? Why not 小さいソファ?

Both 小さなソファ and 小さいソファ are correct and mean “a small sofa.”

小さい is an i-adjective in its regular attributive form:
- 小さいソファ = a small sofa
小さな is a special “na-like” attributive form of the same word:
- 小さなソファ = a small sofa (slightly softer / more descriptive in feel)

Nuance:

小さな often feels a bit more literary, soft, or descriptive (common in written Japanese, stories, etc.).
小さい feels more neutral and straightforward.

In everyday speech, you’ll hear both. The choice here is stylistic, not grammatical necessity.

Why is 一つ used here? Could we say 一個 or 一台 instead?

一つ (ひとつ) is a generic counter, used when:

you don’t use a specialized counter
or you want to keep it simple/generic

Sofas technically have more specific counters:

一台 (いちだい) – for machines, vehicles, large equipment, some furniture
Some people might also use 一個 (いっこ) informally for many small-ish physical items, but for furniture it sounds casual or childish.

In natural speech:

ソファが一つだけ is very common and feels neutral and natural.
ソファが一台だけ is also understandable and not wrong; it just sounds a bit more technical or like counting units of furniture.
ソファが一個だけ sounds off or childish for a sofa in a normal context.

So 一つ is a safe, natural choice here.

What does だけ mean in 一つだけ? How is it different from しか?

だけ after a noun/quantity means “only / just / no more than” in a neutral way:

一つだけ = “only one / just one”

しか also expresses limitation, but:

Must be used with a negative verb form.
Adds a stronger “and that’s all, and that’s not enough / a bit disappointing” feel.

Compare:

ソファが一つだけ置いてあります。
= “There is only one sofa (placed there).”
(neutral statement)
ソファが一つしか置いてありません。
= “There is only one sofa (and that’s all; there aren’t more).”
(often sounds more negative or emphasizing insufficiency)

In this sentence, 一つだけ simply limits the number without explicitly sounding negative.

What does 置いてあります literally mean, and how is it different from just あります or 置いています?

Breakdown:

置く = to place / put something somewhere (transitive verb)
置いて = て-form of 置く
置いてある / 置いてあります = “[something] has been placed and is (still) in that state”

So ソファが置いてあります literally is:

“A sofa has been placed (there) and is (still) there.”

Differences:

ソファがあります。
- Pure existence: “There is a sofa.”
- No explicit idea of someone having placed it there on purpose.
ソファが置いてあります。
- Result of a deliberate action: “A sofa is there (because someone put it there, and it remains).”
- Often used when the current arrangement is intentional or for some purpose.
ソファが置いています。 (very unnatural)
- 置く is transitive, so ソファが置いています is grammatically odd: sofas don’t “place” themselves.
- You might see 人がソファを置いています = “A person is placing a sofa,” but that’s describing the ongoing action, not a state.

So 置いてあります is the natural choice to express “(there) is (already) a sofa placed (there).”

Why is あります used and not います?

Japanese distinguishes two existence verbs:

ある / あります – for inanimate things (objects, places, abstract things)
いる / います – for animate beings (people, animals, some personified things)

A sofa is inanimate, so:

ソファがあります / 置いてあります (correct)
ソファがいます / 置いています (wrong / unnatural for existence)

So 置いてあります follows the rule for inanimate objects.

Why is there a comma after は: 会社の休憩室には、? Is it necessary?

The comma is not grammatically required; it’s a writing convention to show a natural pause:

会社の休憩室には小さなソファが一つだけ置いてあります。
会社の休憩室には、小さなソファが一つだけ置いてあります。

Both are correct.

Writers often put a comma:

after a long topic phrase (like 会社の休憩室には)
to make the sentence easier to read
to mark the boundary between the topic and the rest of the sentence

In speech, you would naturally pause there:
“As for in the company break room, [pause] there is only one small sofa.”

Can the word order be changed? For example, is 小さなソファが会社の休憩室には一つだけ置いてあります okay?

Yes, Japanese word order is relatively flexible as long as particles are correct. But some orders are more natural.

The original:

会社の休憩室には、小さなソファが一つだけ置いてあります。
→ Topic (location) → subject → quantity → verb.

Your version:

小さなソファが会社の休憩室には一つだけ置いてあります。
This is grammatically possible and might be used if you want to start by talking about “the small sofa” and then narrow down to “in the company break room.”

However, for a neutral description of what is in the break room, the original order (location-topic first) is the most natural and common.

Most natural patterns here:

会社の休憩室には小さなソファが一つだけ置いてあります。
会社の休憩室には一つだけ小さなソファが置いてあります。 (also okay, slightly different focus)

What nuance does putting だけ after 一つ (→ 一つだけ) have? Could it go somewhere else?

だけ limits what it directly follows:

一つだけ → “only one” (limiting the number)
小さなソファだけ → “only (the) small sofa(s)” (limiting the type/thing)

In this sentence:

小さなソファが一つだけ置いてあります。
– The quantity is limited: “There is only one (such) sofa.”

If you said:

小さなソファだけが一つ置いてあります。
– “Only the small sofa is (there), one (of it).”
– More like: among possible things, only small sofas exist there, and there is one.

So 一つだけ emphasizes “only one (in number),” which matches the intended meaning best.

Is 会社の休憩室 treated as one compound noun? How should I think of it?

Grammatically it’s Noun + の + Noun, but in practice it behaves a lot like a single unit:

会社の modifies 休憩室, so it’s “the break room that belongs to the company.”

You can think of it like English noun phrases:

company break room, school library, office kitchen

In Japanese:

会社の休憩室
学校の図書館 ( school library )
会社の会議室 ( company meeting room )

So yes, in reading and listening, it’s useful to chunk 会社の休憩室 together as one “place” word: “the company break room.”

What level of politeness is 置いてあります? Could I say 置いてある instead?

置いてあります is the polite form (ます-form) → suitable for normal polite conversation, descriptions, written explanations, etc.
置いてある is the plain form → used in casual speech, writing among friends, narration, etc.

Examples:

Polite:
会社の休憩室には、小さなソファが一つだけ置いてあります。
Casual:
会社の休憩室には、小さなソファが一つだけ置いてある。

Meaning is the same; only the politeness level changes.