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sofa no usiro ni tiisai hondana ga arimasu.

ソファ　の　後うしろ　に　小ちいさい　本棚ほんだな　が　あります。sofa no usiro ni tiisai hondana ga arimasu.
There is a small bookshelf behind the sofa.
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Questions & Answers about sofa no usiro ni tiisai hondana ga arimasu.

What does の do in ソファの後ろ?

の is a possessive/connecting particle. Here it links ソファ (sofa) and 後ろ (behind/back), making:

  • ソファの後ろ = the back of the sofa / behind the sofa

You can think of it as “X の Y = Y of X / Y related to X”.

Why is there a に after 後ろ (in 後ろに)?

に marks the location where something exists or is.

The pattern is:

  • [Place] に [Thing] が あります。
    = There is [Thing] at/in/on [Place].

So:

  • ソファの後ろに = at the place behind the sofa
  • 小さい本棚があります。 = a small bookshelf exists (there).

Together: At the place behind the sofa, there is a small bookshelf.

Why do we use が with 小さい本棚? Why not は?

In this pattern, が marks the thing whose existence you are stating.

  • [Place] に [Thing] が あります。 → neutral “There is a [Thing] at [Place].”

If you used は, you’d be making 小さい本棚 the topic and slightly changing the focus:

  • ソファの後ろに小さい本棚はあります。
    This sounds more like: As for a small bookshelf, (yes,) there is one behind the sofa (maybe contrasting with other places / objects).

For a basic “There is …” sentence, が is standard.

Why is あります used and not います?

Japanese has two main “to exist / there is” verbs:

  • あります: for inanimate things (objects, plants, places, abstract things)
  • います: for animate beings (people, animals, living creatures you treat as animate)

A bookshelf is an inanimate object, so you use:

  • 本棚があります。 = There is a bookshelf.

If it were a person or animal:

  • 犬がいます。 = There is a dog.
What is the basic sentence pattern here?

The sentence follows a very common pattern:

  • [Place] に [Thing] が あります。

Applied to this:

  • ソファの後ろ = Place (behind the sofa)
  • に = location marker
  • 小さい本棚 = Thing (small bookshelf)
  • が = subject marker
  • あります = exists / there is

So: ソファの後ろに小さい本棚があります。
= There is a small bookshelf behind the sofa.

Can I change the word order, like 小さい本棚がソファの後ろにあります?

Yes. 小さい本棚がソファの後ろにあります。 is also correct.

Both:

  • ソファの後ろに小さい本棚があります。
  • 小さい本棚がソファの後ろにあります。

mean There is a small bookshelf behind the sofa.

The nuance changes slightly:

  • Starting with ソファの後ろに… focuses more on the place (“Behind the sofa, there is…”).
  • Starting with 小さい本棚が… focuses more on the thing (“The small bookshelf is behind the sofa.”).

Grammatically, both are fine.

Why is ソファ written in katakana, but 本棚 is kanji?
  • ソファ (sofa) is a foreign loanword (from English/French), so it’s written in katakana, the script usually used for loanwords.
  • 本棚 is a native Japanese word:
    • 本 = book
    • 棚 = shelf Together: 本棚 = bookshelf. Native or Sino-Japanese words are typically written with kanji (often with kana for grammar).
Why is the adjective 小さい placed before 本棚? Can it go after, like in English “bookshelf small”?

In Japanese, adjectives almost always go before the noun they modify:

  • 小さい本棚 = small bookshelf

You cannot say 本棚小さい as a noun phrase meaning “a small bookshelf”.
本棚は小さい。 is a sentence meaning “The bookshelf is small.” (noun + topic + predicate), not a single noun phrase.

Could I use 小さな本棚 instead of 小さい本棚?

Yes:

  • 小さい本棚 and 小さな本棚 both mean a small bookshelf.

小さい is an -i adjective used directly before a noun.
小さな is a related na-like form used only attributively (before nouns).

In everyday speech, 小さい本棚 is slightly more common and neutral, but 小さな本棚 is also natural and can sound a bit more literary or soft in some contexts.

Why do we need に after 後ろ? Can I just say ソファの後ろ小さい本棚があります?

You need に here because, with あります / います, に marks the location of existence.

  • ソファの後ろに小さい本棚があります。 ✅
  • ソファの後ろ小さい本棚があります。 ❌ (unnatural / incorrect)

Without に, ソファの後ろ is not properly marked as the place where the bookshelf exists.

Why are there no plural markers? How do I know if it’s “a small bookshelf” or “small bookshelves”?

Japanese usually does not mark singular vs. plural on nouns.

  • 小さい本棚があります。 could mean:
    • There is a small bookshelf.
    • There are small bookshelves.

Context clarifies which is meant. If you really want to emphasize plurality, you can use counters:

  • ソファの後ろに小さい本棚が一つあります。
    = There is one small bookshelf behind the sofa.

But in many situations, Japanese simply leaves it general.

Why is there no topic particle は in this sentence? Could we add it somewhere?

The given sentence is a basic existence statement and doesn’t need a topic:

  • ソファの後ろに小さい本棚があります。

You can introduce a topic, which slightly changes the nuance:

  • ソファの後ろには小さい本棚があります。
    = As for behind the sofa, there is a small bookshelf (there).

Here, ソファの後ろ is being talked about as the topic (with は), and within that location, 小さい本棚 is the thing that exists (marked by が).

What is the subject of the sentence in Japanese? Is there a word like English “there” in “there is”?

The grammatical subject is 小さい本棚, marked by が:

  • 小さい本棚があります。
    = A small bookshelf exists.

Japanese does not use a separate “dummy subject” like English there.
English “There is a small bookshelf…” is structurally different, but Japanese just says “A small bookshelf exists (at that place).”