"wa" vs. "ga" in the question "do you have...?" (child speak!)


If a child were to casually ask their teacher, "do you have [some object],"
which would they say?

  1. 先生、「何か」はあるの？ (Sensei, [nanika] ha aru no?)

  2. 先生、「何か」があるの？ (Sensei, [nanika] ga aru no?)

I think I've heard a child say the second on one occasion, but a friend of
mine says the first is correct. Which is it? What's the difference?




What you might want is 先生、[何か]ある？.

の is used to confirm what you observed, not for simple questions.

何かはある？ is an expression to point out that the other person said s/he doesn't
have something but not necessarily anything.

**edit;** [何か]はある？ 1. asks if it's normally available, if not immediately, 2.
confirms it for the listener to make sure to have it. 3. shifts focus to
another topic after you asks about one. If the answer to the previous question
is negative, it conveys compromising nuance.

先生、何かがある？ is weird.（ **edit;** 先生、[何か]がある？ is mostly weird too)

**edit** ; [何か]がある？ implies that you would be more or less surprised if the
answer is actually yes.

