Is it unusual to have the ga particle with a negative verb?


In saying that something doesn't exist, is it unusual to use the ga particle
(が) and a negative verb? For example, would "(Uchi ni) Terebi ga arimasen" be
an unusual way to say "There isn't a TV (at my house)"?

The reason I'm wondering is that lesson 8 of Japanese For Busy People, which
introduces the ga particle and the existence of people and things, teaches
"place ni noun ga arimasu/imasu" to say "The object exists at this location!".
(If you were talking about a noun whose existance was already known, and you
were just providing additional information, it currently suggests using "wa"
and "desu" - eg "terebi wa ookii desu" - "the television is big")

Also, at the start of chapter 9, it teaches "place ni noun ga arimasu ka", and
tells you how to do the positive answer "Hai, noun ga arimasu".

However, it doesn't teach "noun ga arimasen/imasen" to say "The object doesn't
exist!". The only time it mentions the negative form is with "Nani mo
arimasen" and "Dare mo imasen", which is to say that nothing or no-one exists
at a specific location.

Since it doesn't teach "noun ga arimasen/imasen", I'm wondering if it's
because that's not grammatically correct.




> Since it doesn't teach "noun ga arimasen/imasen", I'm wondering if it's
> because that's not grammatically correct.

It is correct. For example,

[code]

    どうしてさみしいんですか？ (Why are you sad?)  
    彼氏がいないので、さみしいんです。 (I'm sad because I don't have a boyfriend)
    
[/code]

or

[code]

    最近忙しくて、友達に会う時間がない。 (I've been too busy recently to see my mates)
    
[/code]

However, very often, when you state your negation, you emphasise your
subject/topic. It is therefore common to turn が into は.

[code]

    家にテレビがありますか？ (Do you have a telly at home?)  
    いいえ、家にテレビはありません。(A telly? No, I don't have one at home.)
    
[/code]




'Ga' has nothing to do with negation. Your example 'テレビがありません' is completely
fine.

The reason you need 'mo' in those examples is because Japanese uses a category
of words called indeterminates (which includes 'なに' and 'だれ'), which can be
used as a universal quantifier (which translates to English as 'any ...'),
existential quantifier (which translates to English as 'some ...') or an
interrogative quantifier (which translates to English as 'wh...').
Indeterminates take 'も' to function as a universal quantifier or 'か' to
function as an existential quantifier or take neither to function as an
interrogative quantifier.

> 何でもあります  
> 'There is anything.'
>
> 何もありません  
> 'There isn't anything.'
>
> 何かあります  
> 'There is something.'
>
> 何がありますか  
> 'What is there?'

