Why do we use が instead of を with a 他動詞 in the expression 車が止めてあります?


I was studying てあります and ています in the context of 他動詞 and 自動詞 with my Japanese
teacher. I had to choose between 止める and 止まる in the following sentence:

> 学生：こんにちは。先生、お迎えに来ました。家の前に私の車が＿＿＿＿。どうぞお乗りください。

Being a good (sic) student, I noticed the が particle, and went for the 自動詞;
止まっています. It didn't feel odd to me: You could easily say "The car is stopped
(parked) in front of the house" and that would make sense. Note also that the
explanations accompanying my exercices didn't make mention of any exceptions.

My teacher told me it was wrong, and that it should be 止めてあります。She explained
that even though it wasn't specified, the student probably meant that they
purposefully parked the car in front of the house, thus explaining why the 他動詞
form was picked.

But then, why use が? If it's insinuated that the student stopped the car, the
car is obviously an object, not the subject of the sentence, and thus would
need を. There are scenarios where the object is marked with が, but in my
experience, those are all related to ability (e.g. ができる) or wants (e.g. が欲しい).

Am I missing something? Is this just a very niche case of "This is correct
because that is how Japanese people speak"? Is there a grammar rule I'm not
aware of?




> Is there a grammar rule I'm not aware of?

Yes. 他動詞 + ある is a fairly common grammar pattern. It takes the particle が, and
it is used to signal that an action has been taken _deliberately_ by someone
and as a result, you have the current state.

Compare:

> 窓が開いています。 The window is open.
>
> 窓が開けてあります。 [Someone] left the window open [possibly with a particular
> purpose in mind].

In the context of your example, 車が止めてあります means that someone, in this case the
student, parked the car on purpose, and it remains in this state (i.e.
parked).

> But then, why use が?

Since the action is deliberate, it takes a transitive verb 他動詞, but it
requires が instead of を because you are indicating a state of things.

For reference, see [てある and ておく – Expressing verbs with intent and
preparation](https://kabekatsudon.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/jp-
grammar-%E3%81%A6%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B-and-%E3%81%A6%E3%81%8A%E3%81%8F-expressing-
verbs-with-intent-and-preparation/).




> Is there a grammar rule I'm not aware of?

Yes. 他動詞 + ある is a fairly common grammar pattern. It takes the particle が, and
it is used to signal that an action has been taken _deliberately_ by someone
and as a result, you have the current state.

Compare:

> 窓が開いています。 The window is open.
>
> 窓が開けてあります。 [Someone] left the window open [possibly with a particular
> purpose in mind].

In the context of your example, 車が止めてあります means that someone, in this case the
student, parked the car on purpose, and it remains in this state (i.e.
parked).

> But then, why use が?

Since the action is deliberate, it takes a transitive verb 他動詞, but it
requires が instead of を because you are indicating a state of things.

For reference, see [てある and ておく – Expressing verbs with intent and
preparation](https://kabekatsudon.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/jp-
grammar-%E3%81%A6%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B-and-%E3%81%A6%E3%81%8A%E3%81%8F-expressing-
verbs-with-intent-and-preparation/).

