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~するつもりです

~するつもりがある

~する予定です

~する予定がある

These are just two examples. Obviously you can't stick in any noun, but I don't know if these fall into some well defined class either.

Anyhow, are there any difference in nuance when formulating yourself one way or the other?

I'm also wondering about the negative:

~する予定がない

~する予定じゃない

Community
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gibbon
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    We don't say はずがある. (probably because はず is not a noun?...but はずがない/はずはない are fine...hmm?? はずじゃない is a contracted form of はずではない I think) –  May 19 '12 at 07:37
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    Hm yes, maybe I got ahead of myself there. I've definitely seen はずがない but perhaps I've never actually seen はずがある anywhere. Anyhow, はず does seem to be classified as a noun in the dictionaries I've looked at. Well I'm pretty sure I've at least seen other words than 予定 where both です and がある seem to be used for the same purpose, I hope I'm not just making that up as well, then I'm embarrassed. :| – gibbon May 19 '12 at 08:15
  • That's interesting too, but right now I'm mostly curious about difference between say ~つもりがある and ~つもりです. :) (Maybe just used by different age groups? In different regions of the country? Individual preference?) – gibbon May 19 '12 at 09:01
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    Ah I think we use all these phrases regardless of age/region/preference. Hmm 結婚するつもりだ and 結婚するつもりがある have different nuances for instance. I think It'd be interesting to ask the difference too in your question –  May 19 '12 at 09:07
  • Yes it's that difference I'm asking about. (it's in the question already) – gibbon May 19 '12 at 09:11
  • I'm not the downvoter. May be you should add the whole sentence in the examples, or at least make it する予定です. I didn't figure out what you mean by "予定です" until I did a search. – fefe May 19 '12 at 15:16
  • Another 「で」 vs. 「が」 question. I think existing instruction on 「で」 just isn't clear enough. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams May 19 '12 at 20:40
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    @Chocolate: I did not vote this question down (I voted it up in fact), but there is no rule that a downvoter must explain the reason. Also note that voting on Stack Exchange is anonymous. If a voter wants to remain anonymous for some reason, he or she has the right to do so. – Tsuyoshi Ito May 20 '12 at 02:49
  • @IgnacioVazquez-Abrams it had completely escaped my mind that です is a contracted form of であります. Actually I found the です version of these sentences a bit bewildering, but it makes more sense now. It doesn't quite answer the difference in nuance though, I think. I can agree with SomethingJapanese's answer, but I'll wait to see a vote or two before accepting. – gibbon May 20 '12 at 06:10
  • @TsuyoshiIto-san-- OK..., I just wanted to know why the downvoter felt like voting it down, cos I found this question quite worth discussing after I talked with gibbon and noticed that there was such a big difference between 'お前、あの[娘]{こ}と結婚するつもりなのか(orつもりか)！？' and 'お前、あの娘と結婚するつもりが(orつもりは)あるのか！？' –  May 20 '12 at 07:40
  • Interesting question. If you claim that you cannot stick in any noun, you should give examples of those nouns that you cannot. Then we can see examples of both types of nouns. –  May 24 '12 at 15:18
  • @sawa Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think for most nouns the meaning become significantly different. 本です - It's a book, 本がある - I have a book. (roughly, of course) – gibbon May 24 '12 at 15:27
  • @gibbon Sure. But I though the question is only mentioning abstract/conceptual nouns like will, plan, etc. And in any case, if you claim some difference (among different nouns), it is better to show the difference. If you though most nouns do not allow this, just randomly pick one such noun and contrast it with the ones you give. –  May 24 '12 at 15:33

2 Answers2

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I kind of feel like です is more personal, more set, whereas がある (or はある) is more distanced, more nebulous or open to change. (I'm actually more comfortable with はある; I think it sounds a bit more correct, or likely.)

Consider です. 青いです means "It is blue", period, and that is a fact. By contrast, using ある instead of です implies a little less personal investment in the statement, to me.

Let's consider そのつもりです and そのつもりはあります.

If these statements are in the first person, then そのつもりです implies (to me) a confidence that it WILL happen, while そのつもりはあります sounds a little less confident (or more open to change) or just more distanced (perhaps in an effort to be humble).

If someone were looking to change your mind about plans you have, and you answered そのつもりです, it would sound to me like you're against changing your plans, or (at worst) in favor of your plans and not sure why you should change them. If you answered そのつもりはあります, though, it would sound a little more receptive, to me.

If these statements are in the third person (a third party is the subject), then そのつもりです implies (to me) confidence that those are the other person's plans, while そのつもりはあります might imply that you believe those to be their plans, but perhaps you're not greatly familiar with those plans, or perhaps not greatly familiar with the person and don't feel comfortable speaking so strongly for the other person (again, humility you could call it).

As for the negative examples you gave, I feel like they're just talking about separate things. (I'm going to substitute その for ～する and は for が again, for simplicity/my comfort.)

その予定はありません
(I) don't have those plans. OR Those are not (my) plans.
その予定ではありません
Those are not (my) plans.

Now, the second translation for the former looks like the latter, but..."my plans" in the former is "plans that I have", whereas "my plans" in the latter is "THE plans that I have".

The former is expressing: you suggested a plan, and I don't have that plan (though I may have other plans). The latter is expressing: you suggested that I have plans and that they are X, but the plans I have are NOT X.

But, of course, the disclaimer...I'm not a native speaker, so I could just be imagining some of this. But I guess that's in part what the voting system and comments are for. Speak up, Stack Exchange!

SomethingJapanese
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The structure affects the difference in the meanings.

...つもりだ
'my will is such that ...'

...つもりがある
'I have a (partial) will such that ... (but I also may have another contradicting will)'

This results in that the former has more determined meaning than the latter (as SomethingJapanese observes).

This difference in meaning also explains what Chocolate and gibbon discuss in the comment. Unlike つもり 'will' or 予定 'plan' which may or may not be strongly determined, はず 'being ought to' is strongly determined by nature. Therefore, it does not go well with the weaker expression がある, whose implicature that it is "weakly determined" contradicts with the "strongly determined" meaning.