why is it 帰る気はない but やる気がない

[maple_des1]

Why is it that 帰る気　uses は　and やる気　uses が？　Both to go home and to do are verbs which is why I am confused. Please help. ありがとうございます

[Psy]

My initial thought is that the は in 帰る気はない adds the implication that there might something else you feel like doing, where as やる気がない is a just plain statement (I daresay even a set phrase) without any implications: you just have no motivation to do anything.

Just my 2 cents. When in doubt: ask a native!

[Javizy]

It has little to do with the phrases and more to do with the difference between が and は. I'm not going to attempt that one here, but like Psy said, は can imply a contrast and is used in negative clauses a lot for emphasis. If you Google やる気がない vs やる気はない it's 2.2 million vs 5.3 million hits. I've seen other questions like "what's the difference between に and には", but it always comes down to は vs が, so find yourself a good explanation and start questioning the writer's/speaker's choice of particle when you're reading/listening until it starts to sink in. Before you know it, you'll be choosing between them yourself to subtly nuance your writing and speech

[Psy]

If you Google やる気がない vs やる気はない it's 2.2 million vs 5.3 million hits.

ググル先生's knowledge is far-reaching and vast, however she can be prone to error. You might notice that very few of the search results actually contain やる気はない, but rather things like やる気ない and やる気のない instead. At any rate, it is a は・が issue, and the few results I found did support what I wrote above.

Ahh tedium. One of the many joys of being a self-study.

[Javizy]

Ah, I didn't check past the first two pages. I added quotes so I thought it'd be okay. まんまと騙された...

[Psy]

Hey, wait-- I take it back. I must have mistyped earlier [on google]. Still, the usage holds out: 「やることはあってもやる気はない」. Serious contrast going on here.

Whoops.