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Lesson 10. Expressing Existence ‘Imasu’ and ‘Arimasu’ in Japanese

There are two verbs to express existence in Japanese:

Verb

(Basic Form)

Verb

(Polite Form)

Meaning Usage Example
いる

(iru)

います

(imasu)

to be located living things (can move by himself/itself) people, animal
ある

(aru)

あります (arimasu) to be located, to exist, to have nonliving things (cannot move by itself) plants, things

 

In the sentence, we use the particle (ga) between noun and existence verb.

If the location is specified, particle   (ni) is placed after the location to indicate ‘in/at’.

Structure: Adverb of Place + に + Noun + が + Existence Verb

 

庭に犬がいます。

Niwa ni inu ga imasu.

There is a dog in the garden.

 

部屋に机があります。

Heya ni tsukue ga arimasu.

There is a desk in the room.

 

Possession (to have)

ある/あります (aru/arimasu) is also used to indicate possession of something (to have).

Structure: Noun + が + ある/あります

 

お金があります。

Okane ga arimasu.

(I) have money.

 

Read: Expressing ‘to give’ and ‘to receive’ in Japanese

 

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