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 が (ga) between noun and existence verb.

If the location is specified, particle に  (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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