ある/いる（N5）

 

The basic usage is that ある can only be used for inanimate things, while いる can only be used for animate things.

 

Subject (animate)	いぬ	が	います	There is a dog
Subject (inanimate)	ほん	が	あります	There is a book

 

When you express that you have animate things, you use は…がいる.

わたし

は

こども

が

います

I have a child

 

When you express that you have an abstract attribute such as a dream or talent, you use は…がある.

わたし

は

ゆめ

が

あります

I have a dream

 

When you express that you have numerical attributes, you use は…がある.

わたし

は

ねつ

が

あります

I have a fever

 

When you express that you have a remarkable part of your body, you use は…をしている. You cannot use this sentence pattern without adjectives or adverbs. 

かれ

は

きれいな

め

を

しています

He has beautiful eyes

 

Note-Apart from the cases above, you simply use “もっている: to have.” The te-form + いる indicates resultant states while the plain form:” もつ” indicates a momentary action like “to hold.”

 

Location in more detail

To describe the location of an item relative to another item, as in “X is in front of Y”.

The Japanese version looks like： X は Y の まえ です。  

Other useful words describing locations are as follows: 

  

		Location words	English	Note
X はY	の	みぎ	To the right of
		ひだり	To the left of
		まえ	In front of
		うしろ	Behind
		なか	Inside
		うえ	On/above
		した	Under/beneath
		ちかく	near	Another word for NEAR that is also commonly used in そば、ちかく
		となり	Next to	Both” XはYのとなりです”and "XはYのよこです" describe situations where 2 items (X and Y) are found side by side. ※Note: For a "となり"sentence to be considered appropriate, items X and Y need to belong to the same category:2 people, 2 buildings, and so forth. In contrast, an item can be”よこ”in relation to another item even if they are quite distinct.   〇わたし　の　おとうと　は　わたしの　となり　に　います　　　　　Person     　Person (The items are in same category)   ×わたし　の　おとうと　は　べっど　の　となり　に　います　　　　　Person　　　Things (The items are in different category)   〇わたし　の　おとうと　は　わたしの　よこ　に　います 　　　　　Person     　Person (The items are in same category)   〇わたし　の　おとうと　は　ベッド　の　よこ　に　います  　　　　Person       Things (The items are in different category)

 

 Exercises

 Genki 1

Genki 1 Work book