～がある・～がいる – Talking About What Exists in Japanese [JLPT N5]

Quick Summary

• Meaning: ～がある and ～がいる mean “there is / there are” or “to exist / to be (somewhere).” ある is for things, いる is for people and animals.
• How to Use: Place + に + N + が + ある / いる to say something exists in a place.

Example:

• 公園に宇宙人がいます。
• Kouen ni uchuujin ga imasu.
• There is an alien in the park.

Overview

The patterns ～がある (ga aru) and ～がいる (ga iru) are some of the first grammar points you will use in Japanese. They answer simple questions like “What is there?” and “Who is there?”

Use them to:

• Say that something exists: ドラゴンがいます (doragon ga imasu, there is a dragon).
• Say that something is in a place: 机の上に本があります (tsukue no ue ni hon ga arimasu, there is a book on the desk).
• Talk about what you have (using the idea “there is ~ for me”): 私はロボットの友だちがいます (watashi wa robotto no tomodachi ga imasu, I have a robot friend).

The key idea is existence or presence:

• ある (aru) is for inanimate things (non-living things): objects, places, events, ideas.
• いる (iru) is for animate beings: people and animals, and sometimes characters that act like living beings (ghosts, aliens, talking cats).

In daily conversation, you will often combine:

• a place with に (ni)
• the thing/person with が (ga)
• and then ある or いる

For example:

• 冷蔵庫にケーキがあります。
• Reizouko ni keeki ga arimasu.
• There is a cake in the fridge.

• 教室に忍者がいます。
• Kyoushitsu ni ninja ga imasu.
• There is a ninja in the classroom.

This is a very natural way to describe a scene in Japanese, and you will use it all the time when telling stories, giving directions, or just talking about what you see around you.

Before You Start

Review the subject particle が and the location pattern in ～にあります／～にいます. This lesson introduces what exists before focusing on where it exists.

Structure / Formation

Basic Patterns

• Place + に + N (thing) + が + ある
• Place + に + N (person/animal) + が + いる

To say “there is” or “there are,” choose:

• ある when the noun is an inanimate thing:
  • 机にメロンパンがあります。
    Tsukue ni meronpan ga arimasu.
    There is a melon bread on the desk.
• いる when the noun is a person or animal:
  • 駅にパンダがいます。
    Eki ni panda ga imasu.
    There is a panda at the station.

You can also drop the place part and just say that something exists in general:

• 問題があります。
  Mondai ga arimasu.
  There is a problem.

Form with Polite and Plain Style

The core verbs are:

• ある (aru) – to exist (for things)
• いる (iru) – to exist (for people/animals)

Polite forms are very common for beginners:

• あります (arimasu) – polite form of ある
• います (imasu) – polite form of いる

Basic patterns with politeness:

• Place + に + N (thing) + が + あります。
• Place + に + N (person/animal) + が + います。

Conjugation Patterns

Here is a simple conjugation table for ある and いる in useful forms:

Form	ある (things)	いる (people/animals)	English meaning
Plain non-past (V-る)	ある	いる	there is / there are
Polite non-past (V-ま)	あります	います	there is / there are (polite)
Plain past (V-た)	あった	いた	there was / there were
Polite past (V-ました)	ありました	いました	there was / there were (polite)
Plain negative (V-ない)	ない	いない	there is not / there are not
Polite negative (V-ません)	ありません	いません	there is not / there are not (polite)

Example (past):

• 昨日、この町に雲がありませんでした。
• Kinou, kono machi ni kumo ga arimasen deshita.
• Yesterday, there were no clouds in this town.

• さっき教室に先生がいました。
• Sakki kyoushitsu ni sensei ga imashita.
• A moment ago, there was a teacher in the classroom.

Particles: に and が

To use ～がある・～がいる correctly, two particles are especially important:

• に marks the place where something exists:
  • ベッドの下にモンスターがいます。
    Beddo no shita ni monsutaa ga imasu.
    There is a monster under the bed.
• が marks the thing or person that exists:
  • 机の上に古いラーメンがあります。
    Tsukue no ue ni furui raamen ga arimasu.
    There is old ramen on the desk.

A common pattern you will see and use a lot is:

• Place + に + N + が + ある / いる

Talking About “Having” with ある・いる

Japanese often uses this pattern to mean “to have”, especially with people and pets. The idea is “for me, there is ~”. In this case, the person who has something is usually marked by は, and what they have is marked by が.

Pattern:

• Person + は + N + が + ある / いる

Examples:

• 私はロボットの彼女がいます。
• Watashi wa robotto no kanojo ga imasu.
• I have a robot girlfriend.

• 兄は秘密の部屋があります。
• Ani wa himitsu no heya ga arimasu.
• My older brother has a secret room.

Choosing Between ある and いる

A simple way to choose:

• Is it a person, animal, or animate character (such as a ghost, alien, or talking cat)? Use いる. Fictional beings and robots can use いる when the context treats them as animate characters.
• Is it an object, plant, place, event, or idea? Use ある.

Compare:

• 庭にゾンビがいます。
  Niwa ni zonbi ga imasu.
  There is a zombie in the garden.
• 庭にゾンビゲームがあります。
  Niwa ni zonbi geemu ga arimasu.
  There is a zombie game in the garden.

Same “zombie world,” but the zombie itself is “living” (so いる), and the game is just a thing (so ある).

Common Mistakes and Contrasts

• ある is normally used for inanimate things; いる is normally used for people and animals.
• “There is a cat” uses 猫がいる. “The cat is in the room” adds the place: 部屋に猫がいる.

Example Sentences

• 冷蔵庫に小さいドラゴンがいます。
• Reizouko ni chiisai doragon ga imasu.
• There is a small dragon in the fridge.

• 公園に空飛ぶピアノがあります。
• Kouen ni soratobu piano ga arimasu.
• There is a flying piano in the park.

• 私の部屋には宿題がありません。
• Watashi no heya ni wa shukudai ga arimasen.
• In my room, there is no homework.

• 昨日、駅に透明な男の人がいました。
• Kinou, eki ni toumei na otoko no hito ga imashita.
• Yesterday, there was a transparent man at the station.

• 私は頭の中にうるさいロボットの友だちがいます。
• Watashi wa atama no naka ni urusai robotto no tomodachi ga imasu.
• I have a noisy robot friend in my head.

Quick Practice

(Answers and explanations are right under this section.)

Multiple-Choice

1. Choose the correct sentence: “There is a ghost in the toilet.”

• A. トイレにおばけとあります。(Toire ni obake to arimasu.)
• B. トイレやおばけがいます。(Toire ya obake ga imasu.)
• C. トイレにおばけがいます。(Toire ni obake ga imasu.)
• D. トイレでおばけがあります。(Toire de obake ga arimasu.)

2. Choose the best sentence: “There is no money in my wallet.”

• A. 私のさいふにお金がありません。(Watashi no saifu ni okane ga arimasen.)
• B. 私のさいふにお金はいません。(Watashi no saifu ni okane wa imasen.)
• C. 私のさいふがお金にありません。(Watashi no saifu ga okane ni arimasen.)
• D. 私のさいふとお金がいません。(Watashi no saifu to okane ga imasen.)

3. Choose the correct sentence that uses the past form: “Yesterday, there was a robot in the park.”

• A. 昨日、公園にロボットがいます。(Kinou, kouen ni robotto ga imasu.)
• B. 昨日、公園にロボットがいました。(Kinou, kouen ni robotto ga imashita.)
• C. 昨日、公園にロボットがあります。(Kinou, kouen ni robotto ga arimasu.)
• D. 昨日、公園とロボットがいました。(Kinou, kouen to robotto ga imashita.)

4. Choose the sentence that correctly means: “I have three cats.”

• A. 私は猫を三ついます。(Watashi wa neko o mittsu imasu.)
• B. 私は三つ猫がいます。(Watashi wa mittsu neko ga imasu.)
• C. 私は猫が三びきいます。(Watashi wa neko ga sanbiki imasu.)
• D. 私が猫は三びきあります。(Watashi ga neko wa sanbiki arimasu.)

5. Choose the most natural sentence: “There is a test tomorrow.”

• A. 明日、テストがいます。(Ashita, tesuto ga imasu.)
• B. 明日、テストがあります。(Ashita, tesuto ga arimasu.)
• C. 明日、テストにがあります。(Ashita, tesuto ni ga arimasu.)
• D. 明日、テストでもいます。(Ashita, tesuto demo imasu.)

Spot-the-Error

6. One of these sentences has an error with ある / いる. Which one is wrong?

• A. ベッドの下に小さいドラゴンがいます。(Beddo no shita ni chiisai doragon ga imasu.)
• B. テーブルの上にコーヒーがあります。(Teeburu no ue ni koohii ga arimasu.)
• C. 学校にたくさん学生があります。(Gakkou ni takusan gakusei ga arimasu.)

7. One of these sentences has an error with particles or word order in the ある / いる pattern. Which one is wrong?

• A. 冷蔵庫にジュースがありません。(Reizouko ni juusu ga arimasen.)
• B. 私はペットのロボットがいます。(Watashi wa petto no robotto ga imasu.)
• C. 猫が部屋にいます机の上。(Neko ga heya ni imasu tsukue no ue.)

Translation

8. Translate into Japanese using ～がいる: “There is a ninja in my room.”

9. Translate into Japanese using ～がある: “On the desk, there is a strange cake.”

10. Translate into Japanese using a negative form: “There were no students in the classroom.”

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Answers and Explanations

1. トイレにおばけがいます。(Toire ni obake ga imasu.) – Use に for the place, が for the ghost, and います because a ghost is treated like an animate character.
2. 私のさいふにお金がありません。(Watashi no saifu ni okane ga arimasen.) – Money is an inanimate thing, so あります / ありません is correct.
3. 昨日、公園にロボットがいました。(Kinou, kouen ni robotto ga imashita.) – いました is the polite past of いる, used for an animate “robot” character.
4. 私は猫が三びきいます。(Watashi wa neko ga sanbiki imasu.) – This is the natural pattern for “I have ~”: person は + noun が + counter + います for animals.
5. 明日、テストがあります。(Ashita, tesuto ga arimasu.) – A test is an event (inanimate), so あります is used.
6. 学校にたくさん学生があります。(Gakkou ni takusan gakusei ga arimasu.) – This is wrong because 学生 (students) are people; it should be います, not あります.
7. 猫が部屋にいます机の上。(Neko ga heya ni imasu tsukue no ue.) – Word order is wrong; the place (e.g., 部屋の机の上に) must come before が and います.
8. 私の部屋にニンジャがいます。(Watashi no heya ni ninja ga imasu.) – Use the place + に + person + が + います pattern for “there is a ninja in my room.”
9. 机の上にへんなケーキがあります。(Tsukue no ue ni henna keeki ga arimasu.) – A cake is a thing on a place, so use あります with 机の上に.
10. 教室に学生がいませんでした。(Kyoushitsu ni gakusei ga imasendeshita.) – Students are people, and the negative polite past of いる is いませんでした.

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Keep going

These are useful next stops if you want to compare nearby grammar patterns:

• Still mixing up this pattern with ～にあります and ～にいます, for where things and people are? Read that guide to see the difference.
• Need the basics first? Start with the lesson on で, for where and how an action happens.
• Ready for the next step? Continue with ここ・そこ・あそこ・どこ, for places.

For the full beginner path, browse the JLPT N5 Japanese Grammar Guide.