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Japanese grammar

ある vs いる: saying something exists

Japanese has two verbs for there is. ある is for things and plants, and いる is for people and animals. Both mark the thing that exists with が, and both double as I have. ある has an irregular negative, ない.

Examples are written in kana. New to it? Start with the hiragana chart.

In short

  • Thing + が + ある, person or animal + が + いる.
  • Negatives: ある → ない (irregular), いる → いない.
  • Place + に comes first: あそこに ねこが いる.

ある — there is (things)

ある marks an inanimate thing's existence; が names the thing: ほんが ある.

ある says an inanimate thing EXISTS — 'there is'. Mark the thing whose existence you announce with が: ほんが ある = 'there's a book.' が spotlights the subject; ある closes the sentence and takes no だ.

  • ほんが ある。

    There's a book.

  • かさが ある。

    There's an umbrella.

Common mistake

ほんを ある。

Why it's wrong: existence isn't done TO the book — ある takes が (the thing that exists), never を.

いる — there is (living things)

いる is ある for living things: ねこが いる, but ほんが ある for lifeless ones.

いる says a LIVING thing exists — animals and people. Lifeless things take ある; anything alive takes いる. ねこが いる = 'there's a cat'; ほんが ある = 'there's a book.' Both close the sentence plain, no だ.

  • ねこが いる。

    There's a cat.

  • ひとが いる。

    There's someone.

Common mistake

ねこが ある。

Why it's wrong: a cat is alive, so it takes いる — ある is only for lifeless things.

Nothing there — ない・いない

ある's negative is irregular ない, not あらない; いる just drops る to いない.

No such thing? ある's negative is irregular: ある→ない (not あらない). いる drops る like any る-verb: いる→いない. ほんが ない = 'there's no book'; ねこが いない = 'there's no cat.'

  • ほんが ない。

    There's no book.

  • ねこが いない。

    There's no cat.

Common mistake

ほんが あらない。

Why it's wrong: ある is irregular — its negative is ない, never あらない.

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