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こうえんにいぬがいます！
Kounen ni inu ga imasu!
There are dogs at the park!
Existential verbs
Two important verbs in Japanese, they demonstrate the existence of people and things.
いる (iru) and ある (aru), with their keigo form います (imasu) and あります (arimasu), are used often in Japanese, so this is why it is important to learn them early. At the same time, we will learn our first particles, the particle が (ga), the particle に (ni) and the particle は (wa).
Japanese employs particles, which are often composed of one or two syllables, and their function is different depending on the sentence and meaning. Some verbs may require a certain particle, whereas some designate whether an object or person is the subject or object of a sentence. There are many particles, but do not worry, we will view them in due time!
For now, let's focus on the particle が which is used with these two existential verbs, います and あります, and the particle に, which is used with places and directions.
The particle は (wa) in this case will be used with いません (imasen) and ありません (arimasen), which are the negative forms.
We can translate the existential verbs as 'there is' or 'there are' in English. います (imasu) is used when the subject we are talking about is an animate object (i.e. a person or an animal.) あります (arimasu), on the other hand, is used when we are talking about an inanimate object (i.e. a book.)
There is a dog.
いぬがいます。
Inu ga imasu.
There is a book.
ほんがあります。
Hon ga arimasu.
When you want to say that something exists in a place, this is where you will use the particle に.
This is a bit more difficult to construct. に (ni), in this case, is a particle that designates the location of something or someone.
LOCATION + に + SUBJECT + が + あります
LOCATION + に + SUBJECT + が + います
There is a book on the table.
つくえのうえにほんがあります。
Tsukue no ue (location) ni (particle) hon (object) ga (particle) arimasu.
つくえ (tsukue) is 'desk' and うえ (ue) is 'up' or 'on.' The particle の (no) in between signifies 'on top of the table.' We will see の in more detail soon.
SUBJECT + は + LOCATION + に + あります
SUBJECT + は + LOCATION + に + います
This construction only works if we know what we are talking about.
The particle は (wa) in all cases will be pronounced as 'wa' and not 'ha.'
It is a topic marker or a subject particle.
The book is on the table.
ほんはつくえのうえにあります。
Hon wa tsukue no ue ni arimasu.
In this sentence, we know what book we are talking about, as in 'the Harry Potter book is on the table.' Thus, we cannot use this sentence construction if we are talking about a book in general. It is the same in English if we say 'the book is on the table' versus 'a book is on the table.'
I am now in Tokyo.
わたしはいまとうきょうにいます。
Watashi wa ima Toukyou ni imasu.
いま (ima) means 'now' or 'right now.' In this case, since you are talking about yourself (thus, we know what or who we are talking about), we cannot use が (ga). We have to use は (wa).
People have a lot of difficulty knowing the difference between the particles 'ga' and 'wa' and how and when to use them when they are learning Japanese, and this is all normal!
It is even difficult to explain the difference.
Do not worry, we will see both of these particles deeper in other lessons. For now, focus on the existential verbs and what we learned today.
あります and います as 'to have'
います and あります can also be used to say that we have something. It can act as the verb 'to have' in a general sense, as in 'I have two dogs' and not as 'I have a book (in my hands right now).'
I have manga at home.
いえにまんががあります。
Ie ni manga ga arimasu.
Meilin, do you have a dog?
めいりんはいぬがいますか？
Meirin wa inu ga imasu ka?
Yes, I have a dog.
はい、いぬがいます。
Hai, inu ga imasu.
Negative form
As mentioned, the negative form of います and あります is いません (imasen) and ありません (arimasen).
Only one catch with this negative form... Instead of using the particle が (ga), we have to use the particle は (wa) for the negation, and this is also the case for all actions verbs in the negative.
For now, let's just focus on the negative form of あります and います.
Meilin, do you have a dog?
めいりんはいぬがいますか？
Meirin wa inu ga imasu ka?
No, I do not have a dog.
いいえ、いぬはいません。
Iie, inu wa imasen.
So far, we have seen two uses of the particle は (wa).
In the lesson about how to introduce yourself in Japanese, we saw that は was a topic or subject particle, such as watashi wa, or Reina wa... But here, it is used with verbs in the negative when there is an object, such as hon wa arimasen, inu wa imasen...
This is because, when stating sentences in the negative, we tend to emphasise. So, the particle は will be used to emphasise certain things, which is not the case with the particle が.
We will see that は will also be used for the negative form of action verbs in another lesson.
Something, someone, somewhere
なにか, だれか/どなたか, どこかに
Anything, anyone, anywhere
なにも, だれも/どなたも, どこにも
With なにか (nanika), だれか (dareka) /どなたか (donataka), the use of が (ga) is optional.
With なにも (nanimo), だれも (daremo) /どなたも (donatamo), が (ga) must not be used.
Is there something on the bed?
ベッドの うえになにか（が）ありますか？
Beddo no ue ni nanika (ga) arimasu ka?
No, there is nothing on the bed.
いいえ、ベッドのうえになにもありません。
Iie, beddo no ue ni nanimo arimasen.
Is there someone?
だれか (が) いますか？
Dareka (ga) imasu ka?
There isn't anyone. (There is no one.)
だれもいません。
Daremo imasen.
In building sentences, which part of the sentence do you put first in Japanese?
That's a good question and one that is worth studying. Most of the time in Japanese, the topic will come first, so anything that requires the particle は (wa). The subject will come first, obviously, followed by the object and then the verb.
In the cases we have seen, it is more natural to start with the location, followed by the subject, and then the verb. So, we would put, for instance, ベッドのうえに (beddo no ue ni) before なにも (nanimo).
It will take time to understand how to arrange a sentence, but you can always rely on what you have learned to recreate a sentence. Basically, you just follow the examples and replicate what you see. Japanese is pretty straightforward for this.
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Question words
Now that we have learned the verbs 'to be' and 'to exist,' it is time to learn these question words.
なに / なん (nani/nan) = what
だれ / どなた (dare/donata) = who
どこ (doko) = where
いつ (itsu) = when
どうして / なぜ / なんで (doushite/naze/nande) = why
どうやって (douyatte) = how (as in 'how do we do this')
どう (dou) = how (as in 'how is it')
なに becomes なん in front of です, for pronunciation purposes.
What is it?
なんですか？
Nan desu ka?
どなた is the respectful version of だれ.
Who is it?
だれですか？
Dare desu ka?
Where is the bank?
ぎんこうはどこですか？
Ginkou wa doko desu ka?
When is Tomoya's birthday?
ともやのたんじょうびはいつですか？
Tomoya no tanjoubi wa itsu desu ka?
なぜ is more used by men than women. You will probably hear なんで more often than どうして. Technically speaking, なんで means 'how' but we mostly use it to ask 'why'.
Why?
どうしてですか？
Doushite desu ka?
なんでですか？
Nande desu ka?
If you are unsure, you can view nande as meaning 'how come?' which also means 'why'.
How come you can understand Japanese?
なんでにほんごがわかりますか？
Nande nihongo ga wakarimasu ka?
How do you remember kanji?
どうやってかんじをおぼえますか？
Douyatte kanji o oboemasu ka?
In this sentence, you can put かんじを (kanji o) at the beginning, although it sounds more natural to start with どうやって (douyatte).
How is it?
どうですか？
Dou desu ka?
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Congratulations! You made it to the end of lesson 3!
Don't forget that I am always here to answer questions if you need any help! Take it step by step and soon, you will be able to understand and express yourself in basic situations!
Next time, we will learn the katakana alphabet and this one will be an entire lesson, as katakana are harder to learn and have more writing rules than hiragana.
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To exist, to be, to have - います/あります (imasu/arimasu)
Book - ほん (hon)
Dictionary - じしょ (jisho)
Library - としょかん (toshokan)
Dog - いぬ (inu)
Cat - ねこ (neko)
Animal - どうぶつ (doubutsu)
Country - くに (kuni)
Town, city - まち (machi)
Village - むら (mura)
Up, on - うえ（に）(ue (ni)
Down, below, under - した（に）(shita (ni)
In front - まえ（に）(mae (ni)
Behind - うしろ（に）(ushiro (ni)
To the left - ひだり（に）(hidari (ni)
To the right - みぎ（に）(migi (ni)
In, centre, middle - なか（に）(naka (ni)
Outside, out of - そと（に）(soto (ni)
House - いえ (ie)
School - がっこう (gakkou)
University - だいがく (daigaku)
Classroom - きょうしつ (kyoushitsu)
Desk - つくえ (tsukue)
Chair - いす (isu)
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You have completed lesson 3!
レッシュン3ができました！
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