ある / いる（Existence）
New vocablary
ねこ（猫）【NEKO】cat
ひと（人）【HITO】person
つくえ（机）【TSUKUE】desk
うえ（上）【UE】on / above
こうえん（公園）【KOUEN】park
What this lesson is about
This lesson teaches how to say that something exists.
In Japanese,
we use different verbs depending on what exists.
Rule
•Use ある
for things.
•Use いる
for people and animals.
Examples
りんご が ある
There is an apple.
ねこ が いる
There is a cat.
ひと が いる
There is a person.
Important Note
In existence sentences,
が is used to show what exists.
This is not the same が
as “who does the action”.
Word Order
Existence sentences often look like this:
Place + に
+
thing/person + が
+
ある / いる
Example with place
• こうえん に ねこ が いる
（There is a cat in the park.）
• へや に つくえ が ある
（There is a desk in the room.）
• がっこう に ひと が いる
（There is a person at the school.）
That’s all for this lesson
In this lesson,
you only need to remember one thing:
•ある → things
•いる → people / animals
Review｜Polite Form & Negative Form
Before this lesson,
you already learned some important grammar.
Polite form (〜ます)
In Lesson 004,
you learned how to make polite sentences.
The polite form of ある is:
ある → あります
りんご が ある
→ りんご が あります
The polite form of いる is:
いる → います
ひと が いる
→ ひと が います
Negative form (〜ません)
In Lesson 005,
you learned how to make negative sentences.
The negative form of ある is:
ある → ありません
There is an apple.
りんご が ある
→ りんご が ありません
The negative form of いる is:
いる → いません
There is a cat.
ねこ が いる
→ ねこ が いません
As you move forward lesson by lesson,
you will see how Japanese grammar connects.
Each new lesson helps you review what you already know
and gradually expands what you can say in Japanese.
Take it step by step.
That’s how Japanese starts to feel natural.
Let’s move on.