There is and where is in Japanese

Level A1

There is and where is in Japanese

Japanese has two verbs for "there is": あります (arimasu) for things and places, and います (imasu) for people and animals. The order is the reverse of English, with the place first and the verb last: 台所に椅子があります (daidokoro ni isu ga arimasu), "There are chairs in the kitchen". You'll also learn ここ, そこ, あそこ and どこ, and how the small words は and が change what a sentence means.

Here, there and where: ここ (koko), そこ (soko) and どこ (doko)

Here, there, over there and where: ここ (koko), そこ (soko), あそこ (asoko), どこ (doko), and the more polite こちら (kochira) words

Near me (ko-)Near you (so-)Away from us both (a-)Which? Where? (do-)
ここそこあそこどこ
こちらそちらあちらどちら

There is, there are: place に (ni), thing が (ga), あります (arimasu)

台所に椅子があります。

ある (aru) for things, いる (iru) for people and animals

English uses "there is" for everything, but Japanese chooses the verb by what's there. Things that can't move by themselves, like a box, a chair or a shop, take ある (aru), polite あります (arimasu): 洋服だんすの上に箱があります (yōfuku-dansu no ue ni hako ga arimasu). People and animals take いる (iru), polite います (imasu): ベッドの下に猫が二匹います (beddo no shita ni neko ga nihiki imasu). Even someone you can't see is a person, so it's ドアの前に誰かがいます (doa no mae ni dareka ga imasu), "There's someone at the door".

The verb doesn't change for one or many; a number with its counter, like 二匹 (nihiki, two animals), goes just before the verb. The negatives are ありません (arimasen) and いません (imasen).

Is there…? and There isn't: はありますか (wa arimasu ka) and ありません (arimasen)

居間にソファはありますか？

Asking where: …はどこですか (wa doko desu ka), and the casual どこだっけ (doko dakke)

台所はどこですか？

Saying where it is: トイレはあそこです (toire wa asoko desu)

スマホはここです。

"There's a bakery" or "the bakery is": が (ga) or は (wa)

Japanese has no "a" or "the", so the difference between "there's a bakery" and "the bakery is" comes from a particle and the word order. To bring in something new, put the place first and mark the thing with が (ga): この通りにパン屋があります (kono tōri ni pan'ya ga arimasu), "There's a bakery on this street". To say where something you both know about is, put the thing first with は (wa): パン屋はこの通りにあります (pan'ya wa kono tōri ni arimasu), "The bakery is on this street".

In questions and with "isn't", は often takes the place of が: この近くに薬局はありますか (kono chikaku ni yakkyoku wa arimasu ka). And to ask where something is, the short way uses です (desu), not あります: 駅はどこですか (eki wa doko desu ka).

Asking a stranger the way: すみません (sumimasen), ありますか (arimasu ka) and あそこ (asoko)

Looking for your keys at home: casual どこ (doko), ない (nai) and ここにあった (koko ni atta)

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