Basic Expression Course

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Marshall
Basic Course
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  • 8 lessons
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  • 96 week duration

Basic Expression Course

Lesson 5: Nounがあります/います

In this lesson, I will teach you how to express “There is/are…” in Japanese.


Patterns:

PatternMeaning
Noun (Thing) + が + ありますThere is a…
Noun (Person / Animal) + が + います①There is a…
②…is here.

Example Sentences:

(1)があります。 
There is a tree. 

(2)ペンがあります。 
There is a pen.

(3)きょうしつがあります。 
There is a classroom.

(4)いぬがいます。 
There is a dog.

(5)中村なかむらさんがいます。 
Mr. Nakamura is here.

Notes:

①You can add か in the end of あります・います to ask a question.
(You will learn verb forms in Verb Course later. For now, just only remember that ありません is the Negative Form of あります, and いません is the Negative Form of います.)

————————–
(1)
A: ペンがありますか。
A: Do you have a pen?

B: はい、あります。
B: Yes, I do.

————————–
(2)
A: ペンがありますか。
A: Do you have a pen?

B: いいえ、ありません。
B: No, I don’t.

————————–
(3)
A: トム、いますか。
A: Is Tom here?

B: はい、います。
B: Yes, he is here.

————————–
(4)
A: トム、いますか。
A: Is Tom here?

B: いいえ、いません。
B: No, he is not here.

②If you want to ask 【what do you have】, you should use なに.
If you want to ask 【who are you】, you should use だれ.

————————–
(5)
A: なにがありますか。
A: What do you have?

B: ノートがあります。
B: I have a note.

————————–
(6)
A: だれがいますか。
A: Who is here?

B: わたしがいます。
B: I’m here.


③You can use 「Noun + がありますか」 to express that you want something.
For example, when you want to borrow a pen, you can say:
(7)
A: ペンがありますか。
A: Do you have a pen?

B: はい、どうぞ。
B: Yes, here you are.

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8 thoughts on “Lesson 5: Nounがあります/います

  1. This one still is a little bit confusing. So we need to replace す with せん for negative answer?

    3+

    1. Admin bar avatar

      No worries, you will learn Verb forms in Verb Course. For now, only remember that ありません is the Negative Form of あります、いません is the Negative Form of います.

      8+

  2. Why is it トム、いますか and not トムがいますか? Can you explain the difference? Thanks!

    4+

    1. Admin bar avatar

      They are the same. In spoken Japanese, particle can be dropped. For example, この花、きれい!(この花がきれい)

      10+

  3. Noun is something Nounがあります
    Noun is somebody or animal Nounがいます

    It’s pretty sure it’s supposed to be inanimate objects for あります, and animate for います, for example, since a plant or tree can move, you would use imasu, even though it is not a person or an animal.

    0

    1. Admin bar avatar

      Things that move on (walk) their own can say “います”.
      Plants can’t move on their own, so you should use あります

      4+

  4. i think you can use iimasu for im here for rollcall like in school, is that right?

    0

    1. Admin bar avatar

      That’s right!

      1+

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