Grammar › Core Patterns
あります / います — “there is”
Existence: あります for things, います for people & animals
Japanese splits “there is / I have” by animacy: あります for things and plants, います for people and animals. Pattern: [place]に [thing]が あります/います. The same verbs also express possession — 時間があります (I have time), 犬がいます (I have a dog).
How to form it
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| Place に Thing が あります | 机の上に本があります — there's a book on the desk |
| Place に Person/Animal が います | 公園に子どもがいます — there are kids in the park |
| Negative: ありません / いません | お金がありません — there's no money |
Example sentences
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 駅の近くに銀行があります。 | えきのちかくにぎんこうがあります。 ekinochikakuniginkougaarimasu。 | There's a bank near the station. |
| うちにねこが二ひきいます。 | うちにねこがにひきいます。 uchininekoganihikiimasu。 | We have two cats at home. |
| 今日は時間がありません。 | きょうはじかんがありません。 kyouhajikangaarimasen。 | I don't have time today. |
🔊 Tap any Japanese sentence to hear it; kanji link to their study pages.
Watch out
A bus that's currently running with a driver? Still あります if you mean the service exists, います if you can see the moving bus as a “living” actor — when in doubt, moving vehicles with people are often います in speech. Robots and Pokémon get います too; it's about perceived life.