How can I say in Japanese that there is my sister there?
Living being
When we talk about the existence of this and that in Japanese, we have to pay attention to the type of existence. That is because we must use different verbs for each case.
See also:
- ある: Existence (not living material)
- XはYがある: to possess (X wa Y ga Verb)
- XにはYがいる: to have (living beings) (X niwa Y ga Verb)
Not living material：
ある
aru
to exist
Living being：
いる
iru
to exist
For example,
ある for packed fish at a supermarket:
いる for fish in the sea
Existence of living beings
When mentioning the existence of living beings,
PlaceにObjectがいます。
Place ni Object ga i masu.
There is (are) Object at (in…)Place
For example,
あそこに妹がいます。
asoko ni imouto ga i masu.
There is my younger sister there.
東京に友達がいます。
Toukyou ni tomodachi ga i masu.
There are friends in Japan.
Omissions of place information
If it is apparently obvious, we don’t need to add the place information like the situation in which one’s kid is missing in a department store and this person is asking for a help:
子どもがいません。
kodomo ga i masen.
There isn’t my child (My kid is missing).
Question & Answer examples
When making questions with the grammar pattern for living beings , there is one thing to which we need to pay attention:
Human: 誰: dare: who
Not human: 何: nani: what
For example,
A:
一階に誰がいますか。
ikkai ni dare ga i masu ka.
Who is on the ground floor.
B:
父がいます。
chichi ga i masu.
My father.
A:
東京の動物園に何がいますか。
Toukyou no doubutsuen ni nani ga i masu ka.
What are there in a zoo at Tokyo?
B:
象やパンダがいます。
Zou ya panda ga i masu.
There are elephants, pandas and such.
For asking for the place:
A:
どこに猫村さんがいますか。
Doko ni Nekomura san ga i masu ka.
Where is Nekomura?
B:
公園にいます。
kouen ni i masu.
At a park.
And for the complete negation:
A:
一階に誰がいますか。
ikkai ni dare ga i masu ka.
Who is on the ground floor.
B:
誰もいません
dare mo i masen.
No one.
See also:
A:
池に何がいますか。
ike ni nani ga i masu ka.
What are there in the lake?
B:
何もいません。
nani mo i masen.
Nothing.
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