Basic sentence
- いえに ねこが います。
- Ie ni neko ga imasu.There is a cat at home.
Use
- Used when asking/explaining who (or what) is in a certain place.
Structure
| N1 (Place) |
に | N2 (Living creature) |
が | います。 |  |
| は | いません。 | |
| N (Place) |
に | だれ (Person) |
が | いますか。 | |
:Only studied in MARUGOTO (Starter A1 Rikai)
Examples
- ①わたしの いえに いぬが います。
- Watashi no ie ni inu ga imasu. There is a dog in my house.
- ②あの へやに がくせいは いません。
- Ano heya ni gakusee wa imasen. There isn't a student in that room.
(There aren't any students in that room.) - ③A：せんせいの うちに ねこが いますか。
- A: Sensee no uchi ni neko ga imasu ka. A: Is there a cat in the teacher's house?
(Teacher, do you have a cat at home?) - B：いいえ、いません。
- B: Iie, imasen. B: No, there isn't. (No, I don't.)
- ④A：３０１の へやに だれが いますか。
- A: San-zero-ichi no heya ni dare ga imasu ka. A: Who is in room 301?
- B：おとこの がくせいが います。
- B: Otoko no gakusee ga imasu. B: There is a male student there.
Commentary
- A. 「います」indicates the existence of living creatures.
- B. Used with「に」and verbs that express existence such as「います」, N1 indicates the place where N2 is located.
- C. In cases when it is understood what N1 is,「N1に」is sometimes omitted. (③④)