The Existential Verbs ある & いる
When we learned about the copula verb だ, we learned how it is the “to be” verb in Japanese when talking about how “X = Y.” An application of “to be” in English that does not exist for だ, though, is when talking about “there is X.” In this scenario, there are primarily two verbs that come to mind: ある and いる.
Both ある and いる are existential verbs, but what the existence of an entity may insinuate can be context-dependent. Incidentally, a major shift toward a growingly rigid use of ある for inanimate/non-living things and いる for animate/living things in current Modern Japanese phrasing further complicates when to use which for the inevitable grey zones that, ironically, exist. As such, the subsections of this lesson attempt to showcase the array of nuancing both verbs can display while also taking into account variation as to what degree those nuances are displayed.
The Verb ある: Conjugations
Of the two verbs, ある is the most basic and fundamental to describing existence. Before delving into how it is used semantically, let’s review how it conjugates.
The verb ある is a slightly irregular r-type godan verb because of how it lacks a plain negative form. Instead, that role is taken over by the adjective ない1, which means “to not be there.” Consequentially, ある’s basic conjugations are:
| Conjugation | Plain Speech | Polite Speech |
| Non-Past | ある | あります |
| Past | あった | ありました |
| Negative | ない | ないです (Method 1) ありません (Method 2) |
| Negative Past | なかった | なかったです (Method 1) ありませんでした (Method 2) |
Usage 1: There is X
The verb ある is the basic existential verb in Japanese and can be understood simply as meaning “there is X” in the broadest sense. In practicality, it is largely restricted to inanimate objects or abstract entities.
1. 日本には火山が多くある。
In Japan, there are lots of volcanoes.
2. 公衆電話はありますか。
Is there a public telephone?
3. 両国間には国交がありません。
There aren’t any diplomatic relations between both nations.
4. この国には法律というものがある。
There is something called “laws” in this country.
With any sentence that states “where” something is, the particle に marks the location of X. It should not be confused with the particle で, which shows “where” an (ongoing) action takes place. This is the difference between a “state of being” and an “(ongoing) action.”
5a. 日本では方言がたくさんあります。X
5b. 日本には方言がたくさんあります。〇
In Japan, there are a lot of dialects.
6a. 日本では方言がたくさん話されています。〇
6b. 日本には方言がたくさん話されています。X
In Japan, there are a lot of dialects spoken.
As indicating state of being is a fundamental meaning of ある, that means it can also be used to show what situation the agent finds themselves in.
7. お客様の担当ドライバーが薬物またはアルコールの影響下にあるとお考えの場合は、すぐに運転を中止するよう要求してください。
In the event that you believe your designated driver is under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, please immediately request to cancel your ride.
Orthography Note: When ある is used to indicate that someone/something exists, it may seldom be seen spelled in kanji as 在る.
Usage 2: Indicating Possession
Aside from translating as “there is,” ある may also indicate possession of inanimate and non-physical/abstract entities.
8. 昔、多くの領土を治め、金も銀もたっぷりあった王
The king who long ago took over lots of territory and had plenty of gold and silver
9. もう逃げ場はありません。
There is/you have nowhere to hide.
When something is associated with the agent in this manner with ある, entities can be viewed as attributes or even accessories to said agent. People have a height and weight, but many also have the right to vote. Roses may have thorns. Weight can be had with words in the same way that one’s face has all the hallmarks of your emotions.
These are all situations in which ある is applicable, and what they all have in common is showing possession that is intrinsically true whether the entity is a physical item on the agent’s person or an abstract thing that is associated with them.
10. 財産はありますか。
Do you have assets?
11. その動物は体重が200キロもある。
The animal has a weight of at least 200 kilograms.
12. 高さは六十メートルある。
It has a height of 60 meters.
13. 教養のあるように振る舞うことは、実際に教養のない人がすることだ。
Behaving like one [has sophistication/is sophisticated/is educated] is what people who actually [don’t have sophistication/aren’t sophisticated/aren’t educated] do.
14. 綺麗なバラには棘があるよ。
(Even) pretty roses have thorns.
15. 互いに面識がありました。
(They) mutually [had been/were] acquainted.
16. どうして人間（に）は食べ物の好き嫌いがあるのですか。
Why is it that humans have likes and dislikes with food?
Particle Note: Dropping the particle に lessens the emphasis on stating where the attribute being discussed resides.
17. （私は）日本に行ったことがあります。
I have gone to Japan.
Grammar Note: ～ことがある indicates experiences one has had.
Due to Japanese’s tendency of dropping the subject, the intrinsic nature of the relationship between ある and an entity need not always be distinguished from “there is” when translating into English. If you are at a friend’s home and look in their refrigerator for milk, there is no real difference between saying “is there milk in here somewhere?” or “do you have milk in your fridge?”
18. 牛乳はありますか。
[Is there/do you have] milk?
19. 時刻表はありますか。
[Is there/do you have] a timetable?
20. 風呂付の部屋はありますか。
[Do you have/are there] any rooms with a bath?
In contrast, the synonymous verb 所有する meaning “to own” explicitly makes clear that the agent definitively has something in their possession.
21. 現在、車を所有していますか。
Do you currently own a car?
Also unlike ある, 所有する has to be used with ～ている to express how ownership is an ongoing state. ～ている in its basic understanding relates to the “-ing” form in English, but it is not used with existential verbs. This is to avoid semantic redundancy.
Orthography Note: For the meaning of “possession,” ある is often seen spelled as 有る, but this spelling can also substitute other potential kanji spellings.
Usage 3: To Occur
It is also possible to use ある in the sense as “to occur” when used with entities that relate to situations. In this situation, the location of where said situation occurs is marked with で.
22. 事故があった。
There was an accident.
23. 奈良で地震がありました。
There was an earthquake in Nara.
24. 町のお祭りがある。
There is (going to be) a town festival.
25. 加害者と被害者の間に何か（が）あったんだろうか？
I really wonder if [there was something/something had happened] between the offender and the victim?
Sentence Note: Ex. 25 is a great example of how the meaning of “to occur” is an offshoot of expressing the location of something pertinent to said place. The particle で is not possible here because the situation between the two people aforementioned is presumed to be longstanding. In other words, the agent(s) find themselves in a predicament.
Usage 4: Existing ≈ Living
Although this section may seem contradictory once the other existential verb いる is formally introduced, another offshoot meaning of ある that stems from its use of marking existence is that something exists in the world. In practice, いる is overwhelmingly preferred for marking the existing of living, animate objects; however, ある remains grammatically correct as a more literary, old-fashioned word choice.
26. 生ける者は結局死ぬのだからこの世に【ある 〇・いる ◎】間は楽しくありたい。
The living ultimately die, so I wish to have fun while I am (alive) in this world.
27. あの地蔵は今この寺にある。
That jizo statue currently resides in this temple.
Sentence Note: Ex. 27 demonstrates how this meaning can be used figuratively to personify the 地蔵 as a living entity within the temple.
Orthography Note: For this usage, you may rarely see ある spelled as 存る.
Usage 5: ～とある
When paired with the quotation particle と, ある stands for the situation being quoted, most often in written form with which the speaker has come to find out about it. This usage is often paraphrased to と書いてある, which utilizes the て form and ある combined.
28. 命令とあれば、仕方がない。
We have no choice if it’s a command.
29. 聖書には「初に神は天と地とを創造された」とある。
It is written in the Bible that, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Usage 6: “Certain”
Whenever you wish to say “some/a certain…” without explicitly stating what it is— whether it be a time, place, object, etc.—you can use ある before said noun.
30. ある人に頼まれました。
I was asked (of this) by a certain person.
31a. 大昔、ある所におじいさんとおばあさんがありました2。
31b. 大昔、ある所におじいさんとおばあさんがいました
A long time ago, there was an old man and an old woman.
Orthography Note: This meaning of ある is spelled in kanji as 或(る).
The Verb いる: Conjugations
The verb いる is a regular ichidan verb whose basic conjugations are as follows:
| Conjugation | Plain Speech | Polite Speech |
| Non-Past | いる | います |
| Past | いた | いました |
| Negative | いない | いないです いません (Politer) |
| Negative Past | いなかった | いなかったです いませんでした (Politer) |
Usage 1: There is An Animate, Alive X
In Modern Japanese, いる is primarily used to mark the existence of something that is both animate (moving or capable of moving) and alive (or at least made out to be alive).
32. 佐藤さんは家にいませんでした。
Mr. Sato was not at home.
33. この公園にはいろんな動物がいます。
There are all sorts of animals in this park.
34. ５０頭を超えるゴリラがいました。
There were over 50 gorillas.
35. 神様はいつもあなたのそばにいます。
God is always right by your side.
However, as its kanji spelling 居る implies, it can be used to broadly demonstrate the existence of anything on the move, while also simultaneously indicating where it is in time and space. This is why it is so commonly used in reference to vehicles.
36. バスはまだバス停にいると思いますよ。
I believe the bus is still at the bus station.
37. 隣の車線にクレーン車が居ると、倒れてくるのではないかと疑問に思ってしまう。
Whenever there is a crane in the adjacent lane, I wonder whether it’s going to come collapsing down (on me).
38. 追い越し車線に車が数台いる。
There are several cars in the passing lane.
Animate but not Alive?
Originally, 居る was the antonym of 立つ meaning “to stand.” Its ability to refer to things moving about predates its use as an existential verb for living, moving, entities. Though living things are generally on the move, trees are stationary, and they are only paired with ある. This unique historical background is what explains seldom occurrences of sentences like Ex. 39.
39. 明星がいる。
There is the morning star, Venus.
Usage 2: Existing in a Spot ≈ “to Live”
いる is still heavily correlated with living objects. It may even be used synonymously with 住む meaning “to live (at).”
40. 兄はロンドンにいます。
My older brother is (living) in London.
Usage 3 : Possessing Animate, Live X
いる may indicate the possession of living things. This is most often used to demonstrate (blood) relationships.
41. 私（に）は一人も兄弟がいません。
I don’t have a single sibling.
Speakers do at times extend this nuancing to pet ownership, but the verb 飼う meaning “to raise (an animal)” is preferred. A factor as to why this is can be explained by the inherent ambiguity had by using いる between “there just being an animal” versus actually owning one.
42. 犬がいません。
There isn’t a dog.
Without any context, いる will default to a simple statement on existence.
43. 我が家には3羽います。
[There are/we have] 3 birds in our home.
When ある & いる Overlap
Upon having learned the individual meanings of ある, it would seem that いる is grammatically unnecessary to express existence at all if ある can already state the existence of anything.
Although that was most certainly the case in older stages of the language in which いる did not start out as an existential verb, the associations that they respectively currently have dictate how a sentence is interpreted when either happen to be possible.
Whenever there is overlap between ある and いる, it is not the case that the feeling of the sentence remains unchanged upon swapping one out for the other.
44. 人形がいっぱい｛いる・ある｝ね。
There are lots of dolls, aren’t there?
Sentence Note: いる is used in situations such as handling dolls when the speaker hinges toward how human-like they are.
45. あそこにロボットが｛います・あります｝。
There is a robot over there.
Sentence Note: When robots are truly human-like and are very much animate, いる is more than acceptable if not preferred despite not being alive.
46. あそこにバスが｛いる・ある・止まっている｝。
There is a bus over there.
Sentence Note: As discussed earlier, いる gives the implication that the bus has been in transit and that the speaker is describing its temporary stationary state while also personifying (relating the bus to the driver). Otherwise, ある or a reasonable paraphrase such as “is stopped” = 止まっている will be more appropriate.
Although ある in certain literary contexts, almost certainly written with an emphatic kanji spelling to go along, can mean “to be alive,” in scenarios in which it contrasts with いる, in modern speech, the entity is dead (yet still “existing”) or at least not in the realm of the living with ある. With いる, the entity is alive and well, and most importantly, on the move or at least capable of being on the move.
However, due to sensitivities people have towards fellow humans no longer with us, いる is overwhelmingly preferred when referring to the deceased.
47. ピーナッツのアレルギーで死んだ人が｛いました・ありました｝。
There were people who died from peanut allergies.
As for deceased pets, people generally refrain from using ある for similar reasons. Most people do not want to intentionally sound morbid.
48. 毒入りのものを食べて死んだ猫が｛いた・あった｝。
There was a dead cat that ate something laced with poison.
As for dead animals in a generalized scenario detached from human emotions, ある is preferred, but of course, people who have deeply held beliefs about the death of any living thing may wish to not follow this norm. Also, there is nothing wrong with paraphrasing ある・いる out of the sentence in such a situation.
49. コップの中に死んだ蝿が入っている。
There is a dead fly in my cup.
Another word to consider is 怪我人 meaning “injured.” Though it is a noun relating to people, ある can still be used as an extension of how it is used to note the occurrence of something. Meaning, “injuries occurring” is equated with “those injured.” In general, when ある is used with living people, the people are being stated in an abstract sense void of emotional attachment.
50. 乗客の中に怪我人は｛いませんでした・ありませんでした｝。
There were no people injured among the passengers.
51. 妻子の｛ある・いる｝人｛が・を｝好きになってしまいました。
I’ve ended up liking a person with a wife and kid(s).
52a. 神がいる。
52b. 神（というもの）がある。
52c. 神は存在する。
52a. There is/are god(s)/kami.
52b. There is (such a thing as) god(s)/God/kami.
52c. God/kami exist.
Sentence Note: Ignoring the various interpretations of the word 神, describing a spiritual entity with いる is most common in modern speech, but that does not detract from the grammaticality of using ある, especially when it is spelled as 存る. As for the use of 存在する, this is the formal word for “to exist.”
Returning back to Ex. 31, 31a reflects how ある was widely used to express the existence of people in slightly older Japanese. In typical spoken language, this sentence would be rendered in various ways: by switching to いる, paraphrasing out the existential verb (31c), or using おる, which is a dialectal variant of いる that is incredibly common throughout Japan.
31a. 大昔、ある所におじいさんとおばあさんがありました。
31b. 大昔、ある所におじいさんとおばあさんがいました。
31c. 大昔、ある所におじいさんとおばあさんが住んでいました。
31d. 大昔、ある所におじいさんとおばあさんがおりました。
A long time ago, there was an old man and an old woman.
Common Mistakes
It turns out that the English expression “there is” has a broader range than its equivalent Japanese words ある and いる. While the natural Japanese rendering will still contain these verbs as supplementary verbs3, the “how” in which the subject exists is inseparable from its state of being.
53a. コーヒーに砂糖がある。X
53b. コーヒーに砂糖が入っている。〇
53a. There is sugar in the coffee.
53b. There is sugar contained in the coffee.
Sugar is not naturally in coffee. If coffee contains sugar, that is because it got in there somehow. As to how it happened, all sorts of scenarios can explain this.
54a. 電車に人がいる。△
54b. 電車に人が乗っている。〇
54a. There are people on the train.
54b. There are people riding on the train.
People are not naturally inside trains. They get inside one for the purpose of being transported somewhere. However, it is not impossible to conceive of situations in which people happen to be inside a train, so 54a is not inherently ungrammatical.
55a. 路上にケータイがある。X
55b. 路上にケータイが落ちている。〇
55a. There is a cellphone on the road. ?
55b. There is a cellphone dropped on the road.
There are two factors that can be used to determine whether ある・いる can sufficiently express the existence of something without having to be used in conjunction with another verb to express “how” said thing came to be in such a state of existence.
①When something exists somewhere, is the act of residing naturally so? If not, is the reason why it resides there sufficiently obvious? Whether naturally so or obviously so, ある・いる may be used.
②How exemplary/archetypical something finds itself somewhere may determine whether a speaker chooses to qualify “how” it got in there or simply chooses to use ある・いる to indicate it just being there as per usual.
56. 目の前に湖がある。
There is a lake before my eyes.
57. テイラー君の鼻先にニキビが｛ある・できている｝。
There is a zit on the tip of Taylor-kun’s nose.
58. 冷蔵庫にはケーキが｛入っている・ある｝。
There is a cake in the refrigerator.
59. ケイトさんが作ったラーメンには、醤油が｛ある X・入っている 〇｝。
There is soy sauce in the ramen that Kate-san made.
Another restriction on ある・いる which does not exist for “there is” is not being used in conjunction with stative verbs (状態動詞), which often involve a change in status that persists but which cannot simply be attributed to a certain location.
60a. 冷蔵庫｛の ◎・に X｝牛乳が腐っている。
There is milk rotting in the fridge.
As tempting as it is to want to use the particle に to indicate the location of where the milk is rotting, the change involved necessitates that the milk had not initially been there rotting; the concept of “to occur” is being invoked, not the sense that refrigerators is where milk rotting exists. To mention the existence of the item and how that item is changing in the same breath, these two thoughts cannot be interposed on each other.
60b. [冷蔵庫には牛乳があって、][それが腐っている]。
60c. [[冷蔵庫にある牛乳]が腐っている]。
60b. There is milk in the refrigerator, and it is rotten.
60c. The milk that is in the refrigerator is rotten.
In 60b, the speaker does wish to state that milk exists in the fridge, then goes on to state how that is what is rotten. In 60c., the milk located in the fridge seems to contrast milk placed elsewhere which is not rotting like it is. If these outstanding circumstances are not intended, then only 60a would be treated as being natural.
参照
現代日本語の存在を表す諸表現－「アル」「イル」「テイル」「テアル」－ by 渡辺誠治
- Later on, we will learn of situations in which the irrealis form (未然形) of ある – あら～—is, in fact, used, but this form does not pertain to basic grammar. ↩︎
- Returning to Usage 4, In older language, ある regularly indicated the existence of entities regardless of whether the entity was inanimate or not. Although ある does still indicate circumstances people find themselves in, aside from that, the verb itself in modern speech is hardly paired with entities that are alive. This, however, is a recent change in the language, and narrating a story from the past would certainly be a great context for utilizing older wording. Another reason for opting for ～がありました would be to firmly establish their presence/existence in both time and space. ↩︎
- In subsequent lessons, we will learn how ある and いる are used as supplementary verbs when placed directly after the particle て. Supplementary verbs are derivations from their literal meanings to serve some sort of grammatical function, often regarding aspect, which is the concept of “how” a situation is so over time. ↩︎