{"id":50659,"date":"2026-11-04T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/?p=50659"},"modified":"2026-11-03T19:27:16","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T11:27:16","slug":"arimasu-vs-imasu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/en\/arimasu-vs-imasu\/","title":{"rendered":"Arimasu vs Imasu: How to Say \u2018There Is\u2019 in Japanese"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\nbody.postid-50659 #main{max-width:920px!important;margin:0 auto!important;padding:48px 28px 72px!important;box-sizing:border-box}\nbody.postid-50659 .entry-header{display:block!important;padding:32px!important;background:#faf6e9;border:1px solid #eae2ce;border-radius:20px;margin:0 0 32px!important}\nbody.postid-50659 .entry-title{font-size:clamp(27px,3vw,38px)!important;line-height:1.55!important;white-space:normal!important;word-break:normal!important;overflow-wrap:anywhere!important;margin:0 0 16px!important;width:auto!important;font-weight:700!important}\nbody.postid-50659 .entry-meta{font-size:14px;color:#6c7168}\n.hm-ja-lesson{font-size:18px;line-height:1.95;color:#30372f;overflow-wrap:break-word}\n.hm-ja-lesson>.wp-block-group__inner-container{max-width:none!important}\n.hm-ja-lesson h2{font-size:26px!important;line-height:1.6!important;padding:0 0 12px!important;border:0!important;border-bottom:2px solid #f2d243!important;background:none!important;margin:42px 0 22px!important;font-weight:700!important;white-space:normal!important;width:auto!important}\n.hm-ja-lesson h3{font-size:21px!important;line-height:1.65!important;margin:28px 0 16px!important;white-space:normal!important;width:auto!important;font-weight:700!important}\n.hm-ja-lesson h2:before,.hm-ja-lesson h2:after,.hm-ja-lesson h3:before,.hm-ja-lesson h3:after{display:none!important}\n.hm-ja-lesson p{font-size:18px!important;line-height:1.95!important;margin:0 0 22px!important}\n.hm-ja-lesson blockquote,.hm-ja-lesson details{background:#faf6e9;border:0;border-left:4px solid #eacc35;border-radius:0 12px 12px 0;margin:24px 0;padding:22px 24px;font-size:18px;font-style:normal}\n.hm-ja-lesson blockquote p:last-child{margin-bottom:0!important}\n.hm-ja-lesson summary{cursor:pointer;font-weight:700;line-height:1.6;padding:4px 0}\n.hm-ja-lesson details[open] summary{margin-bottom:16px}\n.hm-ja-lesson ol,.hm-ja-lesson ul{padding-left:1.5em;margin:20px 0}\n.hm-ja-lesson li{margin:10px 0;line-height:1.85}\n.hm-ja-lesson a{text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:4px;color:#77631c}\n@media(max-width:650px){body.postid-50659 #main{padding:28px 20px 48px!important}body.postid-50659 .entry-header{padding:24px 20px!important}.hm-ja-lesson h2{font-size:23px!important}.hm-ja-lesson h3{font-size:20px!important}.hm-ja-lesson blockquote,.hm-ja-lesson details{padding:18px}.hm-ja-lesson p{font-size:17px!important}}\n<\/style><div class=\"wp-block-group hm-ja-lesson\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Use <strong>\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059 (arimasu)<\/strong> for things and places, and <strong>\u3044\u307e\u3059 (imasu)<\/strong> for people and animals. A convenience store takes \u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059 and a shop assistant takes \u3044\u307e\u3059. Both are polite forms you can use with someone you have just met.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Say where first, then say what is there<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Start with <strong>place + \u306b + person or thing + \u304c + \u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059\uff0f\u3044\u307e\u3059<\/strong>. Here, \u306b marks the location and \u304c marks who or what is there.<\/p><blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong lang=\"ja\">\u99c5\u306e\u524d\u306b\u30b3\u30f3\u30d3\u30cb\u304c\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/strong><br><span lang=\"ja\">\u3048\u304d\u306e \u307e\u3048\u306b \u30b3\u30f3\u30d3\u30cb\u304c \u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/span><br>There is a convenience store in front of the station.<\/p><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong lang=\"ja\">\u516c\u5712\u306b\u732b\u304c\u3044\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/strong><br><span lang=\"ja\">\u3053\u3046\u3048\u3093\u306b \u306d\u3053\u304c \u3044\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/span><br>There is a cat in the park.<\/p><\/blockquote><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ask if a place has what you need<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Add \u304b to the end to make a question. If you are approaching a stranger, start with \u3059\u307f\u307e\u305b\u3093 (\u2018excuse me\u2019).<\/p><blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong lang=\"ja\">\u3059\u307f\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3001\u99c5\u306b\u30c8\u30a4\u30ec\u304c\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059\u304b\u3002<\/strong><br><span lang=\"ja\">\u3059\u307f\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3001\u3048\u304d\u306b \u30c8\u30a4\u30ec\u304c \u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059\u304b\u3002<\/span><br>Excuse me, is there a toilet at the station?<\/p><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong lang=\"ja\">\u306f\u3044\u3001\uff12\u968e\u306b\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/strong><br><span lang=\"ja\">\u306f\u3044\u3001\u306b\u304b\u3044\u306b \u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/span><br>Yes, there is. It\u2019s on the second floor.<\/p><\/blockquote><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Use \u306f to ask where a specific person is<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you and the listener already know you are looking for Tanaka, put \u7530\u4e2d\u3055\u3093 first with \u306f to make Tanaka the topic. Use \u3069\u3053\u306b for \u2018where\u2019.<\/p><blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong lang=\"ja\">\u7530\u4e2d\u3055\u3093\u306f\u3069\u3053\u306b\u3044\u307e\u3059\u304b\u3002<\/strong><br><span lang=\"ja\">\u305f\u306a\u304b\u3055\u3093\u306f \u3069\u3053\u306b \u3044\u307e\u3059\u304b\u3002<\/span><br>Where is Tanaka?<\/p><\/blockquote><blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong lang=\"ja\">\u4f1a\u8b70\u5ba4\u306b\u3044\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/strong><br><span lang=\"ja\">\u304b\u3044\u304e\u3057\u3064\u306b \u3044\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/span><br>Tanaka is in the meeting room.<\/p><\/blockquote><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Common mistake: choosing by whether something can move<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A car can move, but you still use \u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059 to say that there is a car in the car park. Also, \u516c\u5712\u306b\u732b\u304c\u3044\u307e\u3059 tells you where the cat is. In \u732b\u304c\u516c\u5712\u3067\u904a\u3073\u307e\u3059 (\u2018The cat plays in the park\u2019), \u3067 marks where the action happens. <a href=\"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/en\/japanese-particles-ni-de\/\">Compare \u306b and \u3067 for places<\/a>.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Quick practice<\/h2><ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>There is a car in the car park. Choose the right verb.<br><span lang=\"ja\">\u99d0\u8eca\u5834\u306b\u8eca\u304c\uff08\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059\uff0f\u3044\u307e\u3059\uff09\u3002<\/span><\/li><li>There is someone at reception. Choose the right verb.<br><span lang=\"ja\">\u53d7\u4ed8\u306b\u4eba\u304c\uff08\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059\uff0f\u3044\u307e\u3059\uff09\u3002<\/span><\/li><li>Complete the Japanese question: \u2018Is there a toilet at the station?\u2019<br><span lang=\"ja\">\u99c5\u306b\u30c8\u30a4\u30ec\u304c\uff08\u3000\uff09\u304b\u3002<\/span><\/li><li>Put the Japanese words in order to ask \u2018Where is Tanaka?\u2019<br><span lang=\"ja\">\uff08\u3069\u3053\u306b\uff0f\u7530\u4e2d\u3055\u3093\u306f\uff0f\u3044\u307e\u3059\u304b\uff09<\/span><\/li><\/ol><details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>Show answers and explanations<\/summary><ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong lang=\"ja\">\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059<\/strong><br>A car is a thing, so use \u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059.<\/li><li><strong lang=\"ja\">\u3044\u307e\u3059<\/strong><br>You are talking about a person, so use \u3044\u307e\u3059.<\/li><li><strong lang=\"ja\">\u99c5\u306b\u30c8\u30a4\u30ec\u304c\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059\u304b\u3002<\/strong><br>\u99c5\u306b gives the location, and \u304b makes it a question.<\/li><li><strong lang=\"ja\">\u7530\u4e2d\u3055\u3093\u306f\u3069\u3053\u306b\u3044\u307e\u3059\u304b\u3002<\/strong><br>You are asking about a specific person, so start with \u7530\u4e2d\u3055\u3093\u306f.<\/li><\/ol><\/details><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to read next<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/en\/japanese-daily-conversation\/\">15 phrases for everyday Japanese conversations<\/a><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/en\/blog\/\">Back to the Japanese learning blog<\/a><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To practise asking for directions and finding people in conversation, explore our <a href=\"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/en\/online-lesson\/\">online Japanese lessons<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><\/div><style>body.postid-50659:not(.admin-bar) #main{padding-top:124px!important}body.postid-50659 .entry-content h2,body.postid-50659 .entry-content h3{scroll-margin-top:124px}@media(max-width:768px){body.postid-50659:not(.admin-bar) #main{padding-top:94px!important}body.postid-50659 .entry-content h2,body.postid-50659 .entry-content h3{scroll-margin-top:94px}}<\/style>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Learn when to use arimasu or imasu in Japanese, how to ask if a station has a toilet, and how to say where someone is. Includes four practice questions.","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/?p=50658","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[327],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-japanese-learning","en-US"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50662,"href":"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50659\/revisions\/50662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himawari-edu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}