ある, いる and where things are

Japanese has two "exist" verbs, and they depend on what is there.

The pattern is place に + thing が + ある/いる. The place takes に (because it's where something is) and the thing takes が (it's new information).

Instead of "in the garden there's a dog", you can start with the thing you are talking about:

Both are correct, but they ask different questions. Place に + thing が + ある answers "what is in the garden?" Thing は + place に + ある answers "where is the dog?" Notice that the thing changes from が to は because it's now known.

To say "on", "under", "inside", Japanese uses nouns: place の position に.

These are just nouns, so they take の (like any noun describing another) and に (like any place).

Possession in Japanese is existence. "I have a car" is "(for me) a car exists":

In the second sentence, に marks the person who "has" (a spot where the thing exists), and は adds contrast: "He, at least, has none." For people you can use either に or は for the owner; both are common.

When you mean physically holding or carrying, or owning something as a possession, use 持っている.

Don't worry about the ている part yet. It's explained in a few lessons.

ある is also used for things that happen:

Notice what happened there: the festival (an event) is happening at a place, so the place takes で instead of に. For events, ある means "take place", and で is for where events happen.

Descriptions of places use ある, いる and position words in sequence. This is a typical room description.

• ある for things; いる for living things.
• Place に + thing が + ある/いる. Or thing は + place に + ある/いる.
• Position words are nouns joined with の: 机の上に, 駅の隣に.
• ある negative is ない. いる negative is いない.
• "To have" is just "exists": 私は車がある.
• Events use で, not に: 学校で祭りがあった.