がいる

The pattern がいる is used to express the existence or presence of living things – people, animals, insects, and other animate beings. It translates to "there is" or "there are" in English.

Basic usage

The subject (an animate being) is marked with が, and the location where it exists is marked with に.

The typical word order is [Place]に + [Living thing]が + いる, but the topic can come first when using は:

がいる vs. がある

A key distinction in Japanese is that いる is used for animate beings (people, animals), while ある is used for inanimate objects (books, buildings, ideas). Mixing these up is a common beginner mistake.

Conjugation

いる is a る-verb (一段動詞) and conjugates regularly:

• Polite: います

  せんせい先生がいます。

  There is a teacher.

• Negative: いない

  だれ誰もいない。

  There is nobody.

• Past: いた

  さっきここにねこ猫がいた。

  There was a cat here a moment ago.

• Past polite: いました

  きのう昨日ここにとり鳥がいました。

  There was a bird here yesterday.

• Past negative: いなかった

  いえ家にだれ誰もいなかった。

  There was nobody at home.

Asking about existence

To ask whether someone or something (animate) exists, simply add か (polite) or use rising intonation (casual).

Expressing possession of animate beings

がいる is also used to express that someone has family members, pets, or other living beings – similar to "to have."