いる

います says that a person or an animal is somewhere: "there is", "is in". The one who is there takes が, and the place comes first with に. います is the polite form; いる is the form you find in a dictionary.

います or あります

Anything alive that moves by itself takes います: people, animals, birds, fish, insects. Objects take あります, and so do plants.

• × 庭に犬があります → 庭に犬がいます

Saying where someone is

When the person is already what you are talking about, they go first with は, and the place comes after.

Not there, was there

います changes like any ます verb: いません, いました, いませんでした. "Nobody" is だれも with the negative.

Having family, friends and pets

Japanese uses います where English says "have" a brother, a friend, a pet: the person "is there". The one who has them takes は, or には.

Usage notes

These go beyond saying that someone is there.

Plain forms

いる is a regular る-verb.

• いる – there is
• いない – there is not
• いた – there was
• いなかった – there was not