Class Session 7a Chapter 5 The Verbs imasu and arimasu Particle ga in Existential Sentences Specifying Location of Existence with Particle ni The Particle Cluster ni wa, ni mo Expressing What Exists Japanese 1100-L07a-07-08-2012

The Verbs imasu and arimasu Existence, either what exists or where it exists, is expressed with imasu (exist) or arimasu (exist) imasu is used for items that move by themselves (animate) such as people and and animals arimasu is used for items that cannot move by themselves (inanimate) such as books, buildings and trees For both imasu and arimasu the item is marked with the particle ga and the location is marked with the particle ni Japanese 1100-L07a-07-08-2012

Particle ga in Existential Sentences In a sentence that expresses the existence of something “X exists,” the item that exists (X) is the subject and is marked by the subject particle ga (more about this particle in Chapter 7) Examples: ookii tatemono ga arimasu. There is a big building. tatemono ga arimasu. There are buildings. takai ki ga arimasu. There is a tall tree. ki ga arimasu. There are trees. kawaii inu ga imasu There is a cute dog. inu ga imasu. There are dogs. Another way to remember this is that arimasu and imasu always take ga in the positive form of these two verbs Japanese 1100-L07a-07-08-2012

Specifying Location of Existence with Particle ni The location of exsistence is marked by the particle ni in a sentence with the verbs imasu or arimasu As long as the verb is placed at the end of the sentence the order of the subject noun and the location noun does not matter. Example: asoko ni inu ga imasu. inu ga asoko ni imasu. Both mean “There is a dog over there.” Japanese 1100-L07a-07-08-2012

The Particle Cluster ni wa, ni mo wa and mo can follow another particle and create a particle cluster such as ni wa and ni mo Example: asoko ni wa inu ga imasu. (There is a dog over there.) In this case asoko is the location of existence (so it takes the particle ni) AS WELL AS the topic of the sentence (so it takes the particle wa) Sometimes the first particle (ni) may be deleted The subject particle (ga) and the object particle (o) must be deleted if the are followed by another particle such as wa (particle clusters are not formed by ga and o) For example even if the subject noun is also the topic, you cannot say [inu ga wa asoko ni imasu.] it must be inu wa asoko ni imasu (The dog is over there.) What a sentence expresses slightly changes depending on what the topic is The difference between these two sentence formats is discussed in the following section Y ni wa X ga imasu X wa Y ni imasu There is an X in Y X is at Y. Japanese 1100-L07a-07-08-2012

Expressing What Exists If what you want to express exists at a place, then think that your statement will be about that location and start the statement with kono location ni wa (both the location particle and the topic particle co-exist) It is assumed that your conversation partner is already familiar with the topic you are talking about and that what you will say next provides a piece of new information Example: kono kafeteria ni wa tenpura udon ga arimasu. This cafeteria has tenpura udon. Both the speaker and the listener know about the cafeteria; the new information is that the cafeteria has tenpura udon Additional examples: uchi no niwa ni wa sakura no ki ga arimasu. In my garden there is a cherry tree. eki no tonari ni wa kirei na resutoran ga arimasu. Next to the train station there is a pretty resturaunt. kūkō ni wa keikan ga imasu. There are police officers at the airport. Japanese 1100-L07a-07-08-2012

Slide Seven The previous section is trying to explain a complex (and abstract ) concept, but does not do a very good job . I think there is something missing in this explanation –notably the alternative construction to compare it with (i.e., when can you say kono niwa ni ki ga arimasu and when can you (or even if you can) say kono niwa ni wa ki ga arimasu,). As written and explained in the textbook , it is sure to confuse students . Japanese 1100-L07a-07-08-2012