Minnasan Konnichiwa!! Here is a brief lesson on the verbs *ARU *and *IRU* :D Both *ARU*and *IRU* mean _"to exist"_ and you use these terms to tell someone that you have something. In Japanese - you need to choose one of the these verbs according to the item you have - whether it's animate (things that move- alive) or inanimate (dead items). :idea: *ARU* - this one is used for inanimate objects - like books, toys, plants and buildings. They're items that can't move by themselves. :arrow: _When speaking in a polite context, use the polite form _*_ARIMASU_* On the other hand... :idea: *IRU* - is used for animate things - like people, animals, insects, ants...yes, every thing that can move by themselves. :arrow: _When speaking in a polite context, use the polite form_ *_IMASU_* Let's look at some examples: _I have a mother and a father. _ *Watashi wa otōsan to okāsan ga ___IRU___.* _You have books and pens._ *Anata wa hon to pen ga ___ARU___.* _Kenny has lots of money. _ (polite context) *Kenny wa takusan okane ga ___ARIMASU___.* _Sayaka has friends._ (polite context) *Sayaka wa tomodachi ga ___IMASU___.* :wink: Don't forget the particle _*GA*_ which gets tacked on after the item/object/person - or anything that you're saying you have and exists. Let's look at the negative form - and talk about what you don't have - or doesn't exist. :idea: *_ARU_* changes to *_NAI_* :arrow: _When speaking in a polite context, use the polite form _*_ARIMASEN_* and :idea: *_IRU_* changes to *_INAI_* :arrow: _When speaking in a polite context, use the polite form_ *_IMASEN_* Looking at the examples from above... _I __do not have__ a mother and a father. _ *Watashi wa otōsan to okāsan ga ___INAI___.* _You __do not have__ books and pens._ *Anata wa hon to pen ga ___NAI___.* _Kenny __does not have__ lots of money. _ (polite context) *Kenny wa takusan okane ga ___ARIMASEN___.* _Sayaka __does not have__ friends._ (polite context) *Sayaka wa tomodachi ga ___IMASEN___.* :wink: I hope you continue to enjoy learning Japanese!

Konnichiwa, I have a question related to this. Why is "I like" "suki desu", while "I don't like" is "suki ja arimasen"? I'd expect "to not like" to be "suki desanai" or something like that. Or would that be acceptable also? Arigatou gozaimasu.

Konnichiwa, I might be able to help you in return with this. From what I understand desu is the polite form of da, both are affirmative. For the negative, dewanai would be the plain form and dewa arimasen is the polite form of the negative. And replacing dewa with Ja makes it a bit more informal or casual. Hopefully rljapan can please confirm or correct the issue :D

_Konnichiwa! _ You have done a great job explaining this one PlusTheEffect-san! Omedeto! :D Another way to say "I don't like [something]" is by using the word *_Kirai_* which translates as "dislike": *_Sushi ga kirai des_u* "I dislike Sushi" As PlusTheEffect-san has writtten - *_Suki ja arimasen_ *is colloquial speech. The correct opposite of *_Suki desu_* "I like" keeping the word *___suki___*in the negative phrase is *_Suki dewa nai_*. Here are the combinations of __Affirmative - Negative__ sentences in order of politeness, beginning from the most colloquial, casual way: *_Suki __da___* ↔ *_Suki __ja nai___* *_Suki __desu___* ↔ *_Suki __de wa nai desu___* *_Suki __de gozaimasu___* ↔ *_Suki __de wa gozaimasen___* I hope you continue to enjoy learning Japanese with Rocket Japanese! :wink:

Arigatou to both of you!

Konbawa. I'm a little confused. In the rocket japanese course they showed that imasu and arimasu means there is/are. But in here it says that it means "I have". Can you explain please? Domo arigato.

*Konbanwa!* :P Japanese has 2 verbs for saying "exist" or "exists": For people and animate things = *Iru/Imasu* For inanimate things and plants = *Aru/Arimasu* In addition to using the above words to express that someone or something exists, *Iru/Imasu* and *Aru/Arimasu* are also used... :idea: 1. to speak of something or someone __existing in a specific place__ - translating as *_"is here/is present/is there"_* AND :idea: 2. to speak of something or someone __in someone's possession__ - translating as *_"I/they have"_* or *[b]"He/she possesses/has"*[/b]

Arigato! But I have to say, how can you tell whether someone is saying "I have or there are". For example, neko ga imasu ka. I thought it meant - do you have cats? but in the course lesson it means - are there cats? My question is how can you tell if it means "have or there are" for other sentences using imasu or arimasu. Ja mata.

Konnichiwa! Usually, when someone has a cat or dog for a pet, the Japanese language uses the verb "Kau" (sounds the same as the verb "to buy") which translates as "raise; keep" but is used to mean "have" as in: *Inu o nihiki katte iru* *_"I have two dogs"_* You can usually tell the difference of either *Imasu/Arimasu* means *_"have"_* or *_"there is"_* by the context.

Konbawa! I'm sorry but I'm still a bit lost. You see I learned somewhere else that in order to determine if something exists somewhere you use soko, koko, or asoko ni arimasu or imasu /ka. They said you use soko, koko, asoko as location of where something exists. And to say or ask "I have something/someone" you just say arimasu or imasu. For example, I learned that this sentence - kodomo ga imasu means I have children. And cohi arimasu means I have coffee. So my point is this. In the rocket course 1.7 where it showed keni san imasu ka. Does it really mean - keni san soko ni imasu ka? Did you just omitted "soko ni" in that example? Also, if kodomo ga imasu means I have children, why is it different to say I have with the cat example? I know I'm asking alot but is just that I want to learn. Domo arigato.

Joe-san, Please accept my apologies for this late reply - _Gomennasai!_ As you say, *Keni san, imasu ka?* __can imply__ *Keni san (soko ni) imasu ka?* You may hear this used on the phone - a person ringing can ask the receiver _"Is Sayaka there?"_ with *Sayaka san, imasu ka?* (Here, *Imasu* already suggests "there" - so there is no need to add *soko ni*) You can say *Neko ga imasu* to express "I have a cat" - but you will often hear a Japanese person say *Neko o katte imasu* to express the same thing. - Sayaka