Minnasan Konnichiwa!!

Here is a brief lesson on the verbs ARU and IRU

Both ARUand 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).

ARU - this one is used for inanimate objects - like books, toys, plants and buildings.
They're items that can't move by themselves.
When speaking in a polite context, use the polite form ARIMASU

On the other hand...

IRU - is used for animate things - like people, animals, insects, ants...yes, every thing
that can move by themselves.
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.

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.

ARU changes to NAI

When speaking in a polite context, use the polite form ARIMASEN
and
IRU changes to INAI
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.

Read more: http://japanese.rocketlanguages.com/grammar/aru-iru-arimasu-imasu-

t200.html#ixzz0mHQwrPka

Iru and Aru

Iru (いる) and aru (ある) are the present/future ‘plain’ form of the verb translated as ‘to
be/exist’. Iru is always used in reference to an animate subject or object, and aru always
refers to an object or subject that is inanimate;

6) jon-san/hon wa Osaka ni i-ru/ar-u

John/book SUB Osaka NI be-PRES
‘John/The book is in Osaka.’

When the verb is used following an object marked with ga and a subject marked with ni
(に), the translation becomes ‘to have’. For example

7) jon-san ni kuruma ga ar-u

John NI car OBJ have-PRES
‘John has a car’.

To arrive at this translation, the particle ni is read, in this context, as ‘in/at’, the place
where something is at the present. So at first, the translation for (7) mayfggfh be
considered ‘a car is at John/in John’s presence’. In order to reach the translation ‘to
have’, Tsujioka[2] presents these two examples:

8)*heya ni otoko ga ar-u

Room NI man OBJ be-PRES
‘There is a man in the room.’
9) jon-san ni musuko ga ar-u
John NI son OBJ be-PRES
‘John has a son’

Sentence (8) is grammatically incorrect, as aru is used in reference to an animate object.

The use of musuko with aru, however, is allowed, as some kinship terms may use the
‘animacy-insensitive’ form of aru[3]. It can then be said that there are two translations of
aru/iru – ‘to be’ and ‘to have’.

Unlike shoyuusuru and motsu however, iru/aru can express relationship as well as
ownership, as seen in (9) where John does not physically own his son. Rather, it is a
statement expressing the relationship.

Although iru/aru sentences may have a possessee that is alienable and inalienable, it is
not possible to have a modified inalienable possessee;

10) *jon-san ni pinku no kami ga ar-u

John NI pink GEN hair OBJ be-PRES
‘John has pink hair.’

This appears to be the only restraint, other than the animate/inanimate restrictions, and its
solution will be discussed in the next section. The sentence structure for iru/aru
possessive sentences is

11) NP1 ni NP2 ga Verb.

Possessor NI Possessee OBJ Verb

Although nouns in Japanese are not marked for animacy, it has two existential/possessive
verbs; one which for implicitly animate nouns (usually humans and animals) and one for
implicitly inanimate nouns (usually non-living objects and plants, etc.) The verb iru (い
る also written 居る）is used to show the existence or possession of an animate noun.
The verb aru (ある, sometimes written 在る when existential or 有る when possessive)
is used to show the existence or possession of an inanimate noun.

An animate noun, in this case 'cat,' is marked as the subject of the verb with the subject
particle ga (が), but no topic and no location are marked. This implies the noun is
indefinite and merely exists.

(1) Neko ga iru.

猫 が いる
cat SUBJECT to exist
'There is a cat.'
In the second example, a topic is introduced, in this case "I", with the topic particle ha
(は). The animate noun is again marked with a subject particle, and no location is
denoted. This implies that the topic owns, or perhaps is holding onto, the noun.

(2) Watashi wa neko ga iru.

私 は 猫 が いる
I TOPIC cat SUBJECT to exist
'I have a cat.'

In the third example the noun is marked as the topic (and by default functions as the
subject of the verb) while a location, in this case the top of a chair, is marked with the
location particle ni (に). This implies that the noun is both a definite noun and that is
located at the specified location.

(3) Neko wa isu no ue ni iru.

猫 は 椅子の上 に いる
cat TOPIC chair+NOUNCOORDINATOR+above/on LOCATION to exist
'The cat is on the chair.'

In all these cases if the noun is not animate, such as a stone, instead of a cat, the verb iru
must be replaced with the verb aru (ある or 有る[possessive]/在る[existential,locative]).

(1) Ishi ga aru.

石 が ある
stone SUBJECT to exist
'There is a stone.'
(2) Watashi wa ishi ga aru.
私 は 石 が ある
I TOPIC stone SUBJECT to exist
'I have a stone.'
(3) Ishi wa isu no ue ni aru.
石 は 椅子の上 に ある
stone TOPIC chair+NOUNCOORDINATOR+above/on LOCATION to exist
'The stone is on the chair.'

In some cases where 'natural' animacy is ambiguous, whether a noun is animate or not is
the decision of the speaker, as in the case of a robot, which could be correlated with the
animate verb (to signify sentience or anthropomorphism), or with the inanimate verb (to
emphasise that is a non-living thing).

(1) Robotto ga iru.

ロボット が いる
robot SUBJECT to exist
'There is a robot' (emphasis on its human-like behavior).
(2) Robotto ga aru.
ロボット が ある
robot SUBJECT to exist
'There is a robot' (emphasis on its status as a non-living thing).