How to Say ‘There is; have’ in Japanese
があります
ga ari masu
[gah ah-ree mahss]
💬 Usage Tip: [があります] means 'there is/are' for things, and can also mean 'have' in phrases like [好きな会社があります].
🇯🇵 In Japan: Japanese often says 'there is a favorite company' instead of directly saying 'everyone has one.' The structure is different from English, but very natural.
Phrase Breakdown
が
ga
[gah]
subject marker
Marks the subject of the sentence, often before existence verbs like あります.
好きな会社があります。
There is a company I like.
あり
ari
[ah-ree]
exist; have
The stem of ある, used for the existence of things or to say something exists.
私には好きな会社がありました。
I had a company I liked.
ます
masu
[mahss]
polite verb ending
A polite ending attached to a verb stem, as in あります.
好きな会社があります。
There is a company I like.
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