How to Say ‘To be (for people/animals) / to stay’ in Japanese
いる
iru
[ee-roo]
💬 Usage Tip: [いる] is for living things. For objects, use [ある]. Example: [猫がいる] vs. [店がある].
🇯🇵 In Japan: When talking about staying somewhere, Japanese often uses [いる]: [ここにいます] (“I’m here”).
Phrase Breakdown
いる
iru
[ee-roo]
to exist (for living things); to be; to stay
いる is used for people/animals being somewhere. (For objects/plants, use ある.) Also used for “to stay/live” in a place for a period.
日本にいる友だちがいます。
I have friends who are in Japan.
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