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文法ぶんぽうGrammar Point

〜があります there is (inanimate): Meaning & Examples

ga arimasu · JLPT N5

JLPT N510 textsQuiz ready

〜があります means “there is (inanimate)”. It is a JLPT N5 pattern, shown below in the sentences where real Japanese writers use it, with furigana on every word.

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〜があります (there is (inanimate)) in real sentences

Each one is quoted from a published Japanese text in this library and links to the story it came from. Some use older spellings, or break off where the sentence carried on. They are transcribed exactly as their authors wrote them.

あります says a thing exists or is there, and the thing is marked with が. The past form ありました is how this story announces each new envelope on the bench.

— from Goodnight, Moon (Beginner)

— from One Umbrella, Please (N5)

— from The Room on the Mountain (N5)

— from The Gap on the Shelf (N5)

確認かくにんSelf-check

Practise 〜があります: fill in the blank

3 sentences taken from real Japanese texts, with the grammar removed. Pick what belongs in the gap.

Question 1 of 3

  1. よくみると、つきにもようblank。

    Answer: があります — from Goodnight, Moon (Beginner)

  2. 江戸に、父の小さいかさの店blank。

    Answer: があります — from One Umbrella, Please (N5)

  3. ゆうごはんまで、まだ時間blank。

    Answer: があります — from The Room on the Mountain (N5)

Read the texts these came from

Appears in 10 of 379 texts in our library.

蔵書ぞうしょThe texts

10 texts in the library use 〜があります

Free to read in full. Furigana over every kanji, a dictionary on any word you tap, and an English breakdown of each sentence.

本と本の間 cover Read 本と本の間 The Gap on the Shelf Yomimaru 12 min read · Short Story おやすみ、おつきさま cover Read おやすみ、おつきさま Goodnight, Moon Yomimaru 1 min read · Short Story ストーブの前で cover Read ストーブの前で One Line of Boot Prints Yomimaru 12 min read · Short Story みじかい音 cover Read みじかい音 The Sound the Water Makes Yomimaru 14 min read · Short Story 三つのふうとう cover Read 三つのふうとう Three Envelopes Yomimaru 12 min read · Short Story 店のまど cover Read 店のまど Wait Here Yomimaru 14 min read · Short Story かさを一本 cover Read かさを一本 One Umbrella, Please Yomimaru 12 min read · Short Story 山の上のへや cover Read 山の上のへや The Room on the Mountain Yomimaru 14 min read · Short Story ザウサン　サルサン cover 60 Read ザウサン　サルサン Zausan and Sarusan 村山 籌子 3 min read · Short Story にはとり　は　みんな　しあわせ cover 10 Read にはとり　は　みんな　しあわせ All the Chickens Are Happy 村山 籌子 14 min read · Short Story

解説かいせつBackground

Where this 〜があります explanation comes from

〜があります sits at JLPT N5 in the 302-point taxonomy every text in this library is tagged against. Each text is read for the patterns it contains, which is what lets this page list every text that uses 〜があります and pull its example sentences out of them.

The example sentences were not written to demonstrate the rule. They are quoted from published Japanese texts in this library (Goodnight, Moon and One Umbrella, Please among them), and each one links back to the story it came from, so you can read the sentence where it actually happened.

質問しつもんQuestions

〜があります: questions & answers

What does 〜があります mean?

〜があります means “there is (inanimate)”. It is a JLPT N5 pattern, and the example sentences on this page show it doing that job in published Japanese rather than in a constructed example.

What JLPT level is 〜があります?

〜があります is normally introduced around JLPT N5. The texts listed on this page span several levels, because a pattern taught at N5 keeps turning up in writing well above and below it.

How do I get 〜があります to stick?

Read it rather than review it. Meeting 〜があります in 10 different stories attaches it to 10 contexts you remember, where reviewing the rule 10 times attaches it to nothing. Every text listed here is free to read in full.

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