To Be...Or To Be Discussion

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So when something is alive but not moving, like a tree, you use aru, right? What happens when something is moving but not alive, like a car?

Hi Bob_smoker san,

Simply speaking, when you use "いる" or " ある" to show the exsistance, you need to use particle "が" instead of particle "は", except the negative form.

- _________ がいます/ あります。

-  _________がいません / ありません。or _________はいません / ありません。

- _________がいませんか？ / ありません？

However, if you talk about something already known to the listener in the conversation, you can use "は" for the subject. On the other hand, when adding a new thing or information to the conversation, you can use "が". Please see the difference because of the different situation, for example, 

Q: むらかみ先生をみましたか？　→　A: むらかみ先生はげつよう日にじゅぎょうにいませんでした

Q: だれがげつよう日にいませんでしたか？　→A: むらかみ先生がげつよう日にじゅぎょうにいませんでした

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The use of "ga" or "ha" particles confuses me a bit.

Could the first sentence be also "人はいます" ? Or would it be more like "The person is there/exists" instead of "There is a person" ? So does the "ha" particle make the subject more particular?

Also, could the sentence "むらかみ先生はげつよう日にじゅぎょうにいませんでした" be "げつよう日にじゅぎょうにむらかみ先生がいませんでした" instead?

Hi Dimitris-san,

Interesting questions!

#1:  I would use いる to express my respect to the dead person especially when I know the person.  But, for example, when a police officer talks about some "死体 (したい) = dead body," It is natural for the officer to use ある.

 

#2: You could use (わたしは)  どこにいますか to ask where you are.  But I would say that situation happens that often;

2 questions 

1. I am just wondering what do we use when we refer to dead people? do we use いる or ある?

2. Maybe this has been explained in an earlier lesson, but why can't  どこにいますか  be translated as "where am ( I ) ? " and it is translated as "where are (you) ?"

melon-san, Yes, the sentence is correct. But it's not beautiful;

Is the second 'ni' correct in this sentence? むらかみ先生はげつよう日にじゅぎょうにいませんでした。

If anyone is confused, like I've been, about the diference between: です、いる and ある, just read this blog post, is very helpful. :D http://jp.learnoutlive.com/japanese-aru-iru-and-desu/

Hi Dismantle-san 時間（じかん）= time. 間（あいだ） is used in such cases, やすみの間（あいだ）にりょこうしました。 (I traveled DURING the vacation.)

How come this sentence: "すみません。いま、時間がありません。" has 時間 as time instead of 間(とき）?