Today we are going to learn sentences that describe existence of a non-animal subject using the intransitive verb “Arimasu”. If a subject is a human kind or an animal, Not “Arimasu” but “Imasu” is used for the predicate verb. “Imasu” will be explained tomorrow.
And the following is a review about Ko-so-a words for places/locations;
– koko : here, this place
– soko : (1) When the speaker and the listener are close and sharing a limited place, “soko” is a place a little distant from the two. The distance for soko is longer than koko, but shorter than asoko. (2) When there is a distance between the speaker and the listener, and the speaker calls the place of the listener “soko”, the speaker would say “koko”.
– asoko : the place over there
We have already learned sentences using koko, soko, and asoko.
1. [Ko-so-a word for place] wa [Name of a Place] desu.
The sentence 1 is a noun predicate sentence whose subject is koko/soko/asoko and predicate is name of a place.
2. [Name of a Place] wa [Ko-so-a word for place] desu.
The sentence 2 is a noun predicate sentence whose subject is name of a place and predicate is koko/soko/asoko.
Today’s sentence for existence is not a noun predicate sentence, but a verb predicate sentence.
3. [Ko-so-a word for place] ni [Non-Animal Noun] ga Arimasu.
The sentence 3 is a verb predicate sentences because it ends with “- masu.” And there are two particles;
– ni : marker for place of existence
– ga : marker for subject
Practice and remember the following conversation;
A : Asoko ni Nani ga Arimasuka. (What is over there?)
B : Asoko ni Kombini ga Arimasu. (There is a convenience store over there.)
This post was written with reference to the exercise A1 on Section 10 of “Minna no Nihongo” published by “3A Corporation”
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