がある (JLPT N5)

About がある

がある is a common construction that is simply a combination of the が particle, and the う-Verb, ある. This expression means 'to exist', or 'there is', and is used in relation to non-living/inanimate things.

Because the things being described in these examples are not considered to be 'alive', ある is the verb that will be used. いる is used for living things.

The polite form of ある conjugates as あります. Due to the る changing to り, we can determine that ある is a う-Verb (Godan verb). However, ある is irregular in that the plain negative form is ない, not あらない.

The kanji form of 有(あ)る is quite common, and should be learned as early as possible, to save any confusion while reading. There is no nuance difference between this expression being used with, or without kanji, and is up to the preference of the writer.

Caution

The が in がある is often omitted in casual speech, or writing that behaves like casual speech (manga, instant messaging, etc).

冷蔵庫(れいぞうこ)の中(なか)には何(なに)ある？

What's in the refrigerator?

Examples

--:--

本(ほん)がある。

There is a book.

ペンがない。

I don't have a pen.

時間(じかん)があります。

There is time.

仕事(しごと)がない。

I don't have work.

エレベータがあります。

There is an elevator.

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がある – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (14 in total)

Jake
to be・there is
Structure
- Noun + が・ある
[non-living things・inanimate objects]

Formal/Polite: があります

View on Bunpro
squint
None of the audio seems to work on the “がある” Examples tab? Is it just me?
mrnoone
It is working for me.
Have you tried turning off add blocking software on Bunpro?
squint
It’s working today. Weird.
Just doesn’t work off and on. using Chrome
cybershark
Hey guys, this grammar point confused me. Why is the が included in it? Isn‘t が a grammar point by itself? The ressources I used till now for grammar always teach ある / あります by itself without the が. Can somebody explain this to me? ^^‘ would be helpful, cause it confuses me quite a bit.
mrnoone
Hey and welcome on community forums

Hey guys, this grammar point confused me. Why is the が included in it? Isn‘t が a grammar point by itself?

We teach about が、the subject marker three lessons earlier.

The resources I used till now for grammar always teach ある / あります by itself without the が. Can somebody explain this to me? ^^‘ would be helpful, cause it confuses me quite a bit.

We think that is is good to teach about verbs in conjunction with particles they are used with. This way students won’t confuse particles, for example, won’t use 会う with を instead of に to mark person. Plus it’s good to know how properly say what exists when speaking about the existence...
cybershark
Thanks a lot for the response It helped me to understand the usage and relation of が and あります.
Jshnaid
What’s the difference between X がある and X があります? It seems it’s used interchangeably to say the same thing front the examples, but the grammar is different.
matt_in_mito
がある is casual and があります is polite. You should use the former when speaking to friends and the latter when speaking to superiors.
Jshnaid
I see. Thank you!
cantoryakov
How can I distinguish がある from だ? They seem to mean the same thing.
matt_in_mito
がある means ‘there is’ and だ means ‘it is’ or ‘they are.’
これはペンだ。 This is a pen
机つくえの上うえにペンがある。There is a pen on the desk.
XReaper95
I have a a problem… i think. I hide the english hints completely when doing reviews, just for an extra challenge, but some examples show [casual] as a placeholder, so there is no way to know when to write がある or だ. Some proof:

This shows for some examples of different questions:
matt_in_mito
The site doesn’t work too well without English translations. For your extra challenge I suggest that you switch to yellow text only, so you know the grammar point you’re aiming for, but don’t get the full sentence in English.
XReaper95
I see, well thats to bad, I was not expecting to run into a problem like that, as that is an option they have. I guess that using the smallest hint is the solution then. Thank you!