In short

Japanese has two verbs for “there is”: あります (arimasu) for things that cannot move themselves, and います (imasu) for people and animals. The frame is Place + に + Thing + が + あります／います, and if you need a more precise place you build it with a position noun: 机の上に (tsukue no ue ni) - on the desk.

The rule

Step 1 - choose the verb by animacy, not by English. English uses one verb (“there is”) for everything; Japanese splits it in two.

• います - anything that moves under its own power: people (学生がいます gakusei ga imasu - there are students), animals, insects.
• あります - everything else: objects, buildings, plants and trees (a tree is alive but rooted, so 木があります ki ga arimasu), and also events (会議があります kaigi ga arimasu - there is a meeting) and abstract things (時間があります jikan ga arimasu - there is time).

Step 2 - use the existence frame. The pattern is Place + に + Thing + が + あります／います.

• に marks the place of existence. Not で - で is for a place where an action is performed.
• The thing that exists is marked with が, because it is new information being introduced.
• The negatives are simply ありません / いません, and the past is ありました / いました.

Step 3 - flip the order when the thing is already known. The two framings carry different information structure, and picking the wrong one is the commonest fluency error at this level.

• 〜に〜があります (place first, thing marked が): the place is given, the thing is new. This answers “What is in the room?” - 部屋にテレビがあります (Heya ni terebi ga arimasu).
• 〜は〜にあります (thing first, marked は): the thing is given, the place is new. This answers “Where is the bank?” - 銀行は駅の前にあります (Ginkō wa eki no mae ni arimasu).

So the rule of thumb: whatever you are telling the listener goes late and takes が; whatever you are both already talking about goes first and takes は.

Step 4 - build the place with a position noun. A position noun is an ordinary noun meaning “top”, “inside”, “front”. You attach it to the reference object with の, and the whole phrase then takes に:

Noun + の + position noun + に

机 (desk) + の + 上 (top) + に = 机の上に (tsukue no ue ni) - “on the desk”, literally “at the desk’s top”. The の and the に are both obligatory.

Step 5 - には topicalizes or contrasts a location. Add は after に to make the place the topic, or to imply a contrast with somewhere else.

• 私の部屋にはテレビがありません (Watashi no heya ni wa terebi ga arimasen) - “In my room there is no TV” (implying: elsewhere there may well be one). Note the romaji: に + は is ni wa, never “ni ha”.

Step 6 - the same verbs express possession. Japanese does not need a verb “to have”. The possessor is the topic は, and the thing possessed simply exists:

• 私は車があります (Watashi wa kuruma ga arimasu) - I have a car.
• 私は兄弟がいます (Watashi wa kyōdai ga imasu) - I have siblings (animate, so います).

The alternative is 持っています (motte imasu, “hold/own”), which asserts actual ownership or physical holding - 鍵を持っています (kagi o motte imasu). It takes を, not が, and it is not used for the family you simply have: ×兄弟を持っています is wrong - say 兄弟がいます.

A preview. When you list several things that exist, you connect them with や (“and, among others”) and often close with など (“and so on”): 机の上に本やノートなどがあります (Tsukue no ue ni hon ya nōto nado ga arimasu). Full listing comes in step 29.

Forms & patterns

Which verb - the animacy test.

The polite paradigm.

The two framings.

Position nouns - all used as Noun + の + position noun + に.

Examples

Common mistakes

• 部屋に猫があります -> 部屋に猫がいます (Heya ni neko ga imasu.) - a cat moves under its own power, so it is animate and takes います. The reverse trap is just as common: a tree does not move, so 木があります.
• 部屋でテレビがあります -> 部屋にテレビがあります (Heya ni terebi ga arimasu.) - existence is located with に; で is only for a place where an action is carried out.
• 机の上本があります -> 机の上に本があります (Tsukue no ue ni hon ga arimasu.) - the position noun does not replace the particle. You still need に after 上, and の before it.
• 銀行がどこにありますか -> 銀行はどこにありますか (Ginkō wa doko ni arimasu ka.) - the bank is the thing you already have in mind, so it is the topic は; が would wrongly put the new information on the bank itself.
• 私は車を持ちます -> 私は車を持っています (Watashi wa kuruma o motte imasu.) - possession is a state, so 持つ must be in the 〜ています form; the bare 持ちます is the one-off act of taking something in your hand or carrying it, not the state of owning it. For people, use いる instead: 兄弟がいます.

Tips

• The animacy mnemonic: can it decide to walk away? If yes, います. If no, あります. That single question resolves people, animals, plants, cars, buildings and appointments correctly. The famous grey zone is vehicles: a parked or merely available taxi is タクシーがあります, while タクシーがいます construes it as a mover, on the road or under way.
• English “have” splits into three Japanese patterns. Existence-possession of things: 車があります. Of people: 兄弟がいます. Physically holding or owning something: 鍵を持っています - and note the particle change from が to を.
• Position nouns are ordinary nouns, so they behave like any other place word. そば and 近く (chikaku) both mean “near” (そば is closer, 近く is “in the general vicinity”), and both take the same の frame: 学校の近くに (gakkō no chikaku ni). The final particle is not fixed to に either - swap in で when something happens there rather than exists there: 駅の前で待ちます (eki no mae de machimasu) - I will wait in front of the station.
• ある is irregular where you least expect it: its plain negative is ない (nai), never ×あらない. The polite ありません hides this, but the irregularity resurfaces the moment you meet plain forms in step 17.