Town, Region and Country

Is it alive? 🏘️

Every language you have met so far has one way of saying **there is**. English has one. So do French, Spanish and Italian. **Japanese has two**, and before you can choose between them you have to answer a question no European language asks: **is the thing alive?** A park and a cat need different verbs, and no amount of vocabulary will save you if you pick the wrong one.

Where you live 🗂️

Six words for the places this topic is about. None of them is a borrowed word, so none can be guessed from English:

Match each word to its meaning

Two verbs, one question 🐈

**あります (arimasu)** is for things that cannot move by themselves: a park, a shop, a station, a mountain. **います (imasu)** is for **people and animals**: a teacher, a friend, a cat. **まちに こうえんが あります** - in the town there is a park. **むらに ねこが います** - in the village there is a cat. **Look at what the sentence is made of.** The place takes **に**, which you already know from the particle work. The thing itself takes **が**, and that is the only new piece here. The rest is a choice between two verbs. **And the test is animacy, not size or importance.** A mountain is enormous and takes あります; a mouse is tiny and takes います.

Which verb? ❓

You want to say "there is a cat in the village". Which verb do you need?

• います, because a cat is an animal
• あります, because a cat is small
• です, because it is a simple statement
• Either, since both mean "there is"

The rule 📝

Japanese has two verbs for "there is". Use _____ for things that cannot move by themselves, and _____ for people and animals. The place takes the particle _____, which you already know, and the thing itself takes _____. And the test is not size or importance: it is whether the thing is _____.

Which verb says it is alive? ✍️

An interactive activity.

Order them by size 🪜

An interactive activity.

Which use the right verb? ✅

Select the TWO sentences that use the correct verb.

• まちに こうえんが あります, for "there is a park in the town"
• みせに ひとが います, for "there is a person in the shop"
• くにに やまが います, for "there is a mountain in the country"
• むらに ねこが あります, for "there is a cat in the village"

Describe your area 🧭

An interactive activity.

Two verbs, side by side ↔️

The same sentence shape both times. Only the nature of the thing changes.

The summary 🖊️

A town is _____ and a village is _____. A country is _____ and a shop is _____. And before you say something is there, ask whether it is _____: あります for things, います for people and animals.

Your turn ✍️

An interactive activity.