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To tell someone that you have or possess something, use the verbs iru (ee-roo) and aru (ah-roo). Both mean "to exist," which shows possession in Japanese. You choose the verb according to whether the item you possess is animate or inanimate:
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So "I have a boyfriend" is Watashi wa boifurendo ga iru (wah-tah-shee wah bohh-ee-foo-rehn-doh gah ee-roo), which literally means "As for me, a boyfriend exists." Similarly, "Alison has money" is Alison wa okane ga aru (ah-ree-sohn wah oh-kah-neh gah ah-roo), which literally means "As for Alison, money exists." When speaking in a polite/neutral context, use the polite form of these verbs, imasu (ee-mah-soo) and arimasu (ah-ree-mah-soo), both of which are conjugated here. Iru is a ru-verb, but aru is slightly irregular; pay close attention to the negative form. |
| Form | Pronunciation |
| iru | ee-roo |
| inai | ee-nah-ee |
| i | ee |
| ite | ee-teh |
| Form | Pronunciation |
| aru | ah-roo |
| nai | nah-ee |
| ari | ah-ree |
| atte | aht-teh |
Here are a few examples of having and not having:
Talking about your regular activities
To express that you do something regularly - run, play tennis, go to work, and so on - use the verb that expresses the activity and the verb iru (ee-roo; to exist), in that order. Make sure to conjugate the verb that expresses ihe action in the te-form. (See Chapter 2 for details oil the te-form.) You can leave the verb iru as it is or put it in the polite form, imasu (ee-mah-soo).
For example, you can combine the verbs hashiru (hah-shee-roo; to run) and iru to get hashitte iru (hah-sheet-teh ee-roo) or hashitte imasu (hah-sheet-teh ee-mah-soo). Both phrases mean that someone runs regularly, sort of like saying, "I run and exist every day."
Be careful: hashitte iru can also be interpreted as "I'm in the middle of running." Which meaning the phrase takes on depends on the context. If you say mainichi (mah-ee-nee-chee; every day) before saying hashitte imasu, you obviously mean a regular activity: "I run every day." If you say ima (ee-mah; now), you mean "I'm in the middle of running now." The following sentences express regular actions:
Giving out your contact information
After chatting with someone, you may want to contact him or her. below table lists the information you may want to collect.
| Japanese | Pronunciation | Translation |
| jusho | jooo-shoh | address |
| denwa bango | dehn-wah bahn-gohh | phone number |
| denshi meru adoresu | dehn-shee mehh-roo ah-doh-reh-soo | e-mail address |
| fakkusu bango | fahk-koo-soo bahn-gohh | fax number |
Exchanging meishi (mehh-shee; business cards) is also a good idea. These phrases are useful when exchanging contact information:
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