How to say "exist" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- ichidan verb, intransitive verbThe everyday word for the existence or presence of people and animals: use it when 'exist' really means 'there is/are' about animate things, as in saying a friend is in the next room.
- godan verb, intransitive verbThis is humble language for the animate being that いる expresses: use it when speaking humbly about the presence of yourself or your group, not as a neutral way to say something exists.
- godan verb (irregular), intransitive verbThe word for the existence of things, events, and abstract notions — problems, chances, ideas — where English says 'there is' or 'exists'; its subject is typically inanimate rather than a person or animal.
- 生きるいきるichidan verb, intransitive verbCovers 'exist' in the sense of being alive — saying that someone or something lives, or how one lives. For plain statements that something exists, this is not the word you want.
- 宿るやどるgodan verb, intransitive verbUsed when 'exist' means to dwell within something, as with a spirit in a place or a feeling in a person. Not a general word for existence; seldom what you want for that sense.
Use 「いる」 for animate presence, 「ある」 for things and abstract existence, 「おる」 as the humble counterpart of 「いる」, 「生きる」 when 'exist' means being alive, and 「宿る」 only for something existing within something else.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
See also
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