Think about how often you say “have” in a day. Maybe you “have” homework to do after school, you “have” a friend who’s going to study with you, and you already “have” the textbook at home. In English, you use the same word for “have” in each case, but you would actually use three different verbs in Japanese to say the same thing. To make your meaning clear, it’s important to have a solid understanding of the different ways to say “to have” in Japanese.
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How to say ‘I have’ in Japanese
The way you talk about having something in Japanese differs depending on what it is, exactly, that you have. You have three main options to talk about possession:
- aru (ある): to exist (inanimate) (e.g., I have homework.)
- iru (いる): to exist (animate) (e.g., I have a friend.)
- motsu (持つ): to carry (e.g., I have a textbook.)
In English, “have” can be a helper (auxiliary) verb, which means you use it even when you’re not in possession of something. Just try looking up “have” in the dictionary and you’ll see how many ways English uses “have.” For example, in the sentence “I have to go,” you don’t actually have anything. In Japanese grammar, this is not the case.
Charts of ‘to have’ Japanese conjugations
The three major ways to say “have” in Japanese all include the use of verbs. To use them effectively, you’ll need to know how to conjugate them appropriately.
How to conjugate aru
The verb aru literally means “to exist” for inanimate objects. In most cases, you’ll see it either translated as “there is” (when talking about an object’s location) or “have” (when a person has something). To conjugate the non-past forms, all you need to do is follow normal Japanese verb conjugation rules, with one exception: The plain negative form is nai instead of aranai.
| Non-past Tense | Plain | Polite | English |
| Affirmative | ある aru | あります arimasu | exists (inanimate) |
| Negative | ない nai | ありません arimasen | doesn’t exist (inanimate) |
You can use aru for “have” in the sense that you own something or that something exists somewhere.
- Motto chīsai sūtsu wa arimasu ka.（もっと小さいスーツはありますか。）= Do you have a smaller suit? (Literally: Does a smaller suit exist?)
- Hai. Arimasu.（はい。あります。）= Yes. I have a smaller suit. (Literally: Yes. It does exist.)
- Kono hyōshiki ni wa kotoba ga arimasen.（この標識には言葉がありません。）= This sign does not have words on it. (Literally: Words do not exist on this sign.)
Aru is also used to talk about events and experiences you might have.
- Kyō wa renshū shimasu ka.（今日は練習しますか。）= Are you practicing today?
- Iie, kyō wa renshū shimasen. Sanji ni shiai ga arimasu.（いいえ、今日は練習しません。三時に試合があります。）= No, we are not practicing today. We have a game at 3:00. (Literally: A game exists at 3:00.)
The past tense of aru is straightforward and follows normal rules for godan (五段) Japanese verbs.
| Past Tense | Plain | Polite | English |
| Affirmative | あった atta | ありました arimashita | existed (inanimate) |
| Negative | なかった nakatta | ありませんでした arimasen deshita | didn’t exist (inanimate) |
- Ii yume ga atta.（いい夢があった。）= I had a good dream. (Literally: A good dream existed.)
How to conjugate iru
The verb iru is similar to aru. It also means “to exist,” but it’s used for people, animals, and other living or animate things. Unlike aru, iru is an ichidan (一段) verb, which means its conjugation pattern is slightly different despite their nearly identical meanings.
| Non-past Tense | Plain | Polite | English |
| Affirmative | いる iru | います imasu | exists (animate) |
| Negative | いない inai | いません imasen | doesn’t exist (animate) |
Iru is often translated as “have” when talking about people. More specifically, it’s perfect for describing the composition of a family (which is also a great opportunity to practice Japanese counters).
- Watashitachi ni wa musuko ga futari imasu.（私たちには息子が二人います。）= We have two sons. (Literally: Two sons exist with us.)
- Watashitachi ni wa musume ga yonin imasu. （私たちには娘が四人います。）= We have four daughters. (Literally: Four daughters exist with us.)
You probably won’t use the past tense form of iru as much to mean “had,” but it’s still useful to know.
| Past Tense | Plain | Polite | English |
| Affirmative | いた ita | いました imashita | existed (animate) |
| Negative | いなかった inakatta | いませんでした imasen deshita | didn’t exist (animate) |
- Kare ni wa imōto ga hitori imashita.（彼には妹が一人いました。）= He had one younger sister. (Literally: A younger sister existed with him.)
How to conjugate motsu
The verb motsu means “to carry” or “to possess” and it stands apart from aru and iru because it’s a bit more specific. Think about the main distinguishing factor being that the verb motsu is another way to say “in possession of.” Objects you describe having with motsu should also be something you can hold. For example, you can hold a cup of coffee in your hand (so you could use motsu), but you couldn’t hold a party in your hand (so you should use aru instead).
It’s more natural to use the present progressive (-ing) form of motsu, which is motteiru. This is to reflect the fact that you currently are in possession of it (aru and iru are special and do not use the present progressive form).
| Non-past Tense | Plain | Polite | English |
| Affirmative | 持っている motteiru | 持っています motteimasu | possess |
| Negative | 持っていない motteinai | 持っていません motteimasen | doesn’t possess |
- Onna no ko tachi wa jitensha o motte imasu.（女の子たちは自転車を持っています。）= The girls have bicycles. (Literally: The girls are in possession of bicycles.)
- Onna no ko tachi wa jitensha o motte imasen.（女の子たちは自転車を持っていません。）= The girls do not have bicycles. (Literally: The girls aren’t in possession of bicycles.)
The same rules apply for the Japanese past tense form of motsu. Use the present progressive form (motteiru) and conjugate from there.
| Past Tense | Plain | Polite | English |
| Affirmative | 持っていた motteita | 持っていました motteimashita | possessed |
| Negative | 持っていなかった motteinakatta | 持っていませんでした motteimasen deshita | didn’t possess |
- Mae wa, watashi wa jitensha o motte imashita.（前は、私は自転車を持っていました。）= I used to have a bicycle. (Literally: I used to be in possession of a bicycle.)
Other ways to say ‘to have’ in Japanese
The Japanese verbs in some specific situations translate to “have” in English, even if they’re not among the three main verbs above. Here are four situations that don’t use aru, iru, or motsu where you might need to talk about something you have or someone else has.
To have an illness
Illness and pain can come up at any time, and you may need to find a doctor or a pharmacy to get treatment. To explain that you have an illness or condition, you can use the grammar pattern “[body part] ga itai desu” to say “I have a [painful condition relating to body part].”
- Atama ga itai desu.（頭が痛いです。）= I have a headache. (Literally: My head hurts.)
For colds and transmissible diseases, you’ll usually use the past tense of the verb kakaru (罹る, to contract a disease). For the common cold specifically, you can also use the past tense of the verb hiku (引く, to catch/pull).
- Infuruenza ni kakarimashita.（インフルエンザにかかりました。）= I have the flu. (Literally: I contracted the flu.)
- Kaze wo hikimashita.（風邪を引きました。）= I have a cold. (Literally: I caught a cold.)
To have pets
When you own an animal, you can say you “have” them by using the present progressive form of the verb kau (飼う, to own an animal).
- Kanojo wa inu o katte imasu.（彼女は犬を飼っています。）= She has a dog.
- Kare wa neko o katte imasu.（彼は猫を飼っています。）= He has a cat.
To have a good trip
How often do you wish someone well? To tell someone you wish for them to “have a good” day or trip, you can try one of these phrases.
| Japanese | Romanization | English |
| よい一日を！ | Yoi ichinichi o! | Have a good day! |
| いい夜を！ | Ii yoru o! | Have a good night! |
| いい週末を！ | Ii shūmatsu o! | Have a good weekend! |
| いい旅行を！ | Ii ryokō o! | Have a good trip! |
| いい休みを！ | Ii yasumi o! | Have a good vacation/break! |
You may notice that these Japanese phrases all lack a verb and instead end with the object particle o (を). To shorten the expression, the verb is usually dropped (and implied), but the full expression would use the verb sugosu (過ごす, to spend time). The full expression is typically reserved for formal situations, like wishing your boss a good weekend.
- Ii shūmatsu o sugoshite kudasai!（いい週末を過ごしてください！）= Have a good weekend! (Literally: Please spend time well over the weekend.)
You can also replace the Japanese adjective ii (good) with an adjective of your choice if you want to be more creative with your well wishes.
- Tanoshii yasumi o!（楽しい休みを！）= Have a fun vacation!
To have physical traits
Typically, you would describe someone’s physical traits by saying “their [body part] is/are [adjective]” as in “Their eyes are blue.” This is more or less interchangeable with saying someone “has” that physical trait, and you have two equally interchangeable options in Japanese to say the same thing.
- Watashi no kami wa chairo desu.（私の髪は茶色です。）= I have brown hair. (Literally: My hair is brown.)
- Watashi wa kami ga chairo desu.（私は髪が茶色です。）= I have brown hair. (Literally: It’s brown hair for me.)
Notice the difference between the use of Japanese particles (bolded) in the example sentences. In the first example, the topic of the sentence is the person’s hair (the topic particle wa follows kami, or “hair”), so it’s closer to “My hair is brown.” In the second sentence, the topic of the sentence is the person (the topic particle wa follows watashi, or “I”), so it’s closer to “I have brown hair.” The nuance between the two is extremely minor.
Accelerate your learning with Rosetta Stone
Shitsumon ga arimasu ka (質問がありますか)? Do you have any questions? It makes sense if you do! Learning how to say “to have” in Japanese involves many more verbs and expressions than English, but that also means Japanese has the capacity to be more specific.
If you want more practice with how to use “have” in Japanese, try going through the Japanese lessons in the Rosetta Stone App! You’ll see examples throughout (with native audio) talking about possession as well as how the English auxiliary verb “have” translates to Japanese when not talking about possession. The best way to learn is through immersion!
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