indicates something relatively farther away in space than the former.
| — ga arimasu | There is (are) — (inanimate object) |
| — ga imasu | There is (are) — (animate object) |
| — ga orimasu | There is (are) — (animate object) |
4. Postpositions. The case endings are usually called postpositions and may be classified as:
| Nominative | wa; ga |
| Genitive | no |
| Dative (indirect object) | ni |
| Accusative (direct object) | wo |
Now let us go back to the vocabulary. Tabemasu, wakarimasu, agemasu, are all verbs in the present tense. Remember that all verbs in the conversational present tense end in -masu.
As we have learned, there is a difference between sore and are.
| Sore wa nan desu ka | What is that? |
| Are wa nan desu ka | What is that yonder? |
—ga arimasu and —ga imasu (orimasu) both mean there is (are). There is is employed not in the sense of over there but of the usual beginning of a sentence, as in: There is a soldier in the house.
| Teppō ga arimasu | There is a gun. |
| Dare ga imasu ka | Who is there? |
Postpositions must be used in the following way:
a. Nominative case ending:
| Kore wa teppō desu | This is a rifle. |
| Kore ga teppō desu | This is a rifle. |
Ga is emphatic, and gives distinction to the things nominated. In the former sentence, we wish to make it clear that this is a rifle and not anything else. In the latter, we want to say that this one is a rifle and not that one.
b. Genitive case ending:
| Kore wa watakushi no teppō desu | This is my rifle. |
c. Dative case ending:
| Kore wo anata ni agemasu | I give this to you. |
