Location of a thing or a person

A. All things or all persons occupy a definite place. For example, the tape recorder you are using is on your desk, the cafeteria where you go everyday is near the Faculty of Engineering, or Mr. Lwin is now in the classroom, etc.
The basic English pattern used to express these ideas is "There is something/someone somewhere."In Japanese, all of these are expressed by the following
pattern.

(Place) ni (thing) ga arimasu
(Place) ni (person) ga imasu

Examples
1. Daigaku ni shokudoo ga arimasu.
"There is a cafeteria at the university."
2. Daigaku ni toire ga arimasu.
"There is a restroom at the university."
3. Daigaku ni Ruin san ga imasu.
"There is a Mr. Lwin at the university."
4. Daigaku ni sensee ga imasu.
"There are teachers at the university."

B. The verb arimasu is used when the noun preceding ga, the subject of a sentence, isa non-living or non-moving thing. The verb imasu is used with living things which can move themselves, that is human beings and animals.
Examples
1. Keezai gakubu ni kenkyuushitsu ga arimasu.
"There are professor's offices in the Faculty of Economics."
2. Keezai gakubu ni Hasegawa sensee ga imasu.
"There is a Prof. Hasegawa on the Faculty of Economics."
3. Ryuugakusee kaikan ni robii ga arimasu.
"There is a lobby in the Foreign Students' House."
Ryuugakusee kaikan ni Arisu san ga imasu.
"There is an Alice san in the Foreign Students' House."

C. In this pattern the place or the location is signaled by the particle ni. Ni indicates the place where a thing or a person is located, while de, which has already been introduced in Lesson 2, NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR IV-D, indicates the place where an activity takes place.

Examples
1. Shokudoo ni Ruin san ga imasu.
"There is a Mr. Lwin in the cafeteria."
2. Ruin san wa shokudoo de tabemasu.
"Mr. Lwin eats in the cafeteria."
3. Heya ni terebi ga arimasu.
"There is a TV in the room."
4. Heya de terebi o mimasu.
"I watch TV in the room."