There’s a cat in my bedroom. Is it correct?

Thanks.

By the way, Is there any difference between ”いる” and ”います”? Because both of them has the same meaning, “exist” for animated objects, right?

I hope this helps.

I just want to make sure I got this right…
If I were to say:
僕の犬そとにいる　(My dog is outside?)
Would that be correct?

Thank you again for a great lesson ^_^
Learning SO MUCH from everyone Jpod101!

未だね

Still loving the course

Anyways, this is by far the most fun I’ve ever had trying to learn Japanese, which I think will definitely help me stick with it

Thank you so much! In fact I will be hosting the new Newbie series 5 starting this month… so please listen in if you’d like to hear what I sound like in real life!

I don’t mind at all that it’s you answering these questions! I find your style of teaching most illuminating and instructive. Can’t YOU start giving the lessons? Your ‘old-school’ kinda way to explain grammar, with good, living examples, really agrees with the way my brain functions.

Seriously, I really do appreciate the time you put into answering my questions. And the way you explain things really makes me understand the material a lot better. And, overall, it feels comforting knowing Japanesepod101 takes its students seriously. Good jo… err, I mean, yoku dekimashita!

Hello again Sorry you always seem to get me answering your questions!

1) Itsu kara Washinton DC ni iru? -> From when are you in Washington DC?
O-genki desu ka? -> How are you?

Iru is the verb meaning ‘to exist/be’, and yes, the particle ‘ni’ marks place.
The copula ‘desu’ in the second sentence expresses the verb ‘to be’ in English, but please don’t confuse it with uses of ‘iru’. ‘Desu’ expresses A literal translation of both sentences would be:

-> Itsu (when) kara (from) Washinton DC (Washington DC) ni (in) iru (be/exist)?
-> O-genki (healthy/well) desu (are [you]) ka (question marker)?

Watashi wa koko desu. -> I’m here.
Watashi wa koko ni iru. -> I’m here/I’ll stay here.

So yes, you were absolutely correct when you translated ‘iru’ as ‘located/existing/being’ and ‘desu’ as ’state of being’. In short, think of ‘desu’ as ‘be’ and ‘iru’ as ‘exist, stay, live’.

2): The only difference between your expected sentence and the actual sentence is that yours is in polite form ‘imasu’ and ours was in plain form ‘iru’. Otherwise the meaning is exactly the same.

->Neko desu ka?
(To mean: “Is it the cat?”) -> Yes, absolutely correct. This means ‘Is it the cat?’ or ‘Is it a cat?’, whereas ‘Neko ga imasu ka?’ would be ‘Is there a cat [here/there]?’ Do you see the different uses of ‘desu’ and ‘imasu’?

3): Anata no okasan wa dou desu ka?
(To mean: “How is your mother?”)

Hmm, no: this literally means ‘What do you think about your mother?’ or ‘As for your mother, what about her [compared to other mothers]?’ If you want to use the construction ‘dou desu ka’ for asking about health, you should can say ‘anata no okaasan no choushi wa dou desu ka?’, but just ‘dou desu ka’ gives a different meaning. As an example, on Yahoo!Chiebukuro (the Japanese version of Yahoo!Answers), there’s a question: 赤ちゃんがいて、マニキュアをしているお母さんはどうですか？ ‘akachan ni ite, manikyua o shite iru okaasan wa dou desu ka?’ ‘What do you all think about mothers with babies who have long manicured nails?’) So as you can see ‘dou desu ka’ usually means ‘What do you think?’ rather than the English ‘How is/are’.

Anata no okasan wa ni Washinton DC imasu ka?
(To mean: “Is your mother in Washington DC?”)

This is almost correct except for your placement of ‘ni’:
-> Anata no okaasan wa Washinton DC ni imasu ka?

Remember that when marking place, ‘ni’ always goes AFTER the place name and BEFORE the verb of existence.

I hope this helps!