“Is the subway there?” (although there are more idiomatic ways to say that) vs “Do you need a subway?”
居る is only for animate objects, if used for inanimate things it’ll be interpreted as 要る. Even if you used ある instead of いる that would still be “Is there a subway?”, not what you probably want
asking where it is: 地下鉄はどこですか？
while pointing toward where you think it is: 地下鉄はあそこですか？
asking if the city has one: この街に地下鉄はありますか？
Both of these sentences are wrong anyway.
The first one should be 地下鉄***は***あそこですか (there should be a particle, at the very least).
地下鉄いる is just nonsense. It would mean ‘is Subway there?’ in a way that implies ‘Subway’ is the name of a person.
Also, could do with some clarification as to what
>do say is something there would you say.
means. I have no idea what you’re asking there.
いる I’m your sentence would be understood as “do you need the subway?” The kanji for that いる would be 要る.
地下鉄はどこですか – Where is the subway? (I am making an assumption there is a subway and I want to know where it is).
ある and いる (居る) both mean “to exist” or “to have.”
地下鉄がありますか。- Is there a subway? (I don’t know if such a thing exists here or not. Can you please enlighten me?)
If I’m looking at ONLY your examples:
要る, いる and ある, are less formal (and it can be less polite). You’d use these with friends and close family.
です is a more polite way to speak. 要ります, います and あります are on the same level of politeness as です.
4 comments
“Is the subway there?” (although there are more idiomatic ways to say that) vs “Do you need a subway?”
居る is only for animate objects, if used for inanimate things it’ll be interpreted as 要る. Even if you used ある instead of いる that would still be “Is there a subway?”, not what you probably want
asking where it is: 地下鉄はどこですか？
while pointing toward where you think it is: 地下鉄はあそこですか？
asking if the city has one: この街に地下鉄はありますか？
Both of these sentences are wrong anyway.
The first one should be 地下鉄***は***あそこですか (there should be a particle, at the very least).
地下鉄いる is just nonsense. It would mean ‘is Subway there?’ in a way that implies ‘Subway’ is the name of a person.
Also, could do with some clarification as to what
>do say is something there would you say.
means. I have no idea what you’re asking there.
いる I’m your sentence would be understood as “do you need the subway?” The kanji for that いる would be 要る.
地下鉄はどこですか – Where is the subway? (I am making an assumption there is a subway and I want to know where it is).
ある and いる (居る) both mean “to exist” or “to have.”
地下鉄がありますか。- Is there a subway? (I don’t know if such a thing exists here or not. Can you please enlighten me?)
If I’m looking at ONLY your examples:
要る, いる and ある, are less formal (and it can be less polite). You’d use these with friends and close family.
です is a more polite way to speak. 要ります, います and あります are on the same level of politeness as です.