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> いま どこ に いるの

I found this sentence online while I was trying to better understand the verbs
ある and いる and apparently its translates to "Where are you now"

I know what most of the sentence is but I guess I'm having a hard time
understanding exactly as to how ある and いる translate and then I found の at the
end of いる and I have no idea what this の could mean. I understand they usually
mean "to have" or "there is" and I'm not sure why but when I see them they
always confuse me.

> ex. たべたい ひと が いる

This is the title of a song I found and I want to say it translates as

> There is a person/There are people I want to eat

But I'm not really sure、 and I don't really know why I'm so unsure since the
concept behind ある and いる does seem simple.

apologies if this question as a whole doesn't make much sense
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translation meaning verbs
ある、いる、and いるの in this sentence
The `の` at the end of the sentence makes the sentence sounds more natural, it
doesn't really have a meaning by itself.

You could, as well, use `か` instead to make it clear that the sentence is a
question, either replacing `の` with `か` or using `のか`

So the question `いま どこ に いるの` means `where are we now?`
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# 1. Difference between ある and いる

Both ある and いる translate to "exist". The main difference is that ある is used
for inanimate objects and いる is used for alive/animate things.

So if you want to say "there is a cat", you would say "ねこ が いる". But if you
wanted to say "there is a chair", you would say "いす が ある".

# 2. The sentence you mentioned: いま どこ に いるの

**2.1. To understand this, let's first analyse the phrase without the の in the
end**

> いま どこ に いる

The translation you pointed out, _"Where are you now?"_ , is correct. Why?

  * いま means now
  * どこ means where
  * いる means to exist;
  * に is a particle that, when used alongside いる, means the location of the object.

Therefore, this sentence would translate roughly to _"Now where do [you]
exist?"_. Note that the "you" is guessed. It could very well be "we", or
"him", and such.

That rough translation is the same as "Where are you now?" in better english.

[Learn more about the に particle
here](http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/verbparticles#part3)

**2.2. Understanding the の in the end**

Don't worry if you get confused with the の particle. It has various meanings,
so you have to detect what is its role in each situation. Sometimes it will
mean possession, like in "Bob の ほん" (Bob's book). In the end of sentences,
though, it will **in general** consist of the **explanatory の particle**. It
justs add an explanatory tone to the sentence. The sentence you mentioned is a
question, so the の particle in the end emphasizes that the questioner is
looking for an explanation.

[Learn more about the explanatory の particle
here](http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/nounparticles#part5)

# 3. たべたい ひと が いる

~~You are correct to guess the translation: There is a person/There are people
I want to eat.~~

EDIT: At a first glance this can be translated as _There is a person/There are
people I want to eat_ , but clearly this is a bit unusual, although still
possible, if this is a fictional setting, and the 'thing' speaking is a
monster, for example. But this could also be translated as _There is a
person/There are people who want(s) to eat._

(Thanks @Yosh for bringing this up)

# 4. Last words

Both links I suggested above are from the same guide, called **Tae Kim's Guide
to Learning Japanese**. I totally recommend it, it is free, [this is the
link](http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/).
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