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I was recently present in a chat room where someone asked:

> 日本人おるか

I translated this as:

> Are there Japanese people (here)?

But in that case, I'd expect it to be:

> 日本人いるか

I looked up おる in [an online dictionary](http://jisho.org/search/oru) and
found that it had the same meaning as いる:

> 居る{いる} : 1. to be (animate); to be; to exist​.

(Also has the reading おる listed)

This brings me to my question; Why was the おる reading of 居る used, instead of
いる? Or did I get the translation wrong?
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2017-06-08T19:49:06.183
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2017-06-09T15:01:14.223
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question
verbs readings hiragana
In what situations would 居る (いる) be read as おる?
I'll take a whack at this, but I want any 日本人 who read this to correct me if I
am wrong here.

First of all, your translation was correct.

Reading @Chocolate's comment on the other answer, it dawned on me. If I am not
mistaken, [居｛お｝る](http://jisho.org/word/%E5%B1%85%E3%82%8B-1) can be used in
way that elevates the status of the person you are talking about. For example:

> 神様｛かみさま｝は存在｛そんざい｝して居{お}られると思｛おも｝いますか？
>
> Do you think that God exists?

I spent a lot of time in Japan going from door to door as a missionary, and I
also heard the following phrase a lot as well:

> 主人｛しゅじん｝は仕事｛しごと｝に行っておりますので、けっこうです。
>
> My Husband isn't here, so we're good.

I always thought that was kind of a lame excuse, but it is a good example of
the usage of おる, so I guess it all works out.

According to jisho.org, おる is usually written as kana alone. However, I
wouldn't be surprised if you frequently see the kanji in use as well. I
believe that the usage of おる should be carefully watched though. If you only
use the plain form, it could (and probably will) be mistaken as 方言, as we've
been discussing in the comments. In regards to 方言、I also _suspect_ that おる is
written as kana only.

In regards to what you saw (日本人おるか), that was very likely 方言、not the form that
I discussed above. It just seems kind of rude to ask that way.
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2017-06-09T14:41:10.497
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2017-06-09T15:01:14.223
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answer