いる

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
居る

/wiru/ → /iru/

From Old Japanese. Found in the Nihon Shoki, completed around 720 CE.[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) いる [ìrú] (Heiban – [0])[2][3]
(Mishima) いる [íꜜrù] (Atamadaka – [1])[4]
IPA^(key): [iɾɯ̟ᵝ]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "居る"

Stem forms
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	居る	いる	`[ìrú]`
Imperative (命令形)	居ろ	いろ	`[ìró]`
Key constructions
Passive	居られる	いられる	`[ìrárérú]`
Causative	居させる	いさせる	`[ìsásérú]`
Potential	居られる	いられる	`[ìrárérú]`
Volitional	居よう	いよー	`[ìyóꜜò]`
Negative	居ない	いない	`[ìnáí]`
Negative perfective	居なかった	いなかった	`[ìnáꜜkàttà]`
Formal	居ます	います	`[ìmáꜜsù]`
Perfective	居た	いた	`[ìtá]`
Conjunctive	居て	いて	`[ìté]`
Hypothetical conditional	居れば	いれば	`[ìréꜜbà]`

Verb

いる • (iru) ^{←ゐる (wiru)^?} intransitive ichidan (stem い (i), past いた (ita))

(of animate objects) to exist, to be
鈴(すず)木(き)ですが、田(た)中(なか)さんいますか？
Suzuki desu ga, Tanaka-san imasu ka?
This is Suzuki calling; may I speak to Tanaka?
(literally, “[This] is Suzuki; is Tanaka present?”)
あなたがいないと何(なに)もできない
anata ga inai to nani mo dekinai
I can't do anything if you aren't here/there
君(きみ)がいた夏(なつ)
kimi ga ita natsu
the summer you were there [with me; by my side]
君(きみ)といた夏(なつ)
kimi to ita natsu
the summer [I] was with you
(of animate objects) to have
彼(かれ)氏(し)いますか？
Kareshi imasu ka?
Do you have a boyfriend?
Used as a 補助動詞 (hojo dōshi), after a verb in the て (-te) conjunctive form. Note that ている (-te iru) colloquially shortens to てる (-teru), ていた (-te ita) colloquially shortens to てた (-teta), etc.
1. Indicates a progressive or continuative tense: to be doing
  朝(あさ)ご飯(はん)を食(た)べていますか？
  Asagohan o tabete imasu ka?
  Are you eating breakfast [now]?
  黙(だま)っていられるもんか！
  Damatte irareru mon ka!
  Like hell this is something I can silently let pass!
  (literally, “Is this something that I can be quiet about!?”)
  何(なに)もしてねーって。
  Nani mo shitenē tte.
  I'm telling you, I haven't done anything.
  子(こ)供(ども)が遊(あそ)んでいる。
  Kodomo ga asonde iru.
  The children are playing.
2. Indicates a regular, repetitive action.
  朝(あさ)ご飯(はん)を食(た)べていますか？
  Asagohan o tabete imasu ka?
  Are you eating breakfast these days?
  This is equivalent to using the simple non-past form of verbs (e.g. 食べますか (tabemasu ka) = 食べていますか (tabete imasu ka)).
3. Indicates a state resulting from the action.
  壁(かべ)には絵(え)がかかっている。
  Kabe ni wa e ga kakatte iru.
  There is a picture hanging in the wall.
  豚(ぶた)が肥(こ)えている。
  Buta ga koete iru.
  The pig is fat.
(obsolete) to sit
- c. late 9th–mid-10th century, Taketori Monogatari
  それを見(み)れば、三(さん)寸(すん)ばかりなる人(ひと)いと美(うつく)しうて居(ゐ)たり。
  Sore wo mireba, sansun bakari naru fito ito utukusiute witari (Classical pronunciation)
  Sore o mireba, sansun bakari naru hito ito utsukushūte itari. (modern pronunciation)
  When he looked at it, there sat a very lovely human being about three sun long.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "いる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	い	i
Continuative (連用形)	い	i
Terminal (終止形)	いる	iru
Attributive (連体形)	いる	iru
Hypothetical (仮定形)	いれ	ire
Imperative (命令形)	いよ¹ いろ²	iyo¹ iro²
Key constructions
Passive	いられる	irareru
Causative	いさせるいさす	isaseru isasu
Potential	いられるいれる³	irareru ireru³
Volitional	いよう	iyō
Negative	いないいぬいん	inai inu in
Negative continuative	いず	izu
Formal	います	imasu
Perfective	いた	ita
Conjunctive	いて	ite
Hypothetical conditional	いれば	ireba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

Classical conjugation of "ゐる" (ワ行上一段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	ゐ	wi
Continuative (連用形)	ゐ	wi
Terminal (終止形)	ゐる	wiru
Attributive (連体形)	ゐる	wiru
Realis (已然形)	ゐれ	wire
Imperative (命令形)	ゐよ	wiyo
Key constructions
Negative	ゐず	wizu
Contrasting conjunction	ゐれど	wiredo
Causal conjunction	ゐれば	wireba
Conditional conjunction	ゐば	wiba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	ゐき	wiki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	ゐけり	wikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	ゐつ	witu
Perfect tense (natural event)	ゐぬ	winu
Perfect-continuative tense	ゐたり	witari
Volitional	ゐむ	wimu

Synonyms

(dialectal) おる (oru)
ある (aru, “of inanimate objects: to be”)

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of いる – see the following entries.

【要る】	[verb] to be necessary, to need
【煎る】	[verb] fry, broil Alternative spellings 炒る, 熬る
【鋳る】	[verb] cast, mint
【射る】	[verb] shoot [verb] (rare) shoot
【入る】	[verb] [from 759] to go in; to come in [verb] [from 900s] 要る: to be necessary, to be required Alternative spelling 要る

(This term, いる, is an alternative spelling of the above terms.)

References

1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
Uwano, Zendo (2002-10-31), “見島方言の用言のアクセント調査報告 [A Report on the Accentual Surveys of Verbs and Adjectives in the Mishima Dialect]”, in 環太平洋の「消滅に瀕した言語」にかんする緊急調査研究 [Endangered languages of the Pacific Rim]‎, ISSN 1346-082X

[KDJ-1] 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

[DJR-2] 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-3] 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN

[4] Uwano, Zendo (2002-10-31), “見島方言の用言のアクセント調査報告 [A Report on the Accentual Surveys of Verbs and Adjectives in the Mishima Dialect]”, in 環太平洋の「消滅に瀕した言語」にかんする緊急調査研究 [Endangered languages of the Pacific Rim]‎, ISSN 1346-082X