I am confused about the particules no and ni in this example

Japanese
#1

In these two sentences, あなたに兄弟はいますか？ and 彼は私の兄弟です, why do you use the particule ni instead of no in the first sentence?
Thanks for your help.
Best regards,

#2

Hi! So in the first sentence, you are asking for existence as in “do you HAVE any siblings?” and in the second one you are saying that HE is your brother (the listener already knows you have a sibling in this case a brother). If you change the に for the の the sentence would mean this:

“Do you have siblings?” → あなたに兄弟はいますか？
“Are your siblings here?” → あなたの兄弟はいますか？

Hope it helps!

1 Like
#3

The particle に is very often used with the verb います、あります (to exist). This is a rather common fixed parttern.

1 Like
#4

Thank you for your reply, it helps.

#5

Thanks!

#6

I wanted to leave a link to the corresponding bunpro’s item, but に (JLPT N5) | Bunpro opens with “に can be a difficult particle” :sweat_smile:

Here に…います indicates a “location where something exists”, but location is in a more figurative rather than literal meaning.

I don’t know which textbooks you use, but in Dictionary of basic japanese grammar you can read more on page 300, topic に⁶.

#7

Thanks for the link! I guess I forgot about “for” for the particule ni. I finished Genki 1 and 2 several years ago. Maybe it is time to reopen the books. Best,