Japanese Reading Practice N5: My Room (あります, います, Location Words)

This original JLPT N5 reading text describes a small, bright room: a desk by the window, a bookshelf full of manga, a box of old photos under the bed and a cat called Miruku. It is built on the two existence verbs あります and います and on location words such as 上, 下, 前, 右 and 近く, with romaji, English and notes for every sentence.

By Trinh Ngoc Dieu · Founder of Unihongo 9 min readPublished October 26, 2026

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UnihongoReading practice

ここは私の部屋です。This is my room.

What you need to know

Describing a room is the classic way to practise あります and います, because a room is full of things and usually has at least one living thing in it. The text uses both word orders you need: place に thing があります (on the desk there is a computer) and thing は place にあります (the bed is near the door). It also shows the location phrase pattern, A の上に, on top of A, which works the same way for under, inside, in front of, behind, left, right and near. If you can read this text and draw the room from it, you have the core of N5 location grammar. The notes include a table of location words and the most common mistake: using あります for a cat or います for a desk.

Things use あります; people and animals use います

Place に thing があります: there is a thing in a place

Thing は place にあります: the thing is in a place

Location words follow の: 机の上, ベッドの下, ドアの近く

The text: 私の部屋 (My room)

Read once without the English, and try to picture the room as you go. Where is the desk? What is on it? What is under the bed, and who is on top of it?

Four picture cards: this is my room, the room is small, but it is very bright, and a desk in front of the window. — The text opens with the room itself, then places the desk by the window.

Japanese	Romaji	Meaning
ここは私の部屋です。	Koko wa watashi no heya desu.	This is my room.
部屋は小さいです。	Heya wa chiisai desu.	The room is small.
でも、とても明るいです。	Demo, totemo akarui desu.	But it is very bright.
窓の前に机があります。	Mado no mae ni tsukue ga arimasu.	A desk in front of the window.
机の上にパソコンと辞書があります。	Tsukue no ue ni pasokon to jisho ga arimasu.	On the desk there's a computer and a dictionary.
机の右に本棚があります。	Tsukue no migi ni hondana ga arimasu.	To the right of the desk there's a bookshelf.
本棚には日本の漫画がたくさんあります。	Hondana ni wa Nihon no manga ga takusan arimasu.	There's a lot of Japanese manga on the bookshelf.
ベッドはドアの近くにあります。	Beddo wa doa no chikaku ni arimasu.	The bed is near the door.
ベッドの下に箱があります。	Beddo no shita ni hako ga arimasu.	There's a box under the bed.
箱の中に古い写真があります。	Hako no naka ni furui shashin ga arimasu.	Inside the box there are old photos.
ベッドの上にねこがいます。	Beddo no ue ni neko ga imasu.	There's a cat on the bed.
名前はミルクです。	Namae wa Miruku desu.	Her name is Miruku (Milk).
テレビはありません。	Terebi wa arimasen.	There's no TV.
私はこの部屋が好きです。	Watashi wa kono heya ga suki desu.	I like this room.

Sentence 11 is the only one with います, because the cat is alive. Everything else in the room, from the desk to the photos, uses あります. The cat's name, ミルク, is written in katakana because it is the English word milk; many Japanese pet names are borrowed like this.

Vocabulary notes: things in a room

Learn these with a real object in front of you if you can. Point and say the word: it sticks far better than a list.

Japanese	Romaji	Meaning
部屋	heya	room
明るい	akarui	bright, light
窓	mado	window
机	tsukue	desk
パソコン	pasokon	computer, PC
辞書	jisho	dictionary
本棚	hondana	bookshelf
箱	hako	box
写真	shashin	photo
ねこ	neko	cat (kanji 猫)

本棚 is read hondana, not hontana: the t sound of 棚 (tana) becomes d when it joins another word. This sound change, called rendaku, appears in many compound words, and at N5 it is enough to learn each word with its own reading.

Location words at a glance

All of these follow the same pattern: thing の location に. The table lists the ones in the text and the ones you will need next.

A small bright room with a labelled desk in front of the window, a bookshelf, a bed near the door and a cat on the bed. — Desk, bookshelf, bed and window: the room from the text with its labels.

Word	Reading	Meaning	In the text?
上	ue	on, on top of, above	Yes: 机の上, ベッドの上
下	shita	under, below	Yes: ベッドの下
中	naka	in, inside	Yes: 箱の中
前	mae	in front of	Yes: 窓の前
後ろ	ushiro	behind	No
右 / 左	migi / hidari	right / left	Yes: 机の右
近く	chikaku	near	Yes: ドアの近く
となり	tonari	next to	No

The scene below labels four of the objects so you can check your mental picture. Try to say where each one is before you read the labels.

Grammar notes: four patterns in the text

Each pattern is shown with the sentence from the text and one new example.

Japanese	Romaji	Meaning
窓の前に机があります。	Mado no mae ni tsukue ga arimasu.	Place に thing があります. (text)
駅の前に銀行があります。	Eki no mae ni ginkō ga arimasu.	There's a bank in front of the station. (new example)
ベッドはドアの近くにあります。	Beddo wa doa no chikaku ni arimasu.	Thing は place にあります. (text)
トイレは二階にあります。	Toire wa nikai ni arimasu.	The toilet is on the first floor. (new example)
ベッドの上にねこがいます。	Beddo no ue ni neko ga imasu.	Living things use います. (text)
公園に子どもがいます。	Kōen ni kodomo ga imasu.	There are children in the park. (new example)
テレビはありません。	Terebi wa arimasen.	Negative: ありません / いません. (text)
部屋に犬はいません。	Heya ni inu wa imasen.	There's no dog in the room. (new example)

A note on 二階: in Japan, the ground floor is 一階, so 二階 is the floor above it. British English calls that the first floor and American English the second floor, which is why the gloss can look odd.

The most common mistake is the verb, not the particle: ねこがあります sounds like the cat is an object. If it can walk away, use います.

Comprehension questions

Answer with a short Japanese sentence that uses the location word.

Where is the desk?
What is under the bed?
What is on the bed?

Japanese	Romaji	Meaning
窓の前にあります。	Mado no mae ni arimasu.	Answer 1: In front of the window.
箱があります。古い写真が入っています。	Hako ga arimasu. Furui shashin ga haitte imasu.	Answer 2: A box. It has old photos in it.
ねこがいます。名前はミルクです。	Neko ga imasu. Namae wa Miruku desu.	Answer 3: A cat called Miruku.

Answer 2 adds 入っています, is inside, which is a useful N4 phrase for contents. The text itself uses 箱の中に…あります, which says the same thing in N5 grammar. Both are correct.

Common mistakes when describing a room

Using あります for animals or people: ねこがあります. Anything alive and moving takes います.
Putting the location word before の: 上の机 means the upper desk, not on the desk. Say 机の上.
Using で instead of に with あります: 机の上でパソコンがあります. Existence takes に; で is for actions.
Answering where-questions with が: パソコンが机の上にあります. When the question is パソコンはどこですか, answer with は: パソコンは机の上にあります.
Mixing up 右 (migi, right) and 左 (hidari, left). Point with your hand as you read until they become automatic.

A read-aloud routine for this text

Say the location words alone, touching real objects: tsukue no ue, beddo no shita, mado no mae.
Read the text slowly, and with each sentence point to the place on your drawing.
Read it again at natural speed. Keep arimasu and imasu clearly different; they are the heart of the text.
Swap two objects in your drawing and read the text again, changing the sentences to match.
Describe your own room aloud in eight sentences without notes.

Describe your room, then give a tour

Write your own eight-sentence room description and paste it into Mocchi, Unihongo's study assistant, with /correct. Mocchi checks あります against います, fixes the particles and explains each change; it also keeps a note of the location words you mix up so a later /review can test them. To read a second room description at the same level, type /read and ask for an N5 text about a kitchen or a classroom.

For speaking, show the room you described to Yamada-sensei in AI Sensei: ask Yamada-sensei to play a friend visiting your new flat, describe what is where, and answer Yamada-sensei's questions about where things are.

Key points

A practical way to improve

Draw the room from the text on paper without looking at the English, then check your drawing against the glosses. Next, describe your own room in eight sentences: five things with あります, one living thing with います (a pet, a plant does not count) and two things you do not have with ありません. Read them aloud while pointing at the real objects. Ask Mocchi to quiz you on the location words with /quiz, and if you keep mixing up 前 and 後ろ, ask it to keep bringing them back.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Do plants use あります or います?

Plants use あります. います is for things that move by themselves: people, animals, insects and fish. A cat on the bed is ねこがいます, but a plant on the windowsill is 花があります. Robots and moving vehicles are a grey area that native speakers argue about, but you will not need them at N5.

What is the difference between 机の上にパソコンがあります and パソコンは机の上にあります?

The first answers what is on the desk and introduces the computer as new information. The second answers where the computer is, with the computer as the topic. Use the first when describing a scene and the second when someone asks where something is.

Why does the text say 本棚には with には?

には is に plus the topic marker は. It makes the bookshelf the topic: as for the bookshelf, there is a lot of manga on it. It often appears when you move from one part of a room to the next, and it is very common in descriptions.

How do I say there is no TV?

Use ありません with は: テレビはありません. The は is natural with negatives because it contrasts the TV with the things that are there. テレビがありません is also correct, but sounds more like a simple report.