To Exist
To Be
intransitive verb, ichidan verb
Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means alive and the verb version means to exist or to be, for anything that is alive and moving, like people and animals.
The kanji isn't used too often for this word, so when you're writing just use the kana. But you'll see the kanji used sometimes so it's important to be able to recognize it!
Do you know the word いる? This is the kanji version! If you've been studying Japanese up to this point you probably already know that word. You can associate these two things together into one and remember the reading at the same time!
お化けって本当に居ると思いますか？
Do you think ghosts really exist?
え？あの芸能人ってまだ居たの？今何才なんだろう？
Wait, that celebrity is still around? I wonder how old she is now.
うちの猫は大抵二階の寝室に居るんです。
Our cat is usually in our bedroom upstairs.