arimasen

Arimasen is the negative form of arimasu, the polite present form of aru, a Japanese verb meaning “to exist” or “to be located.” It is used for nonliving things, places, events, or abstract concepts. In English this corresponds to “there is not” or “there are not” in a polite style. The plain negative form is nai (as in hon ga nai).

In everyday use, arimasen accompanies inanimate nouns or statements about existence. The present dictionary form would be aru, and arimasen marks a polite present or future nonexistence. Examples: Koko ni hon wa arimasen (There is no book here). Kono heya ni kuruma ga arimasen (There is no car in this room). For past nonexistence, arimasen deshita is used: Kono heya ni kuruma wa arimasen deshita (There was no car in this room).

Arimasen is not used for living beings. For people and animals, the verb imasu is used instead of aru. The negative becomes imasen in the present polite form: Neko wa imasen (There is no cat / The cat isn’t here). The past would be imasen deshita.

Context and formality matter. Arimasen appears in formal or written Japanese, signs, menus, and polite speech. In casual speech, you would typically use nai (for nonpast) or nakatta (for past) without the polite ending. For example, hon ga nai (There is no book) is casual, while hon ga arimasen is polite.