What do arimasu and imasu mean in sentences?


Can someone please translate and explain to me these sentences from a grammar
standpoint?

> Anata no gakkou ni Nani ga arimasu ka?
>
> Anata no ie ni Nani ga arimasu ka?
>
> Doubutsuen ni Nani ga imasu ka?

I know it’s a translation but I really tried all I could to translate them,
but they just don't make sense.




_Arimasu_ (from [_aru_](https://jisho.org/word/%E5%9C%A8%E3%82%8B)) and
_imasu_ (form [_iru_](https://jisho.org/word/%E5%B1%85%E3%82%8B)) mean "To be,
to exist", the difference being that the first is used with inanimate objects,
while the second with animate ones.

So your sentences mean respectively "What is in your school?" ( _anata no
gakkou_ being "your school"), "What is in your house?" ( _anata no ie_ being
"your house") and "What is in the zoo?"; in the last sentence using _iru_
means the speaker is asking about which animals are in the zoo, and not which
structures (or anything inanimate).

