ある or 持つ, what's the difference?


My textbook says ある can be used for possession, but further on it says 持っている
is used for possession. Are both correct? Are there any differences?

When talking with a Japanese friend (in very limited and simple
conversations), when I use ある, she usually corrects me with 持っている.




'Have' in English has many meanings. When you want a more passive sounding
'have', then 「ある」 is best. When you can change 'have' to 'there is...', then
use this. 「ある」 can also mean possession, but this is a more passive way of
saying it. 「持っている」 is used more for the meaning of 'I have it with me' or
'right here in my hand'. It draws attention to you HAVING it, where 「ある」
places stress on the item existing in a place (that of course may be at your
house or in your bag). There is a lot of gray area between the two where both
are fine.

If you can reword the English to accept "There is/are..." instead of
"...has...," that means use 「ある」.

One example would be:

The station has a cafe. -> There is a cafe in the station.

So the Japanese would be 「駅にカフェがある。」

You can say:

I have a pen on my desk. -> There is a pen on my desk.

(granted your intended meaning is the same). So the Japanese would be
「テーブルの上にペンがある。」

But saying this in English is strange:

I have a pen. -> ?There is a pen (in my hand?).

So here, you would use 「もっている」. If you used 「ある」, it would sound overly
indirect.

(As pointed out in comments) This is only a general rule. Whenever you don't
want to stress 'possessing an object,' use 「ある」.

「ペンを持っている。」 I have a pen (stressing possession) 「ペンがある。」 I have a pen (not
stressing anything, so it is more like 'the pen exists')

In a question: 「ペンある？」 Do you have a pen? (translation depends on
context)(natural way to ask) 「ペンを持っている?」 Do you have a pen?

As this last one stresses possession, it may be asking if you have a pen with
you, but not necessarily. eg 「３DS持っている。」 which is 'I own a 3DS.' or 'I have a
3DS right now, in my possession.'

「持つ」also has other meanings/uses (「持っていく」 to bring, for example), but that is
outside of your question.

