zyousenken wo motte iru.

乗船券 means a boarding ticket or ticket for boarding a ship/ferry/boat.

• 乗船 = boarding a ship / getting on a boat
• 券 = ticket

So the word refers specifically to the ticket that lets someone board a vessel.

を marks 乗船券 as the direct object of the verb.

Here, the verb phrase is 持っている, which means to have / to be carrying / to possess. So:

• 乗船券を = the boarding ticket
• 持っている = have / be holding

Together: (someone) has a boarding ticket.

This is a very common question.

In Japanese, 持っている is the usual way to say have or be in possession of something right now.

• 持つ can mean to hold, to carry, or to have, but by itself it often sounds more like:

  • a dictionary form
  • a future/general action
  • a less immediate statement

• 持っている usually describes the current state:

  • I have it
  • I’m carrying it
  • I possess it

So 乗船券を持っている most naturally means (someone) has/is carrying a boarding ticket.

Here, いる is not being used by itself as to exist.

In 持っている, the ている part is a grammar pattern attached to the verb 持つ. It often shows:

• an ongoing action, or
• a resulting state

With 持つ, it usually gives the sense of a state of possession. So:

• 持つ = to hold / to possess
• 持っている = to have / to be holding / to be in possession of

So in this sentence, いる is part of the verb construction, not a separate word meaning to exist.

Usually it means I have a boarding ticket or I’m carrying a boarding ticket.

Depending on context, 持っている can mean:

• physically holding something
• carrying something with you
• possessing something

In everyday use, it often does not have to mean literally in your hand. It can simply mean that you have it with you or in your possession.

The subject is omitted, which is very normal in Japanese.

So 乗船券を持っている。 could mean:

• I have a boarding ticket.
• You have a boarding ticket.
• He/She has a boarding ticket.

The listener figures it out from context.

Japanese often leaves out subjects when they are already understood.

No, this is plain style.

• Plain: 乗船券を持っている。
• Polite: 乗船券を持っています。

The plain form is common in:

• casual speech
• dictionary-style examples
• narration
• notes or textbook sentences

If you want to say it politely in conversation, 持っています is more natural.

Usually, if you mean a person has a boarding ticket, 乗船券を持っている is better.

Compare:

• 乗船券を持っている = someone has/is carrying a boarding ticket
• 乗船券がある = there is a boarding ticket / a boarding ticket exists / a boarding ticket is available

So ある focuses more on existence or availability, not personal possession. If the point is that someone has the ticket with them, 持っている is the normal choice.

They are probably there just to help learners see the parts more clearly.

Normal Japanese writing would usually be:

乗船券を持っている。

Japanese normally does not use spaces between words the way English does.

It is pronounced:

じょうせんけん を もって いる

In normal speech, the particle を is usually pronounced お.

So it sounds roughly like:

じょうせんけん お もっている

A few pronunciation notes:

• じょう is a long vowel
• っ in もって makes a brief pause before て
• ている is often spoken quickly, and in casual speech 持っている may sound like 持ってる

持ってる is a casual spoken contraction of 持っている.

• 持っている = full form
• 持ってる = casual spoken form

So:

• 乗船券を持っている。 = plain, standard form
• 乗船券を持ってる。 = more casual, conversational

They mean the same thing, but 持ってる sounds more informal.