Learn Hardcore Japanese: sono zyoyuu ha totemo ninki ga arimasu.

This is used, but many teachers present 人気がある as the more basic/standard pattern, especially for beginners, because it makes it clear that 人気 is a noun that “exists” or is “possessed” by the person.

In short: 人気があります = “[She] has popularity,” which is a natural way in Japanese to express “is popular.”

Is 人気 (にんき) a noun or an adjective?

人気 (にんき) is a noun meaning “popularity” or “popular appeal.”

Key points:

You don’t say 人気い or 人気な like an adjective.
Instead, you use patterns like:
- 人気がある – “to be popular” / “to have popularity”
- 人気の – as an attributive modifier:
  - 人気の女優 = “a popular actress”
  - 人気の店 = “a popular shop”

So in the sentence:

とても人気があります
人気 is the noun and あります is the verb “to exist / to have.”

Why does 女優 take は and 人気 take が? What’s the difference between these particles here?

In the sentence:

その女優はとても人気があります。

The roles are:

女優は – は marks その女優 (“that actress”) as the topic.
It’s “what we’re talking about.”
人気が – が marks 人気 (“popularity”) as the subject of the verb あります.

So the literal structure is:

[その女優は] [人気があります]。
“As for that actress, [popularity exists].”

This X は Y があります pattern is common when you talk about something having or possessing something:

彼はお金があります。 – “He has money.”
この町は自然が多いです。 – “This town has a lot of nature.”

Here, 女優 is the topic (what we’re talking about), and 人気 is the thing that “exists” or is “had.”

Could I say その女優はとても人気です instead? Is that wrong?

It’s not wrong, and native speakers do say it.

However:

その女優はとても人気があります。
sounds like a very standard, textbook, neutral expression.
その女優はとても人気です。
is also used, somewhat more colloquially. Some teachers consider it slightly less formal or less “textbook-perfect,” but it’s widely understood and heard.

If you’re taking exams or following a beginner textbook, 人気があります is the safer, more “correct” pattern to rely on. Over time, you’ll hear both.

What does とても do here, and can I replace it with other words?

とても is an adverb meaning “very” or “really.”
It modifies the degree of 人気があります:

人気があります。 – “is popular / has popularity”
とても人気があります。 – “is very popular / has a lot of popularity”

You can replace とても with other degree adverbs, for example:

すごく人気があります。 – extremely / really popular (casual)
かなり人気があります。 – quite popular
あまり人気がありません。 – not very popular (note: with あまり, the verb is usually negative)

But structurally, [adverb] + 人気があります is the same pattern.

Why is あります used instead of います?

あります is the polite form of ある, the verb used for inanimate things (non-living things), abstract concepts, and possessions:

本があります。 – “There is a book.”
時間があります。 – “I have time.”

人気 (popularity) is an abstract noun, not a living being, so it takes あります, not います.

Compare:

猫がいます。 – “There is a cat.” (living)
人気があります。 – “There is popularity.” (non-living / abstract)

What exactly does その mean here? Why not あの?

Both その and あの can translate as “that”, but they’re used differently:

その – “that (near you / that one we just mentioned in the conversation).”
- Often refers to something:
  - near the listener, or
  - already known / just mentioned / shared in context.
あの – “that (over there / that one not near either of us).”

In conversation, その女優 often implies:

“that actress (you know the one we’re talking about)”
or
“that actress (near you / on the screen you’re looking at).”

あの女優 can feel more like “that actress over there / that famous actress (not here).” Both can be possible depending on the situation and what you want to imply.

Is this sentence in polite or casual form? How would it look in plain (casual) form?

The sentence is polite because of あります (polite non-past form).

Polite: その女優はとても人気があります。
Plain / casual: その女優はとても人気がある。

Differences:

あります → ある (plain)
Everything else stays the same.

You’d use the polite form with people you don’t know well, in class, in writing, etc. The plain form is common among close friends, in informal writing, etc.

Can the word order change, like putting とても somewhere else?

Japanese word order is flexible, but some positions sound more natural than others.

Original:

その女優はとても人気があります。

Other possible placements:

その女優は人気がとてもあります。
→ Grammatically possible, but sounds a bit awkward/marked; native speakers seldom say it this way.
とても、その女優は人気があります。
→ Possible for emphasis in spoken Japanese, but feels like you’re highlighting とても or making a comment with a pause (comma).

The most natural, neutral way is:

その女優はとても人気があります。

Placing とても right before 人気があります is the default, natural choice.

Why don’t we see です after 女優? Shouldn’t it be something like その女優はです?

In Japanese, です (or other predicates) normally comes at the end of the sentence, not directly after the topic marker は.

The structure here is:

その女優は – topic
とても人気があります。 – predicate (what we say about the topic)

If you said その女優はです, you’d be left hanging: “As for that actress, is…”—but with no information after it.

So you don’t put です right after は; you put the whole predicate at the end:

その女優は有名です。 – “That actress is famous.”
その女優はとても人気があります。 – “That actress is very popular.”

Is 女優 (じょゆう) specifically a female actress? Is there a different word for male actors?

Yes.

女優 (じょゆう) literally means “female actor / actress.”
俳優 (はいゆう) originally meant “actor” (often male), but nowadays is often used gender-neutrally as “actor/performer.”

Current nuance:

女優 – explicitly female, used for women in acting roles.
俳優 – can be:
- specifically male in some contexts, or
- gender-neutral “actor” in modern media and official contexts.

In your sentence, その女優 clearly refers to a female actress.

Could you drop some particles here in casual speech? For example, say その女優、とても人気ある?

Yes, in casual spoken Japanese, particles and even あります can be dropped or shortened.

Examples you might hear:

その女優、とても人気あるよ。
(Dropped は, plain ある instead of あります.)
あの女優、めっちゃ人気あるよ。
(めっちゃ = very (slang), dropped は, plain ある.)

But in standard, clear, textbook Japanese (especially in writing or in class), you should keep the particles and the polite form:

その女優はとても人気があります。

Use the full form until you’re comfortable with the grammar, then you can start recognizing and using the casual shortcuts.