This paper discusses exact relations in Bose--Einstein condensates (BECs), starting from basic properties of an ideal Bose gas. In particular, focused on are the Hugenholtz--Pines relation, Nepomnyashchii--Nepomnyashchii identity, and identities for the density response function... After introducing these exact relations, a few approaches of many-body approximations are discussed, which satisfy the exact relations in BECs. This paper will serve as a bridge between theories on exact relations and those on approximations in BECs. (read more)