Japanese grammar · Beginner (A1)
です and basic sentences
XはYです, its negative and past, why the verb always comes last, and why Japanese leaves out whatever is clear.
XはYです: X is Y
The simplest Japanese sentence is XはYです: “X is Y”. is a particle (a small word that marks the role of the word before it) and is said wa here. It marks the topic, what you are talking about. (desu) works like “am”, “is” and “are”, and it makes the sentence polite. The u is nearly silent, so it sounds like “dess”.
never changes for the person or for singular and plural: (Watashi wa gakusei desu, I'm a student), (Tanaka-san wa gakusei desu, Tanaka is a student). Adjectives take it too: (takai desu, it's expensive).
links two things, but it doesn't say where something is or that it exists. For “there is” you need (arimasu) or (imasu), which have their own page.
- 私は会社員です。Watashi wa kaishain desu.I'm an office worker.
- 田中さんは医者です。Tanaka-san wa isha desu.Ms Tanaka is a doctor.
- 今日は月曜日です。Kyō wa getsuyōbi desu.Today is Monday.
Negative and past
has four polite forms. The negative (ja nai desu) is the everyday one; (ja arimasen) is a little more formal, and in careful writing じゃ becomes では (de wa). The past is (deshita), and the past negative is (ja nakatta desu) or (ja arimasen deshita).
Friends and family use the plain forms, taught in A2: (da), (ja nai), (datta), (ja nakatta).
| Meaning | Polite | More formal | Plain (A2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| is | (desu) | (desu) | (da) |
| is not | (ja nai desu) | (ja arimasen) | (ja nai) |
| was | (deshita) | (deshita) | (datta) |
| was not | (ja nakatta desu) | (ja arimasen deshita) | (ja nakatta) |
- 私は学生じゃないです。Watashi wa gakusei ja nai desu.I'm not a student.
- 昨日は休みでした。Kinō wa yasumi deshita.Yesterday was my day off.
- 昨日は雨じゃなかったです。Kinō wa ame ja nakatta desu.It didn't rain yesterday.
The verb comes last
In English the verb comes after the subject: “I drink coffee”. In Japanese the verb, or , always comes at the very end: “I coffee drink”. Everything else is marked by a particle, such as (o) for the object, so the other parts can move around a little without changing the meaning.
Time words usually come first, then the rest. Only the last position is fixed: the verb or , followed by little words such as (ka), which makes a question.
- 私は毎朝コーヒーを飲みます。Watashi wa maiasa kōhī o nomimasu.I drink coffee every morning.
- 明日、田中さんは京都に行きます。Ashita, Tanaka-san wa Kyōto ni ikimasu.Tanaka is going to Kyoto tomorrow.
- 鈴木さんは会社員ですか。Suzuki-san wa kaishain desu ka.Is Mr Suzuki an office worker?
Leaving out what is clear
Japanese doesn't repeat what both speakers already know. Once the topic is clear, it is dropped, so (gakusei desu) on its own means “I'm a student”, “she's a student” or “they're students”, depending on the conversation.
(watashi, I) is usually left out: say it only when you introduce yourself or want to contrast yourself with someone else. The word (anata, you) is best avoided, because it can sound cold or too intimate. Use the person's name with (san) instead, or simply leave “you” out. Never use with your own name.
- 学生です。Gakusei desu.I'm a student.
- 田中さんですか。Tanaka-san desu ka.Are you Ms Tanaka?
- はい、そうです。Hai, sō desu.Yes, that's right.
No articles, usually no plural
Japanese has no words for “a” and “the”, and most nouns have no plural form. (hon desu) can mean “it's a book”, “it's the book” or “they're books”. When the number matters, you say it with a number and a counter: (hon ga sansatsu arimasu, there are three books).
For groups of people you can add (tachi): (kodomotachi, the children), (watashitachi, we). It is never used for things.
- これは本です。Kore wa hon desu.This is a book.
- 私たちは友達です。Watashitachi wa tomodachi desu.We're friends.