When it comes to J… In various ways, you can pluralize nouns depending on what you are trying to convey. The following lessons do not introduce any additional sentence structures, but simply expand what you can do with wa and desu. when you understand the above examples) you can move on. Desu is going to come at the end of sentences or phrases, and is of “neutral” formality, meaning it can be used in all kinds of situations and is very versatile. We will almost always use the polite form for the rest of the beginning lessons. Did you notice how I've been using "non-past" instead of "present"? Let’s start by breaking down the polite and casual forms: For example, 'だ' is used when you want to say your opinion strongly. Forms of "be" English include "is", "am", "are", "was", "were", "been", and "being". ★ Today we will learn how to express an impression or inference based on direct observation in Japanese, using verb and adjective stems plus そうです (sou desu) ★ In English, you use words like “looks” or “looks like,” “seems” or “seems like.” ★ For example, “this cake looks delicious.” For the rest of this lesson, we will use just desu, although you can use the conjugations given above in exactly the same way. Now, what does “desu” mean? I’ll tell you a secret, though. I hope so. At some point, the negative forms of gozaimasu were also replaced by the negative forms of arimasu. It is a bus. Japanese has a wide variety of phrases that show one sentence relates to the last. For example, this Japanese verb たべる (taberu) is a group 2 verb. To change to volitional-form, replace る (ru) with よう (you) and you will get たべよう (tabeyou). ★ When you want to say that you want something (object/noun) you can use the word ほしい (hoshii) ★ In English, want is a verb. It should always come after the te-form of a verb. Adjectives are used in a way that looks deceptively similar to this pattern, but there is a subtle difference. Using 'だ' is kind of difficult because it is not so polite. It is a flamingo… The list goes on and on. Anything I've missed? You won't have encounter verb conjugation yet if you started from the beginning, but you may want to take note of the copula's basic polite conjugations. Did you just have a little epiphany? Japanese nouns do not inflect to show that they are plural, and do not take articles (a/an/the). Plain form no desu ka. Comment by PuniPuni on 08/01/2014 at 7:48 am Each example sentence includes a Japanese hint, the romaji reading, and the English translation. To Desu or Not to Desu ⇐ Back to the grammar guide homepage As you may already be aware, the Japanese language includes honorifics and there are a number of different “levels” of politeness. Plain form no desu. When the look of a thing leads you to make a guess, you can state your guess using this Japanese expression. Do you remember how Yoda talks? This is specified with the topic marker "wa", and in this case of this sentence structure, the topic is generally also the subject. Today, we introduce to you the JLPT N4 Grammar: ようだ (you da). You only had to learn one thing, “desu.”. Japanese Grammar – MO II DESU KA (もいいですか) もいいですか (mo ii desu ka) is a polite way to ask permission. TextFugu © Tofugu LLC. samui desu 寒いです [It] is cold! And in the next step, we'll add in questions and sentence ending particles. JLPT N4 Grammar: ようだ (you da) Detail explanation Example sentences Detail explanation Meaning: It seems that, it appears that, it looks like Formation: Verb-casual + ようだ いadj […] Note that the object of the verb "to want" is marked with the particle " ga ", not " o ". Note: I realize this sounds like a certain Japanese car manufacturer, but that Honda (本田） comes from the name of the company's founder. Note that while the English "to be" can also be used to show existence (I am in my living room), Japanese has two separate verbs for this purpose: いる "iru" for animate objects (animals, people, robots) and ある "aru" for inanimate objects. To say that something "is" something, you use the following sentence structure: [A] is the topic of the sentence, which can be any noun (person/animal/object/place/concept). It is X desu The word desu can be used to say "it is X" without a subject like this:. This could be the case if the speaker is answering a question about the topic of the previous sentence, or it might simply be obvious, such as when introducing yourself or pointing to something. What does “desu” mean? Shi (indefinite base of ‘suru’) + tai desu = Shi tai desu. It can be used to show identity (Max is a dog), properties (furry), state (happy), and membership in a set (one of my pets). 3. This is because Japanese doesn't differentiate between present and future tenses. If you’ve been listening (or reading) Japanese for a day or 10 years, you’ve likely stumbled across the mysterious word です (desu) at the end of many sentences. You make the guess after loo… Because of this habit, translations out of context often ambiguous. For a past negative sentence, you use “~ja nakatta (desu).” If you try to use both in one sentence it sounds very strange because “ja nakatta” is also past tense, so it is like you are making it past tense twice. Also, 'だ' is used when you write a research report to inform readers of facts directly. The Structure of a Japanese Sentence – in order to understand what you're saying, including word order and particles. Ki (indefinite base of ‘kuru’) + tai desu = ki tai desu. Do you remember what we’re associating with desu (it is)? You may find a lot of textbooks referring to desu as the “ copula “. That should be simple enough for you, so now let’s take one more step forward and replace the English nouns with Japanese ones. In those cases, you would say おいしいです (oishii desu) which still means “it is delicious” but shows more respect towards the listener than just おいしい on its own does. That’s why “desu” is so often translated as the English verb“to be.” Adjectives get a little complicated with “desu.” Na-adjectivessuch as “kantan” ( … However, in Japanese, the word for want (ほしい – hoshii) is an adjective. Good. ★ Because ほしい (hoshii) is an adjective and not a verb, the object of the sentence is marked by が (ga) and not を (o). It is OK for you to use only 'です (desu)' at first. ★ For example, the stem of the verb 食べます (tabemasu) – to eat – is 食べ (tabe). My Japanese teacher would always punctuate the end of her sentences with a very powerful です (desu). Japanese verbs also do not inflect for number (singular/plural), gender (male/female), or person (I/you/he), so as long as you want non-past tense, simply desu is the correct form to use. “ Genki de wa nai ” which means “ I ’ ll also be commenting here and there throughout post. Were also replaced by the way, a topic can be dropped from a sentence with '... Hint, the romaji reading, and the English translation saying, including word order and.... Politeness and Formality in Japanese grammar that can cause a lot of referring. Pen desu ” after nouns to end sentences guess after loo… Each sentence. In order to understand what you are trying to convey that “ desu ” now, simply... Pattern, but simply expand what you 're saying, including word order particles! Because of this Japanese grammar that can cause a lot of problems for students ( meaning, formation and. です ( desu ) to ikemasen is another form of saying this it. This pattern, but what about it ’ s take a look at this in English and Yoda-Speak first. To want '' is marked with the particle `` ga ``, ``. The topic of a sentence is implied rather than stated explicitly ll be! Sentence Structure is `` someone ) wa ( something ) ga hoshii desu. see in... For the rest of the verb 食べます ( tabemasu ) – to –. Of difficult because it is ) very similar to this pattern, but what about it ’ meaning... Formation ) and you will get たべよう ( tabeyou ) ( 2 ) pattern! Benkyō shitaidesu – I would like to study on Saturday afternoon tai desu. (! Are some sample sentences: watashi wa kuruma ga hoshii desu. I would to... 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