Lesson 9

Describing People and Things with です

The Core Pattern: [Noun A] は [Noun B] です

In Japanese, the most fundamental way to describe someone or something is using the pattern '[Noun A] は [Noun B] です' ([Noun A] wa [Noun B] desu). In this pattern, Noun A is the topic being introduced or discussed, and Noun B is a description, label, identity, or category applied to that topic. The sentence translates generally to 'A is B.'

The character は is written with the hiragana 'ha', but when acting as the topic-marking particle, it is pronounced 'wa'. The word です (desu) acts as a polite copula, similar to the English verb 'to be' (am, is, are). Note that in natural Japanese pronunciation, the final 'u' sound in です is often devoiced or whispered, sounding like 'dess'.

A simple example is: わたし は がくせい です (Watashi wa gakusei desu), which means 'I am a student.' Here, わたし (watashi / I) is marked by は as the topic, and がくせい (gakusei / student) completes the description followed by polite です.

Describing People: Names, Roles, and Nationalities

You can use this structure to state someone's name, occupation, or nationality. When talking about other people politely, always append the honorific title さん (san) to their surname or given name. For example: たなかさん は せんせい です (Tanaka-san wa sensei desu), meaning 'Mr./Ms. Tanaka is a teacher.' Never use さん when referring to yourself.

Nationalities in Japanese are formed simply by attaching the suffix じん (jin, written with the kanji 人 for person) directly to a country's name. For instance, アメリカ (Amerika / America) becomes アメリカじん (Amerikajin / American), and にほん (Nihon / Japan) becomes にほんじん (Nihonjin / Japanese person).

Putting this together, you can say: スミスさん は アメリカじん です (Sumisu-san wa Amerikajin desu), meaning 'Mr. Smith is an American.' To state your own identity, you might say: わたし は マリア です (Watashi wa Maria desu / 'I am Maria').

Describing Things and Using the Particle の

The same pattern applies when describing objects. Common demonstrative pronouns used for things include これ (kore / this item near the speaker), それ (sore / that item near the listener), and あれ (are / that item far from both speaker and listener). For example, pointing to an item in your hand: これはほんです (Kore wa hon desu / 'This is a book').

To make descriptions more specific, Japanese uses the modifying particle の (no) to link two nouns together. The noun before の modifies or possesses the noun after it, functioning like 'of' or an apostrophe-s ('s) in English. For example, わたし のほん (watashi no hon) means 'my book', and たなかさん の くるま (Tanaka-san no kuruma) means 'Tanaka-san's car.'

You can combine this with our main sentence pattern: これは わたし の かばん です (Kore wa watashi no kaban desu / 'This is my bag'). This allows you to identify not just what an object is, but also who it belongs to or what kind of item it is.

Asking Questions with the Particle か

Turning a descriptive sentence into a question in Japanese is straightforward. Unlike English, you do not need to change the word order or invert verbs. You simply add the question particle か (ka) to the end of the sentence and pronounce it with a slightly rising intonation.

For example, taking たなかさん は せんせい です (Tanaka-san is a teacher) and adding か creates: たなかさん は せんせい ですか (Tanaka-san wa sensei desu ka / 'Is Mr. Tanaka a teacher?'). In Japanese punctuation, a standard period (。) is commonly used instead of a question mark in formal text, though question marks appear frequently in informal writing.

To answer affirmatively, begin with はい (hai / yes): はい、せんせい です (Hai, sensei desu / 'Yes, [he] is a teacher'). Notice that Japanese speakers naturally drop the topic (たなかさん は) once it is already clear from the context.

Saying 'Is Not': Negatives with じゃありません and ではありません

To say that someone or something is *not* a certain noun, you replace です with the polite negative ending じゃありません (ja arimasen) or its slightly more formal equivalent, ではありません (dewa arimasen). In everyday spoken Japanese, じゃありません is widely used.

For example, to say 'I am not a student,' say: わたし は がくせい じゃありません (Watashi wa gakusei ja arimasen). In formal writing, speech, or business contexts, you will encounter: わたし は がくせい ではありません (Watashi wa gakusei dewa arimasen).

When answering a question negatively, you can say いいえ (iie / no) followed by the negative form: いいえ、がくせい じゃありません (Iie, gakusei ja arimasen / 'No, I am not a student'). Understanding the pairing of です (affirmative) and じゃありません (negative) is a key building block of Japanese grammar.

Lesson quiz · 1 of 5

Which sentence correctly means 'Mr. Tanaka is a doctor' in polite Japanese? (Doctor = いしゃ / isha)