In this lesson, you'll learn about one especially important verb, desu, and how to use it as part of your first sentence structure. At some point, the negative forms of gozaimasu were also replaced by the negative forms of arimasu. It is very similar to “Can I” or “May I” in English. Let’s take a look at this in English and Yoda-Speak, first. Also, 'だ' is used when you write a research report to inform readers of facts directly. My Japanese teacher would always punctuate the end of her sentences with a very powerful です (desu). 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. Fortunately, almost all other Japanese verbs are regular, in that they follow a universal conjugation pattern. (warn, or giving order) --> kadang kalimatnya ga diselesaiin (5). You also need to use a different form of –n desu when it is attached directly to a plain form of the verb in an informal situation.When the circumstances are informal, use –n da instead of –n desu, as demonstrated in the table.The sentences are written first in hiragana, which is a phonetic syllabary (or transliteration) made from simplified kanji characters. Youda, you desu. ★ 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. Desu became known to Western audiences via Japanese anime and manga, a form of Japanese cartoon animation and comics. 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. “Desu” means “it is” Anyways, I think the best way to learn it is to actually see it in action. It’s similar to saying “I plan to…” or “I intend to…” It’s similar to saying “I plan to…” or “I intend to…” when you understand the above examples) you can move on. This is specified with the topic marker "wa", and in this case of this sentence structure, the topic is generally also the subject. As always, I’ll also be commenting here and there throughout the post. 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 […] It is a cat. Forms of "be" English include "is", "am", "are", "was", "were", "been", and "being". (when you wish for something, end the sentence with 'youni') (4). I hope so. Here are some sample sentences: Watashi wa kuruma ga hoshii desu. 5. For example, 'だ' is used when you want to say your opinion strongly. Plain form no desu ka. Look at the sentences above, specifically the Yoda one: “Pen, it is.” There’s the “it is” part! 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. However, you may not use da after an i adjective. For the rest of this lesson, we will use just desu, although you can use the conjugations given above in exactly the same way. Note: For な-adj/Noun → (～ だ) な. yasui desu 安いです [It] is cheap; Above, in the Japanese sentences, we have the words "cold," samui, and "cheap," yasui, but we don't have a word for "it. You’ve learned how basic Japanese sentences work! All Rights Reserved, よ. Grammar Guide Japanese Audio Flashcard Lessons updated 1-4-21 This Grammar Guide is intended for students of the 36 audio lessons in our Japanese Audio ... You may use desu after an i adjective. Usage: This is used to express obligation, the need to do something important. Each example sentence includes a Japanese hint, the romaji reading, and the English translation. (oishisou desu) – “It looks delicious.” ★ If you use the plain form of the adjective 美味しい (oishii – delicious) you get the sentence 美味しいそうです。(oishii sou desu) – “I’ve heard that it’s delicious.” ★ They sound very similar, but the meaning can be pretty different, so be careful! What does “desu” mean? Did you just have a little epiphany? 3. (noun + no) youni + verb 4. As a side note, desu is believed to be a contraction of "de gozaimasu", which is now mainly used in keigo (honorific speech). You know how to pronounce “desu” now, but what about it’s meaning? samui desu 寒いです [It] is cold! If you want to be more casual you can use the following phrases: 元気だよ Genki da yo I’m fine 元気じゃない You 2. Note that the object of the verb "to want" is marked with the particle " ga ", not " o ". It doesn’t technically mean it is (pretty hard to translate desu, actually), but “it is” will help you learn desu and learn how it’s used, especially now that you know how Yoda talks. During a wave of anime and manga in the West in the 1990s–2000s, English-speaking users in online fan forums began writing desu at the end of their sentences to mimic of Japanese speech (e.g., I love it desu).This was seen as being more kawaii, or … Do you remember what we’re associating with desu (it is)? https://www.learn-japanese-adventure.com/japanese-expression-you-desu.html You make the guess after loo… Click the below red button to toggle off and and on all of the hints, and you can click on the buttons individually to show only the ones you want to see. ... youni. Let's … ★ To get the stem of a masu-verb, just take off ます (masu). It should always come after the te-form of a verb. Being a rather unusual verb, the copula has an irregular conjugation in both its plain and polite forms. When you’re speaking to someone who has a higher social status than you, or when you are talking with someone whom you just met and need to show politeness towards. Anyways, I think the best way to learn it is to actually see it in action. 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. Because of this habit, translations out of context often ambiguous. ★ 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.” And in the next step, we'll add in questions and sentence ending particles. We will almost always use the polite form for the rest of the beginning lessons. But ending a sentence with a noun without “desu” will make it a fragment. To change to volitional-form, replace る (ru) with よう (you) and you will get たべよう (tabeyou). All questions, comments, and corrections are welcome. You could also disagree and say 元気ではない “Genki de wa nai” which means “I’m not fine”. Did you notice how I've been using "non-past" instead of "present"? です (desu) is similar to “ is ” or “ am ” in English. Formal Versus Informal . The topic of a sentence is usually omitted if it is clear from context. As if, like, seperti (2). 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. The Topic Marker “Wa” – mainly the first half, covering the concept of "topic" vs subject. Youna + noun 3. Ki (indefinite base of ‘kuru’) + tai desu = ki tai desu. For example, this Japanese verb たべる (taberu) is a group 2 verb. Plain form no desu. TextFugu © Tofugu LLC. 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). In this lesson, you'll learn about one especially important verb, desu, and how to use it as part of your first sentence structure. This is because Japanese doesn't differentiate between present and future tenses. 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. By the way, a topic can be dropped from a sentence if the context is already understood. You don’t have to study on Saturday afternoon. Do you remember how Yoda talks? You can find the detail explanation (meaning, formation) and examples of this Japanese grammar in this post. Good. Watashi wa nihongo o benkyō shitaidesu – I would like to study Japanese – do the study. Meaning: (1). Whatever you want to call it, always place it at the end of the statement! Syntax: verb in na form+nakereba narimasen. Although the Japanese copula is a somewhat unusual verb, it goes at the end of the sentence just like every other. But do you know what it truly means? Do you remember how Yoda talks? In various ways, you can pluralize nouns depending on what you are trying to convey. When it comes to J… Good question! Japanese nouns do not inflect to show that they are plural, and do not take articles (a/an/the). [B] is also a noun, generally an identity of some sort, whether it be the exact identity of the entity in question (like a name) or a group it belongs in (like nationality). Here are two of the most general: 1. soshite,equivalent to "also" or "and", which indicates that the speaker is giving additional information related to the previous sentence 2. demo, equivalent to "however" or "but, which is used when the speaker is giving information that shows a contrast to the previous sentence These phrases are very easy to use… Shi (indefinite base of ‘suru’) + tai desu = Shi tai desu. “Deshita” is only used for past affirmative tense. While the above sentence pattern is used in writing, it's changed to Plain form んです (Plain form n desu) when it's used in conversation because it's easier to pronounce. Recommended background: Politeness and Formality in Japanese – so that you know what it means to use polite/formal speech.. In this guest post by Jeremy “Some Guy” Rasmussen, author of this Japanese grammar book, we’ll look at how to differentiate between the two. Adjectives are used in a way that looks deceptively similar to this pattern, but there is a subtle difference. You'll learn more about verb conjugation later on. ★ When you want to say that you want to do something (action/verb) you must add 〜たい (tai) to the stem of the masu-verb. All you need to do is replace the noun with another noun, and you can essentially say hundreds of thousands of different things… The cool part? Now, what does “desu” mean? Politeness and Formality in Japanese – so that you know what it means to use polite/formal speech. You can put “desu” after nouns to end sentences. Using 'だ' is kind of difficult because it is not so polite. You'll then learn about adjectives and compound sentences, followed by verbs and conjugation. The basic sentence structure is "someone) wa (something) ga hoshii desu." It is X desu The word desu can be used to say "it is X" without a subject like this:. 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