Declaring the State of Being

Vocabulary

学生(がくせい)がく・せいstudent

元気(げんき)げん・きna-adjhealthy, energetic

日本人(にっぽんじん)に・ほん・じんJapanese person

先生(せんせい)せん・せいteacher

友達(ともだち)とも・だちfriend

In Japanese, the most basic sentence structure involves declaring what something is. This is often done using だ or です.

The word だ acts like the English verb “to be” (is, am, are), but strictly speaking, it declares the state of existence.

Person A: Are you a student?

Person B: 学生(がくせい)だ。I am a student.

Note that Japanese often omits the subject (like “I” or “You”) when it is understood from context.

です is the polite version of だ. It is used when speaking to strangers, superiors, or in formal situations.

学生(がくせい)です。I am a student.

日本人(にっぽんじん)だ。I am Japanese.

先生(せんせい)です。I am a teacher. (polite)

友達(ともだち)だ。He/She is a friend.