NihonGo|Japanese
Unit 1 · Phase A

・・・です

Your first sentence: “A is B.”

です is the simplest sentence in Japanese — it just means “is / am / are”. The little right after the topic means “as for …” — it points at what the sentence is about. Add です to say what something is, or swap in じゃありません to make it negative. To turn any statement into a question, just add at the very end — no word order change, no “do/does”. です → ですか = “is it …?”.

わたしは ねこです。

“I am a cat.” — that easy.

Step 1

3つの かたち

The three shapes

Same sentence, three endings: です (is), じゃありません (is not), ですか (is …?). Tap any example to hear it.

〜は 〜です。
Aだれ・なに
+
+
Bなに
+
です

“A is B.” — state what something is.

〜は 〜じゃありません。
Aだれ・なに
+
+
Bなに
+
じゃありません

“A is not B.” — the negative.

〜は 〜ですか。
Aだれ・なに
+
+
Bなに
+
ですか

“Is A B?” — add か to ask a question.

Step 2

クイズ

Copula quiz

Read the English meaning, then pick the right ending.

Question 1 / 6 · 0 correct

fill the blankこれは ペン◯◯This is not a pen.
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