The Meaning of desu (です) and da (だ) at the End of Sentence

Hey everyone, welcome to http://japaneselearningonline.blogspot.com, thanks for visiting our weblog, with me riizhu, we are going to learn about the meaning of desu and da word that is used at the end of the sentence. desu and da also included on frequently used words in Japanese language and these two words don't have English translation, hmm, I think desu and da are like the copula in English but not completely the same with "to be" in English. You will understand once you read the uses of them.

The Use of Desu (です)

Desu (です) is used to make your sentence to be formal. Often used by men and women, and can attached after a noun and any adjective (regardless it's na-adjective or i-adjective) in the end of your sentence. Example:

私はインドネシア人です
watashi wa indoneshiajin desu
I am an Indonesian
田中さんはすごいですね
Tanaka-san wa sugoi desu ne
Tanaka-san is amazing, isn't she?
田中さんは綺麗な女です
Tanaka-san wa kirei na onna desu
Tanaka-san is a beautiful girl
今日は寒いです
kyou wa samui desu
It is cold, today (literally: today is cold)

But, how to make your sentence to be formal if the ending of your sentence is a verb?, easy, just conjugate the verb into masu form and your sentence become formal and you don't need to attach desu. We learned about masu form conjugation yesterday, if you want to learn it just visit link below.

• Read also: Learn How To Make Masu Form Conjugation

gakkou ni iku (informal)
gakkou ni ikimasu (formal)
watashi wa amerikajin (informal)
watashi wa amerikajin desu (formal)

The Use of Da (だ)

Da (だ) is used to affirm and empashize your sentence. Only often used by men, not women, and can only attached after a noun and na-adjective in the end of your sentence and cannot attached after i-adjective. Example:

あの女が綺麗だ
ano onna ga kirei da
that girl is beautiful
この動物は猫だよ
kono doubutsu wa neko da yo
this animal is a cat, you know
好きな人はあなただ
suki na hito wa anata da
the person I like is you
そうだ
sou da
that right
田中さんは綺麗な人だね
Tanaka-san wa kirei na hito da ne
Tanaka-san is a beautiful girl, isn't she?
今日は寒いだ (wrong)
kyou wa samui da (wrong)
It's cold today (litterally: today is cold)

Ok, the time to wrap up the lesson, (^m^) yeah, now we know the meaning of desu and da^^ and notice that da is not informal version of desu, the informal version of desu does not use anything at all, for instance "nihonji desu" (formal), "nihonjin" (informal). All right we're done with today's lesson, then I will be right back, see you in the next lesson learners, Cheerio!^^.

Posted by Riizhu

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