JLPT N5 (です)

Usage:

To be (Copula)

Forms:

〜です

〜じゃないです

〜でした

Explanation

です is the grammatical bit in Japanese called the copula, it is pronounced as “dess” due to devoicing of the “u” inす. A Copula is a word that connects the subject and predicate of a sentence. What are the subject and predicate, you’re surely asking to yourself? Well, the subject of the sentence is the person, place or thing that is doing or being something and the predicate is the part of the sentence that contains the verb and describes something about the subject. Subject > Predicate.

For example, “Steve is depressed.” We’re not sure why Steve is depressed, but for this example he must be! Anyways, “Steve” is the subject of this sentence, he’s what the sentence is about and what all the other bits of the sentence are acting on. “…Is depressed” is the copula of the sentence, where all the magic is happening. This example follows the same patterns that ですdoes when you switch it over to Japanese. スティーブさんは暗いですThe first half of the sentenceスティーブさんはLiterally translates to “Steve…” and the second half, 暗いですis getting across that whatever the adjective 暗い is attached to is sad. です is just acting as that market that connects these two sentence pieces. It’s literally the glue.

Whenever you seeですin a sentence you can be sure that it’s stating that something is something. It’s the positive form of the copula and is its polite form (you don’t need the plain speech form for JLPT N5).

The negative form of です is じゃないです. You would use this whenever you want to say that something isn’t something else. “That’s not my dog” or “I’m not tall”. This change in forms doesn’t change anything about how you use the word—it’s still at the end of the sentence minding its own business—it just changes what it means.

Finally, there’s the past tense form (Japanese doesn’t have a future tense such as “will be” in English). The past tense form ofですis でした. It’s pronounced as “de-shh-tah” with the “I” sound inしbeing almost completely devoiced. You would use でした whenever you need to say that something was something asでした works on stuff in the past. “I opened the store” or “Did you shower this morning?” are good examples of past tense in action.   

Examples

Kanji	Hiragana	English
学生です。	がくせいです。	I’m a student.
ケイトさんは可愛いです。	ケイトさんはかわいいです。	Kate is cute.
あの池は汚いです。	あのいけはきたないです。	That pond is dirty.
Another ですexample	Anotherです example	Another ですexample
あの私の犬じゃないです。	あのわたしのいぬじゃないです。	That’s not my dog.
私は高いじゃないです。	わたしはたかいじゃないです。	I’m not tall.
Another じゃないです Example	Another じゃないです Example	Another じゃないです Example
Another じゃないです Example	Another じゃないです Example	Another じゃないです Example