Gramática del JLPT N5 だ・です (da / desu)

Aprende gramática del idioma Japonés: だ (da) & です (desu). Significado: to be (am, is, are, were, used to).

Let’s look at some of the different ways this grammar can be used.

Present affirmative form – だ・です

Example A)　です

This literally translates to «I Chris am». Remember that Japanese uses SOV (subject-object-verb), rather than SVO like English. This may be strange at first, but it will become natural after some practice.

Example B)　だ

だ (da) and です (desu) have the exact same meaning, but です (desu) is more polite, so when in doubt it’s best to always use です (desu).

Example C) to be: am, is, are

だ (da) and です (desu) can mean am, is and are. There is no distinction like in English, so it works for everything. This is one of the easier points of Japanese grammar.

Example D) They are

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だった・でした (datta / deshita) – used to be (past)

When you want to say something «used to be» (was, were, used to, etc), you’ll want to use this conjugation. Once again, there is a casual form だった (datta), and the more polite でした (deshita).

Example E) Was

Example F) Used to

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Extra Study Notes

• To say the opposite, «to not be» (is/are not) instead, you can use じゃない・ではない (janai / dewa nai), or any of the negative conjugations listed in the «how to use» chart.

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