If you have started learning Japanese and you finally become able to read and write hiragana and katakana, the next step is to learn the sentence structure of Japanese. You may already have found so many differences from English that you just want to close the grammar book. But wait! We’ll introduce the first 3 essential yet very simple sentence forms you need to know, so that you can take it easy and speak in full sentences from today!
Before you go on, make sure you master hiragana and kanji. In case you need any help…
- How to Learn Japanese: First 3 Steps You Should Take
- 10 Best Free Apps to Learn Japanese
- 160+ Japanese Words and Phrases for Beginners
“…Desu / Da” Sentence: “Subject + は + XXです/だ。”
Contents
Key Points
- “です (desu)” is rather formal and polite, and “だ (da)” is casual
- The subject should be a noun or a noun-formed verb (E.g., To study → 勉強すること (benkyō suru koto))
- “は” is not pronounced “ha” but “wa” when used as a particle in a sentence
- XX is usually a noun, but sometimes an adjective.
Example①:
| English | I am Japanese. |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | XXです/だ |
| Japanese | 私 | は | 日本人です/だ。 |
| Hiragana | わたし | は | にほんじんです/だ。 |
| Pronunciation | Watashi | wa | Nihonjin desu/da |
Example②:
| English | Today is Sunday. |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | XXです/だ |
| Japanese | 今日 | は | 日曜日です/だ。 |
| Hiragana | きょう | は | にちようびです/だ。 |
| Pronunciation | Kyō | wa | Nichiyōbi desu/da |
Past Sentence: “Subject + は +XXでした/だった。”
To indicate something/someone in the past, you can replace “です (desu)” with “でした (deshita)” and “だ (da)” with “だった (datta)”.
Example①:
| English | I was a student. |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | XXでした/だった |
| Japanese | 私 | は | 学生でした/だった。 |
| Hiragana | わたし | は | がくせいでした/だった。 |
| Pronunciation | Watashi | wa | Gakusei deshita/datta |
Example①:
| English | It was rainy yesterday. |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | XXでした/だった |
| Japanese | 昨日 | は | 雨でした/だった。 |
| Hiragana | きのう | は | あめでした/だった。 |
| Pronunciation | Kinō | wa | Ame deshita/datta |
Question Form: “Subject + は +XXですか？”
When asking someone a simple question, just add “か (ka)” in the end and raise the tone of your voice a bit, just like you do in English.
Example①:
| English | Are you Tanaka-san? |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | XXですか？ |
| Japanese | あなた | は | 田中さんですか？ |
| Hiragana | あなた | は | たなかさんですか？ |
| Pronunciation | Anata | wa | Tanaka san desu ka? |
Example②:
| English | Is that his car? |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | XXですか？ |
| Japanese | それ | は | 彼の車ですか？ |
| Hiragana | それ | は | かれのくるまですか？ |
| Pronunciation | Sore | wa | Kare no kuruma desu ka? |
Negative Form: “Subject + は +XXではありません。”
When denying something, you can just replace “です (desu)” with “ではありません (dewa arimasen)”. “ではない (dewa nai)” is also an expression with the same meaning, but found only in novels or formal documents, and not frequently used in daily conversations.
Example:
| English | I’m not a student. |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | XXですか？ |
| Japanese | 私 | は | 学生ではありません。 |
| Hiragana | わたし | は | がくせいではありません。 |
| Pronunciation | Watashi | wa | Gakusei dewa arimasen |
“There is/are…” Sentence: “Subject + が +います (imasu) / あります (arimasu)。”
Key Points
- For living things (people, animals, fish, etc.): Use “います (imasu)” at the end of the
- For non-living things (furniture, cars, accessories, etc.): Use “あります (arimasu)” at the end.
Example①: For Living Things
| English | There is a black dog. |
| Sentence Form | Subject | が | います |
| Japanese | 黒い犬 | が | います。 |
| Hiragana | くろいいぬ | が | います。 |
| Pronunciation | Kuroi inu | ga | imasu |
Example②: For Non-Living Things
| English | There are tall buildings. |
| Sentence Form | Subject | が | あります |
| Japanese | 高い建物 | が | あります。 |
| Hiragana | たかいたてもの | が | あります。 |
| Pronunciation | Takai tatemono | ga | Arimasu |
*In Japanese, there is basically no difference between a singular noun and a plural noun in the sentence.
Past Sentence: “Subject + が +いました/ありました。”
To make a past sentence, you can replace “す (su)” with “した (shita)” for each. If you want to mention the time/period, you can add the time word/phrase basically anywhere with the punctuation mark “、” at those times.
Example①: For Living Things
| English | There was a black dog yesterday. |
| Sentence Form | Time/Period | Subject | が | いました |
| Japanese | 昨日 | 黒い犬 | が | いました。 |
| Hiragana | きのう | くろいいぬ | が | いました。 |
| Pronunciation | Kinō | Kuroi inu | ga | imashita |
Example②: For Non-Living Things
| English | There were tall buildings 10 years ago. |
| Sentence Form | Time/Period | Subject | が | ありました |
| Japanese | 十年前/ 10年前、 | 高い建物 | が | ありました。 |
| Hiragana | じゅうねんまえ、 | たかいたてもの | が | ありました。 |
| Pronunciation | Jūnen mae | Takai tatemono | ga | Arimasu |
Question Form: “Subject + は +います/ありますか？”
When asking a simple question to someone, add “か (ka)” at the end to form “いますか (imasu ka)” and “ありますか (arimasu ka)”. Again, raise the tone of your voice a bit, just like you do in English. “が (ga)” is also replaced with “は (wa)” as well in the question form. It’s a bit complex to understand the exact rule for the particle switch, but practice as much as possible and get used to it at least for the time being.
Example①: For Living Things
| English | Is there a black dog? |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | いますか？ |
| Japanese | 黒い犬 | は | いますか？ |
| Hiragana | くろいいぬ | は | いますか？ |
| Pronunciation | Kuroi inu | wa | Imasu ka? |
Example②: For Non-Living Things
| English | Are there tall buildings? |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | ありますか？ |
| Japanese | 高い建物 | は | ありますか？ |
| Hiragana | たかいたてもの | は | ありますか？ |
| Pronunciation | Takai tatemono | wa | Arimasu ka? |
Indicate Location/Place: “(Location) + に (ni)”
To indicate a the location/place of the subject, add “(location) + に (ni)” at the beginning or middle of a sentence. You can choose the order depending on whether you want to emphasize the location/place or not.
Example①: To Highlight the location
| English | There is a black dog in the yard. |
| Sentence Form | Location | に | Subject | が | います |
| Japanese | 庭 | に | 黒い犬 | が | います。 |
| Hiragana | にわ | に | くろいいぬ | が | います。 |
| Pronunciation | Niwa | ni | Kuroi inu | ga | Imasu |
Example②: To NOT Highlight the location
| English | There is a black dog in the yard. |
| Sentence Form | Subject | が | Location | に | います |
| Japanese | 黒い犬 | が | 庭 | に | います。 |
| Hiragana | くろいいぬ | が | にわ | に | います。 |
| Pronunciation | Kuroi inu | ga | Niwa | ni | Imasu |
Adjective Sentence: “Subject + は + XXい/しい。”
Key Points
- While an adjective is often added before a noun both in English and Japanese, it can be used as a predicate to become the central part of a sentence.
- Most Japanese adjectives end with “い (i)” or “しい (shī)”, and the form doesn’t change when they are used as a predicate.
- Japanese adjectives can be classified from the meaning into 1) those that describe the attributes of someone/something, and 2) those that describe a someone’s feeling or perception, but sentence forms remain the same.
- If you want to sound more formal and polite, you can add “です (desu)” at the end of sentence.
- In casual conversations, “は (wa)” is sometimes dropped.
Example①:
| English | Mt. Fuji is beautiful. |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | XXい/しい |
| Japanese | 富士山 | は | 美しい |
| Hiragana | ふじさん | は | うつくしい |
| Pronunciation | Fujisan | wa | Utsukushī |
Example②:
| English | This miso soup is delicious. |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | XXい/しい |
| Japanese | この味噌汁 | は | 美味しい |
| Hiragana | このみそしる | は | おいしい |
| Pronunciation | Kono misoshiru | wa | Oishī |
Past Sentence: “Subject + は + XXかった/しかった。”
To make a past sentence, you can simply replace “い (i)” with “かった (katta)”.
Example①:
| English | That movie was fun interesting. |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | XXかった/しかった |
| Japanese | あの映画 | は | 面白かった |
| Hiragana | あのえいが | は | おもしろかった |
| Pronunciation | Ano eiga | wa | Omoshirokatta |
Example②:
| English | This miso soup was delicious. |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | XXかった/しかった |
| Japanese | この味噌汁 | は | 美味しかった |
| Hiragana | このみそしる | は | おいしかった |
| Pronunciation | Kono misoshiru | wa | Oishikatta |
Question Form: “Subject + は +い/しい？” “Subject + は +いですか/しいですか？”
When asking a question to someone, you can just raise the tone of your voice in the end, just like you do in English. “ですか (desuka)” is added in formal situations.
Example①:
| English | Is it hot in Kyoto? |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | XXいですか/しいですか？ |
| Japanese | 京都 | は | 暑いですか？ |
| Hiragana | きょうと | は | あついですか？ |
| Pronunciation | Kyōto | wa | Atsui desuka? |
Example②:
| English | Is that sushi good? |
| Sentence Form | Subject | は | XXい/しい |
| Japanese | そのお寿司 | は | 美味しい？ |
| Hiragana | そのおすし | は | おいしい？ |
| Pronunciation | Sono osushi | wa | Oishī? |
*”Sushi” is often called “Osushi” even in casual conversations (especially by women).
Summary
We have introduced 3 simple & essential sentence forms to take your Japanese to the next level. Practice and say as many as possible both in spoken conversations and written texts, and we promise you will get confident in using Japanese sentences soon!
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