In Japanese, there is no direct parallel to the English verb “to be.” To form “to be” sentences in Japanese, like “this is the library,” we instead just add a range of different endings to the predicate (whatever word that describes the subject).
In Japanese class, you’ll generally hear the structures above called the state-of-being. In this post, we’ll take you through how to use the state-of-being in both the polite and plain (casual) forms. We’ll also talk a little bit about how to ask questions with “to be” at each level of formality. Let’s have a look!
Japanese state-of-being: The quick version
The table below outlines the main endings we add to Japanese nouns used to express a state-of-being. Notice that the ending you use will depend on the tense (non-past vs. past), the politeness (polite vs. plain), and whether the sentence is positive (“is”) or negaive (“is not”).
| Form | Polite | Plain / Casual | |
|---|---|---|---|
Non-past (present or future) | Affirmative | 〜です transcribed desu | no ending or 〜だ transcribed da |
Negative | 〜じゃないです transcribed ja nai desu …and several other variations! | 〜じゃない transcribed ja nai | |
Past | Affirmative | 〜でした transcribed deshita | 〜だった transcribed datta |
Negative | 〜じゃなかったです transcribed ja nakatta desu …and several other variations! | 〜じゃなかった transcribed ja nakatta | |
This is just the quick version, though! To see examples, find out about additional endings, and learn about how to ask questions, you’ll want to check out the sections below!
How to express the state-of-being in the polite form?
In the polite form, you’ll use 〜です transcribed desu to express “being” in the present or future and 〜でした transcribed deshita in the past tense.
| Polite Affirmative Ending | English |
|---|---|
〜です transcribed desu | am, are, is |
will be | |
〜でした transcribed deshita | was, were |
Let’s look at some examples!
So far, pretty simple! But things get a bit more complicated when we look at negative sentences!
Polite form: Negative state-of-being
In the polite form, there are a few different ways to express a negative state-of-being in each tense. As you can see じゃ transcribed ja is just a contraction of では transcribed de wa, so there are really only two basic variations in each tense.
| Tense | Polite | |
|---|---|---|
Non-past am not | 〜ではないです Transcription: de wa nai desu | 〜じゃないです Transcription: ja nai desu |
〜ではありません Transcription: de wa arimasen | 〜じゃありません Transcription: ja arimasen | |
Past was not | 〜ではなかったです Transcription: de wa nakatta desu | 〜じゃありませんでした Transcription: ja arimasendeshita |
〜ではありませんでした Transcription: de wa arimasendeshita | 〜じゃありませんでした Transcription: ja arimasendeshita | |
How do you choose between the forms? It’s a matter of formality.
The first distinction comes from whether or not you are using a contraction, since contractions are less formal. Therefore, while the forms on the right are still polite, they are a bit less formal.
You might use these forms when chatting with your boss during a lunch break, or when talking with a stranger on the street.
You’d use the forms on the left in a public speech or in a business email.
There is also a difference in the formality of the base forms. The second base form in each tense is a bit more formal.
So, in each tense, the most formal will be the form in the lower left, while the least formal will be the form in the upper right!
Let’s look at some examples! See how the level of formality impacts the choice of negative ending?
A conversation between classmates, who are yet to establish friendship:
predicatenegative state-of-being endingあ、それ、私のじゃないです。Transcription: A, sore, watashi no ja nai desu.Translation: Oh, that’s not mine.昨日の宿題は、このページじゃなかったです。Transcription: Kinō no shukudai wa kono pēji ja nakatta desu.Translation: Yesterday's homework was not on this page.A sentence in an essay or a self-introduction in public:
predicatenegative state-of-being ending私はもう、中学生ではありません。高校生です。Transcription: Watashi wa mō, chūgakusei de wa arimasen. Kōkōsei desu.Translation: I am not a junior high school student anymore. I am a high school student.大学の専攻は日本語ではありませんでした。Transcription: Daigaku no senkō wa nihongo de wa arimasen deshita.Translation: (My) major at college wasn’t Japanese.
Polite form: Questions
To turn a polite state-of-being sentence into a question, you can simply add the sentence-final particle か transcribed ka.
How to express state-of-being in the plain form?
In the plain form, you’ll use the ending 〜だった transcribed datta to express “being” in the past tense. In the non-past tense, though there are two options: you’ll sometimes use no ending, and other times use the ending 〜だ transcribed da.
| Plain Affirmative Ending | English |
|---|---|
no ending or 〜だ transcribed da | am, are, is |
will be | |
〜だった transcribed datta | was, were |
For example:
Let’s have a look at when you should include and not include 〜だ transcribed da.
When to use or omit だ [da] in the state-of-being?
In the plain form of the present tense state-of-being, you usually won’t use 〜だ transcribed da unless you really want to sound emphatic. This is especially true if you’re talking to another person.
For example, you might have seen or heard some characters in anime and manga use 〜だ transcribed da when talking to others. But in real life, 〜だ transcribed da generally omitted in this context: including it sounds theatrical or dramatic.
| Question | Anime/Manga Response | Real-world Response |
|---|---|---|
名前は？ Transcription: Namae wa? Translation: What’s your name? | ジンだ。 Transcription: Jin da. Translation: I’m Jin. | ジン。 Transcription: Jin. Translation: I’m Jin. |
However, there are some grammatical contexts in which 〜だ transcribed da should be included, for example:
Before the sentence-ending particles よ transcribed yo and ね transcribed ne:
Speaker A:田中さんって、何年生？Transcription: Tanaka san tte, nannsensei?Translation: What grade is Tanaka in?Speaker B:４年生だよ。Transcription: Yonensei da yo.Translation: He is in grade 4.Speaker A:後藤先生は本当にいいお医者さんだね。Transcription: Gotō sensei wa hontō ni ii oishasan da ne.Translation: Dr. Gotō is really a good doctor, isn’t she?Speaker B:そうだね。Transcription: Sō da ne.Translation: Indeed.While some Japanese speakers may leave out 〜だ transcribed da before よ transcribed yo and ね transcribed ne, doing so has becoming quite outdated. You’ll mainly hear older female speakers drop 〜だ transcribed da in this context.
When using a structure like 〜といいです transcribed to ii desu to express how you hope something will be:
✅ 明日はいい天気だといいです。Transcription: Ashita wa ii tenki da to ii desu.Translation: I hope the weather will be nice tomorrow.
Plain form: Negative state-of-being
Luckily the negative state-of-being forms are much simpler in the plain form than in the polite form! Just use 〜じゃない transcribed ja nai in the non-past tense, and 〜じゃなかった transcribed ja nakatta in the past tense.
| Plain Negative Ending | English |
|---|---|
〜じゃない transcribed ja nai | am not, aren’t, isn’t |
won’t be | |
〜じゃなかった transcribed ja nakatta | wasn’t, weren’t |
Here are some examples:
Plain form: Questions
When you turn a polite state-of-being sentence into a question, you should NOT add the sentence-final particle か transcribed ka. Instead, just use a rising intonation on the last hiragana. Compare:
| Polite Form → use か transcribed ka | Plain Form → use intonation |
|---|---|
この犬はチワワですか。 Transcription: Kono inu wa chiwawa desu ka. Translation: Is this dog a Chihuahua? | この犬はチワワ？ Transcription: Kono inu wa chiwawa? Translation: Is this dog a Chihuahua? |
In the plain form, you cannot include か transcribed ka.
To sum up
In this article, we talked about the Japanese state-of-being: how to form “to be” sentences with a noun predicate. Keep in mind this chart of endings from the top of the post!
| Form | Polite | Plain / Casual | |
|---|---|---|---|
Non-past (present or future) | Affirmative | 〜です transcribed desu | no ending or 〜だ transcribed da |
Negative | 〜じゃないです transcribed ja nai desu …and several other variations! | 〜じゃない transcribed ja nai | |
Past | Affirmative | 〜でした transcribed deshita | 〜だった transcribed datta |
Negative | 〜じゃなかったです transcribed ja nakatta desu …and several other variations! | 〜じゃなかった transcribed ja nakatta | |
Also, remember these additional points:
The state-of-being endings discussed above are used when the predicate is a noun. Adjectives follow slightly different rules.
There are several ways to form the polite negative state-of-being. All are acceptable in all grammatical contexts, but some are more formal than others.
When asking a question, add the particle か transcribed ka in the polite form, but use intonation in the plain form.
Now it’s time to have a look at our Japanese state-of-being exercises to test your skills! Or, if you’d rather keep learning, find out how to form “to be” sentences with adjectives from our introduction to Japanese adjectives!
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