Conjugation #1: The Copula
What is the copula?
In linguistic terms, the copula is a word that is used to link the subject of a sentence with a
predicate. In the case of English, the copula is the verb "to be" and its different forms (I am,
you are, he is, etc.). In Japanese, the copula takes on three different forms to correspond
with three different politeness levels of speaking:
Politeness
Japanese
Romaji
Level
Informal
da
だ
Formal
desu
です
Extra Formal でございます de gozaimasu
● Desu is the most well known of the Japanese copula. We use it after nouns and
adjectives, where it is the equivalent of "to be" in English. In many cases, desu serves no
grammatical purpose but we use it only to make the statement more polite.
● Da is a copula that is fairly formal when used in written Japanese, but informal when
used in spoken Japanese.
● De gozaimasu is the honorific form of the copula used in extra formal situations.
Informal
Affirmative
Negative
Non-past
da
"is"
ja nai (dewa nai) "isn't"
Past
datta
janakatta (dewa
nakatta)
"was"
"wasn't"
Formal
Non-past
Affirmative desu
Negative ja arimasen
(dewa arimasen)
"is"
"isn't"
janai desu
(dewa nai desu)
Past
deshita
ja arimasen deshita
(dewa arimasen
deshita)
"was"
"wasn't"
janakatta desu
(dewa nakatta desu)
Extra Formal
Non-past
Affirmative de gozaimasu
Negative dewa gozaimasen
"is"
"isn't"
Past
de gozaimashita
dewa gozaimasen
deshita
"was"
"wasn't"
Note: "ja" is the contracted version of "dewa" in spoken Japanese, but whe using extra
formal language, it would be better not to use "ja."
Compare the following sentences.
Non-past Affirmative
■ This is a pen.
informal
Kore wa pen da.
formal
Kore wa pen desu.
extra formal
Kore wa pen de gozaimasu.
Non-past Negative
■ This isn't a pen.
informal
Kore wa pen janai.
formal
Kore wa pen janai desu.
extra formal
Kore wa pen dewa gozaimasen.
Past Affirmative
■ This was a pen.
informal
Kore wa pen datta.
formal
Kore wa pen deshita.
extra formal
Kore wa pen de gozaimashita.
Past Negative
■ This wasn't a pen.
informal
Kore wa pen janakatta.
formal
Kore wa pen janakatta desu.
extra formal
Kore wa pen dewa gozaimasen
deshita.