Ways to say it
| Japanese | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| です | desu | [de̞sɨ̥] (narrow) |
| である | dearu | [de̞ a̠ɾɯ̟] (narrow) |
| だ | da | [da̠] (narrow) |
These forms are used to declare that a subject and an object are identical or equivalent.
Which one should you use?
While です and だ both function as 'to be', です is used to show politeness to the listener, whereas だ is used with friends or subordinates.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The choice of form depends on the level of politeness required. です is used in polite, standard speech. For even higher levels of formal politeness, one might use でございます in the present tense or でした and でございました for the past tense. In contrast, だ is the plain, informal form used in casual speech. For formal writing, such as news reports or essays, the form である is used.
How does it change in a sentence?
The forms vary by tense and politeness. In the present tense, you can use the polite です, the informal だ or the literary である. For the past tense, polite forms include でした and でございました, while the informal past form is datta.
How do you pronounce it?
desu
Did you know?
- In spoken Japanese, です is often omitted entirely in casual conversation to imply a state of being.
- Using だ in a sentence can sometimes sound overly aggressive or blunt depending on the tone, even among friends.
- Because です can be derived from several different sources like であります or でそうろう, its exact historical 'parent' is still a subject of scholarly debate.
Examples in context
- 大丈夫だよ。You'll be OK.This example uses だ to show a state of being okay.Tatoeba #1282984 by bunbuku, translation #320150 by CK
- 大丈夫です。I'll be fine.This example uses です to express being fine.Tatoeba #2304911 by bunbuku, translation #1890867 by CK
- 朝飯前だよ。It's as easy as can be.This example uses だ to describe something being easy.Tatoeba #12593089 by small_snow, translation #10762615 by ddnktr
- 私は先生です。I am a teacher.
- あの方は社長でございます。That person is the president.
- 私は先生でした。I was a teacher.
- あの方は社長でございました。That person was the president.
- 2001 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Ren and Yui are introducing themselves at school.
- 蓮 Ren僕は蓮です。Boku wa Ren desu.I am Ren.
- 結衣 Yui私は結衣です。よろしくお願いします。Watashi wa Yui desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.I am Yui. Nice to meet you.
- 蓮 Ren結衣さんは、どこから来ましたか？Yui-san wa, doko kara kimashita ka?Where are you from, Yui?
- 結衣 Yui北海道出身です。Hokkaido shusshin desu.I am from Hokkaido.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “be” translations and entries です, である, だ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries だ, である, です, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
