Expressing state of-being
- 2. Declaring something is so and so using 「だ」
- 3. One of the trickiest part of Japanese is that there is no verb for the state-of-being like the verb "to be" in English. You can, however, declare what something is by attaching the Hiragana character 「だ」 to a noun or na-adjective only. (We will learn about na-adjectives in the section on adjectives later.) Note: Desu 「 です 」 is the polite form of da 「だ」. So if you’re talking to a friend or being casual, you can simply use da 「だ」.
- 4. Attach 「だ」 to the noun or na-adjective. Declaring that something is so using 「だ」 Example: 人＋だ＝人だ 人 = Hito = Person Hito da. = Is person.
- 5. Other examples: 学生 + だ = 学生だ。 学生 = Gakusei = Student Is student. 元気 + だ =元気だ。 元気= Genki = Well Is well. This is a na-adjective
- 6. A state-of-being can be implied without using 「だ」! You can say you're doing well or someone is a student without using 「だ」 at all. For example, below is an example of a very typical greeting among friends. Also notice how the subject isn't even specified when it's obvious from the context. 元気？ 元気。 Genki? (Are you) well? Genki. (I’m) well.
- 7. So you may be wondering.. "What's the point of using 「だ」?" Well, the main difference is that a declarative statement makes the sentence sound more emphatic and forceful in order to make it more... well declarative. Therefore, it is more common to hear men use 「だ」 at the end of sentences. The declarative 「だ」 is also needed in various grammatical structures where a state-of-being must be explicitly declared. There are also times when you cannot attach it. It's all quite a pain in the butt really but you don't have to worry about it yet. Da da da da!
- 8. Conjugating to the negative state- of-being