Master Japanese Grammar: です

です is one of the most fundamental words in Japanese. It’s similar to “to be” in English (am/is/are) and is used to:

1. Connect nouns Example: これは本です。(Kore wa hon desu) – This is a book.
2. Make sentences polite Example: 私は学生です。(Watashi wa gakusei desu) – I am a student.

The negative form of です is じゃありません (ja arimasen) or ではありません (dewa arimasen):

Example:

• Positive: これは猫です。(Kore wa neko desu) – This is a cat.
• Negative: これは猫じゃありません。(Kore wa neko ja arimasen) – This is not a cat.

Some key points to remember:

• です always comes at the end of the sentence
• です is considered polite/formal speech
• じゃありません is slightly more casual than ではありません, but both are polite
• In very casual speech, じゃない (ja nai) can be used instead, but this should be avoided when speaking formally