| だ です で御座る で御座います | でござる でございます | =, is, are A = B A is/are B (Japanese Copula) | da desu de gozaru de gozaimasu |
だ (da): plain form used in informal speech
です (desu): polite form used in formal speech
でございます (de gozaimasu): honorific form used in respectful/humble speech
The Japanese Copula works like a “coupler” and couples two things together.
More precisely it couples a noun (the subject) to another noun or na-adjective.
It’s best if you see it as an equal sign and understand that it means “A = B“.
| ナルトはアニメだ。 なると は あにめ だ。 Naruto ha (wa) anime da. |
| Naruto is an anime. Naruto = Anime |
| カカシは先生です。 かかし は せんせい です。 Kakashi ha (wa) sensei desu. |
| Kakashi is a teacher. Kakashi = teacher |
だ – Plain Copula
| だ | =, is, are A = B A is/are B (plain copula) | da |
- (noun)だ
- (na-adjective)だ
| だ da | ではない de ha (wa) nai じゃない ja nai | だった datta | じゃなかった ja nakatta |
| A = B is/are | A ≠ B is/are not | A = B was/were | A ≠ B was/were not |
The plain copula needs to be added after nouns and na-adjectives to make a full grammatically correct sentence. However, in spoken and informal Japanese it is commonly dropped and only added for emphasis.
The negative forms are ではない and the more causal じゃない。
です – Polite Copula
| です | =, is, are A = B A is/are B (polite copula) | desu |
Using です adds politeness and makes the sentence more formal
- (noun)です
- (na-adjective)です
- (i-adjective)です
でございます – Honorific Copula
| で御座います で御座る | でございます でござる | =, is, are A = B A is/are B (honorific copula) | de gozaimasu de gozaru |
