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!
