desu (is/am/are)

For now on, before I introduce new grammar I will first teach you new vocabulary. Grammar doesn't do you any good without vocabulary.

New Vocab:

inu = dog

ki = tree

watashi = Me/I

Remember the pronunciation guide in an earlier post!!

Pretend you are at a restaurant and the waiter brings the food and asks "Who ordered the sushi?" If you were the one who ordered the sushi you would want to answer with "It is me" or something to that effect. In Japanese you would reply by saying "Watashi desu."This small phrase introduces a very important word of the Japanese language. Desu translates as "is, am, are." It shows existence so could also mean "to be." One important thing to remember is that the "u" at the end of the sentence is normally silent so it sounds like "dess". Women will often pronounce the "u" however. Lets go through some examples with the new vocabulary introduced above.

"Inu desu." = "(It is) A dog."

"Ki desu." = "(It is) A tree."

"Watashi desu" = "(It is) Me."

Now look around the room for objects and say them with the word "desu" following it.

"Clock desu."

"Chair desu"

etc...

Don't worry about knowing all the objects names in Japanese. Just say what you know for now substituting the English words for the words you do not know in Japanese. This will give you a lot of practice! Try it on a walk too!