| This is a very common construction in Japanese. Most of the
time は (wa) denotes the subject of the sentence.
When used as a subject particle, だ (da) describes aspect "B"
of subject "A".
| |
私はアメリカ人です。 (Watashi wa Amerika-jin desu.)
I'm an American.
私はジョンだ。 (Watashi wa Jon da.)
I'm John.
彼は20歳です。 (Kare wa hatachi desu.)
He's 20 years old. |
| |
Sometimes, however, it should be translated completely separate
from the rest of the sentence. For instance: 田中さんはお茶です。 (Tanaka-san
wa o-cha desu.) can be translated as "Mr. Tanaka is tea."
or "Where it's Mr. Tanaka concerned, it is tea."
Without context this sentence doesn't make much sense, but this
sentence could be a response to any of these questions:
| |
What would Mr. Tanaka like to drink?
田中さんは何を飲みますか。 (Tanaka-san wa nani wo nomimasu ka.)
Mr. Tanaka will have tea.
田中さんはお茶です。 (Tanaka-san wa o-cha desu.)
What does Mr. Tanaka prefer? Milk or tea?
田中さんは何がいいですか。牛乳ですか。お茶ですか。
(Tanaka-san ha nani ga ii desu ka. Gyuunyuu desu ka. O-cha
desu ka.)
Mr. Tanaka prefers tea.
田中さんはお茶です。 (Tanaka-san wa o-cha desu.)
What does Mr. Tanaka hate most?
田中さんは何が一番嫌いですか。 (Tanaka-san wa nani ga ichiban kirai desu
ka.)
Mr. Tanaka hates tea the most.
田中さんはお茶です。 (Tanaka-san wa o-cha desu.) |
| |
Variations are also possible:
| |
Who ordered the tea?
お茶は誰ですか。 (O-cha wa dare desu ka.)
Mr. Tanaka ordered the tea.
お茶は田中さんです。 (O-cha wa Tanaka-san desu.)
When's the best time to visit Japan?
日本はいつ行けばいいですか。 (Nihon wa itsu ikeba ii desu ka.)
For Japan the best time is spring.
日本は春だ。 (Nihon wa haru da.) |
| |
This extremely versatile construction can also be used in combination
with the past tense and negatives.
Related pages:
A wa B ga C
da.
To be or not
to be
The particle が (ga)
The particle は (wa) |
