Your First Sentences: です, は and Negation
Almost every beginner sentence in Japanese ends in です. In this chapter you'll build A-is-B sentences, mark the topic with は, and say what something is not. Master this one pattern and you can already name, describe and deny anything around you.
The world's most useful sentence
Japanese doesn't conjugate verbs for person — there's no am/is/are distinction. One polite word, です (desu), covers them all. And because subjects are usually obvious from context, Japanese drops them freely: where English needs "It is a cat", Japanese is happy with just 「猫です」 — literally "cat-is".
That means your very first grammar pattern already produces hundreds of real sentences using the nouns you know from the game.
Listen: no, it is not
Magicat and Honey practise です and its negative in a real exchange at the townhall. Tap ► to hear each line.
Magicatすみません、あそこは市役所ですか？
sumimasen, asoko wa shiyakusho desu ka?
Excuse me, is that the town hall?
Honeyいいえ、違います
īe, chigaimasu
No, it is not
Honeyあれはアメリカの大使館です
are wa amerika no daishikan desu
That is the USA embassy
Honey市役所はパン屋の隣です
shiyakusho wa panya no tonari desu
The town hall is next to the bakery
AはBです — saying what something is
は marks the topic — the thing you're talking about. Note the reading: as a particle, は is pronounced wa, not ha. です then politely equates the topic with B. There are no words for "a" or "the" in Japanese, and the order is always topic first.
私は学生です。
watashi wa gakusei desu.
I am a student.
これはパンです。
kore wa pan desu.
This is bread.
Tap any word in this all-kana sentence to look it up in the dictionary.
田中さんは先生です。
tanaka-san wa sensei desu.
Mr/Ms Tanaka is a teacher.
さん after a name is a polite title that works for everyone — but never use it for yourself.
じゃありません — saying what something is not
To negate です, replace it with じゃありません (ja arimasen). In formal writing you'll also meet では ありません (de wa arimasen) — same meaning, stiffer register. Both are JLPT N5 essentials.
猫じゃありません。犬です。
neko ja arimasen. inu desu.
It's not a cat. It's a dog.
私は先生じゃありません。
watashi wa sensei ja arimasen.
I am not a teacher.
Past tense: でした and じゃありませんでした
です also has a simple past: でした (deshita, "was") and the negative past じゃありませんでした ("was not"). That's the complete polite conjugation of です — all four forms fit in one small table:
| Non-past | Past | |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | です | でした |
| Negative | じゃありません | じゃありませんでした |
昨日は雨でした。
kinō wa ame deshita.
Yesterday it was rainy (lit. yesterday was rain).
は or が? A first look
You'll soon meet a second particle, が (ga), that also seems to mark "the subject". The full difference fills linguistics books, but the N5 rule of thumb is simple:
- は sets the topic — old, known information. "As for X… "
- が points at new or emphasised information. "It is X (and not something else) that…"
For now, default to は in statements about yourself and things you both know about. The guide flags が-only patterns (like できる in chapter 17) when they appear.
More practice in the game
These free browser lessons drill exactly these patterns, with native Japanese audio for every line.
Chapter vocabulary
Ten nouns from the game to drop straight into your AはBです sentences.
Tap ► to hear the native audio from the game, or tap a word to open its dictionary entry.
How polite is です?
です belongs to the polite register (teineigo) — the safe default with strangers, shopkeepers, teachers and colleagues. Friends and family drop it and use だ or nothing at all (「猫だ」 or just 「猫」). Everything in this guide and in the JLPT N5 exam sticks to the polite forms, and Japanese people will never think you're being too polite — so when in doubt, です.
Test yourself
Six quick questions on です, は and negation.
6 quick questions on this chapter.
Your score
Common questions
Quick answers about this chapter's grammar.
Why is は pronounced wa instead of ha?
It's a fossil of pre-modern Japanese spelling. When spelling was reformed after 1946, the particles は, へ and を kept their old written forms even though their pronunciations had shifted to wa, e and o. Only the particle keeps the irregular reading — は inside a normal word is still ha.
What's the difference between じゃありません and ではありません?
They mean exactly the same thing: "is not". では (de wa) is the original, more formal form; じゃ (ja) is its everyday contraction. Both appear on the JLPT N5. In speech, じゃありません — or the still-more-casual じゃないです — is what you'll hear most.
Do I always need to say わたしは?
No — and natural Japanese usually doesn't. If it's obvious you're talking about yourself, drop the topic entirely: 学生です ("I'm a student") is a complete, natural sentence. Add わたしは only for contrast or clarity.
Want more practice? Browse all free Japanese lessons or look words up in the Japanese dictionary.