Desu

edited October 2015 in Japanese
What exactly is desu for? Why is it in a sentence like onamae wa nan desu ka.

Comments

  • edited October 2015
    "Desu" means "to be" in English. Of course it can be translated as "am", "is", or "are" depending on the subject.

    "Desu" in "Onamae wa nan desu ka" corresponds to "is" in "What is your name?" in English.
  • Can you show me some examples and each one being different so I can see how it could be am, is, or are?
  • Of course!

    Watashi wa sensee "desu".
    I "am" a teacher.

    John to Mary wa gakusee "desu".
    John and Mary "are" students.

    Kore wa pen "desu".
    This "is" a pen.

    In English, you have to conjugate the verb "be" depending on the type of subject; i.e. 'I", "you", "she", "he", "it", "they". In Japanese, however, you don't have to do that. You can use "desu" for every subject. That's pretty simple, right?


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