How to Say ‘To be (polite) / am, is, are’ in Japanese
です
desu
[dess]
💬 Usage Tip: Polite sentence ender. Attach to nouns/na-adjectives: [ゆきです]. In casual speech you may hear it dropped.
🇯🇵 In Japan: Using [です] keeps things friendly-but-polite—handy when meeting someone new at a club and you’re not sure how casual to be yet.
Phrase Breakdown
です
desu
[dess]
is; am; are (polite copula)
です is a polite way to state something (A is B). Common in introductions and polite conversation in a club setting.
私はゆきです。音楽が好きです。
I’m Yuki. I like music.
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