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How to Say ‘Is / are’ in Japanese

です

desu

[dess]

💬 Usage Tip: [です] politely finishes a statement. In shop language, it makes the sentence sound smooth and courteous.

🇯🇵 In Japan: Japanese customer service speech often sounds very polite, so you will hear [です] again and again at counters.

Phrase Breakdown

です

desu

[dess]

is; am; are

A polite sentence ending meaning 'is/are/am.' It is very common in customer service speech.

Example

お会計は六百円ですと言われました。

I was told, "The total is 600 yen."

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