It is this: X は Y です
The first whole sentence: X は Y です. です closes it and stands for “to be”, its negative is じゃありません and its past でした. With か at the end any sentence becomes a question and the order does not change. Three distances for pointing —これ with me, それ with you, あれ far away— and their partner against a noun: この, その, あの. Plus the の that joins two nouns, owner first.
Where this sits
- Comes after
- Hiragana
Exercises from this rung
Generated by the app, from easiest to hardest
___は本です。（自分の手の中）
- これ
- どれ
- それ
- あれ
Why Three distances, not two: これ what is with me, それ what is with you, あれ what is far from both. どれ is the question, “which one”.
easier___は何ですか。（遠くの山）
- それ
- これ
- この
- あれ
Why あれ points at what is far from both speaker and listener. And 何ですか is the question you will use most while travelling: “what is it?”.
in between（自己紹介）私は山田___。
- 先生です
- さんです
- 様です
- です
Why さん is never used with your own name: it is a title you give, not one you take. Saying 山田さんです about yourself sounds like a joke. With someone else's name, on the other hand, it is almost never dropped.
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