JLPT N5 · Adjectives and comparing · 24 of 60

Describing with adjective + です

A は adjective です A wa adjective desu Describing something

A は adjective です describes a thing: この本はおもしろいです, this book is interesting. Japanese needs no verb "be" here, but English does.

Level: JLPT N5, beginner
Type: Adjectives and comparing
English links: be + adjective, adjectives, dummy it, -ed and -ing adjectives

What it means

This is the basic way to describe something. Put the thing first with は, then the adjective, then です. 今日は暑いです means "It is hot today". 教室は静かです means "The classroom is quiet".

Japanese has two kinds of adjective. The い-adjectives end in い, like 高い (expensive, tall) and 暑い (hot). The な-adjectives, like 静か (quiet) and 親切 (kind), take な when they come before a noun. Both work the same way at the end of a sentence: adjective + です.

Here is the part that matters for our classes. An い-adjective is a complete statement on its own. 暑い! already means "It is hot!". The です only makes it polite. So in the Japanese head, there is no slot for a verb like "is". English cannot describe anything without "be", and that small word is the one that goes missing.

How to build it

Pattern	How it works
Noun は + い-adjective + です noun wa + i-adjective + desu	この本はおもしろいです. です adds politeness, not meaning.
Noun は + な-adjective + です noun wa + na-adjective + desu	先生は親切です. No な at the end of the sentence.
い-adjective + noun i-adjective + noun	高い山 (a tall mountain). The adjective goes straight before the noun.
な-adjective + な + noun na-adjective + na + noun	静かな部屋 (a quiet room). Here the な appears.

Examples

この本はおもしろいです。 kono hon wa omoshiroi desu. This book is interesting.
今日は暑いです。 kyou wa atsui desu. It is hot today.
先生はとても親切です。 sensei wa totemo shinsetsu desu. The teacher is very kind.
教室は静かです。 kyoushitsu wa shizuka desu. The classroom is quiet.
学校の食堂は安いです。 gakkou no shokudou wa yasui desu. The school cafeteria is cheap.

How English says it

English describes things with a form of "be" plus the adjective: "The book is interesting", "The rooms are quiet". The verb must be there, and it must agree with the subject: is, am or are.

English also likes a real subject. For weather and time, it uses an empty "it": "It is hot today", not "Today is hot". Japanese simply puts the day first with は.

Why it can make English hard

An い-adjective works like a verb in Japanese, so "be" can feel extra. Many beginners drop it: "This book interesting."
The topic with は often becomes the English subject word for word. 今日は暑いです turns into "Today is hot", which is not wrong, but "It is hot today" is the usual way to say it.
One Japanese adjective can cover two English ones. つまらない is both "boring" and "bored", and 楽しい can be "fun" or "enjoyable". Students often pick the wrong one.

Mistakes you will hear

This book interesting. This book is interesting. No verb, because おもしろいです has no "be" in it. Very common in the first year.
I am boring. I am bored. つまらない covers both. "Boring" describes the thing; "bored" describes how you feel.
Today is very hot. It is very hot today. Not an error, but a sign of は turned into the subject. Teach the empty "it" for weather.

In the classroom

Hold up an object and say "The pen is ...". Students finish it with an adjective. Insist on the full sentence each time, so "is" becomes automatic.
Write 暑いです on the board and ask students which word means "is". There is none. Then show that English needs one. Once they see the gap, they notice it in their own writing.
Teach "-ed for feelings, -ing for things" with a pair of faces on the board: a bored student and a boring film.

Practice

Try each one, then open it to check.

1. Fill the gap: 部屋は静か＿です。 (The room is quiet.)

Answer: Nothing. 部屋は静かです。

な only appears when a な-adjective comes before a noun, not at the end of the sentence.
2. Translate: このかばんは高いです。

Answer: This bag is expensive.

English needs "is". 高い can mean "expensive" or "tall"; a bag is expensive.
3. A student writes "My teacher very kind." Fix it.

Answer: My teacher is very kind.

English cannot describe without "be".
4. A student writes "The lesson was bored." Fix it.

Answer: The lesson was boring.

The lesson causes the feeling, so it is "boring". The students are "bored".