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Chapter 6

What’s This? It’s a Cat: Using Da (“To Be”)

Da is a plain form of desu (“to be”) and is equivalent to the English linking verb “to be” such as is, are, and am. It comes in handy. You’ll see how.

A Few Things to Know about Nouns

1. Nouns or pronouns can be used as the predicate of a sentence with da, as shown here:

Neko da.	It’s a cat.	Tōkyō da.	It’s Tokyo.
Ginkō da.	It’s a bank.	Okurimono da.	It’s a gift.
Sumisu-san da.	It’s Mr. Smith.

2. Japanese nouns, unlike English nouns, do not usually change to be singular or plural. Also, there are no articles used as in English—no “a” or “the”—but the situation usually makes clear which meaning is intended. So in Japanese, the word neko can be translated in a few different ways:

neko → a cat or cats / the cat or the cats

3. Nouns become the topic or subject of a sentence when followed by the particle wa, ga, or mo.

Sumisu-san wa gakusei da.	Mr. Smith is a student.
Ginkō ga aru.	There is a bank.
Tōkyō mo tokai da.	Tokyo is also a city.

“Is It a Gift?”: Asking Questions with Nouns

To make a question out of a present-tense, affirmative sentences like those given above, leave out the final da and just say the single word with a rising intonation.

Neko?	Is it a cat?
Ginkō?	Is it a bank?
Sumisu-san?	Is it Mr. Smith?
Tōkyō?	Is it Tokyo?
Okurimono?	Is it a gift?

ANSWERING THEM

In response to the above questions, let’s answer using Un and Uun which mean “Yes” and “No” respectively.

1. Affirmative answers: → Un, ___.

Un, neko.	Yes, it’s a cat.
Un, ginkō.	Yes, it’s a bank.
Un, Sumisu-san.	Yes, it’s Mr. Smith.
Un, Tōkyō.	Yes, it’s Tokyo.
Un, okurimono.	Yes, it’s a gift.

2. Negative answers: → Uun, ___ ja (dewa) nai.

To make a negative answer, add the negative form ja nai or dewa nai at the end of the sentence. Either one can be used; dewa nai is a little bit more polite, but they mean the same thing.

Uun, neko ja nai or Uun, neko dewa nai.	No, it isn’t a cat.
Uun, ginkō ja nai or Uun, ginkō dewa nai.	No, it isn’t a bank.
Uun, Sumisu-san ja nai or Uun, Sumisu-san dewa nai.	No, it isn’t Mr. Smith.
Uun, Tōkyō ja nai or Uun, Tōkyō dewa nai.	No, it isn’t Tokyo.
Uun, okurimono ja nai or Uun, okurimono dewa nai.	No, it isn’t a gift.

Now, Let’s Try the Past Tense!

Past tense of da → ___ datta.

Try replacing the present form da with datta, which is the past form of da.

Neko datta.	It was a cat.
Ginkō datta.	It was a bank.
Sumisu-san datta.	It was Mr. Smith.
Tōkyō datta.	It was Tokyo.
Okurimono datta.	It was a gift.

Now you are saying things in the past tense. Easy, right?

ASKING QUESTIONS IN THE PAST TENSE

To form questions using datta in the past tense simply say affi rmative statements with a rising intonation on the last part of datta.

Neko datta?	Was it a cat?
Ginkō datta?	Was it a bank?
Sumisu-san datta?	Was it Mr. Smith?
Tōkyō datta?	Was it Tokyo?
Okurimono datta?	Was it a gift?

ANSWERING THEM

1. Affirmative answers: → Un, ___ datta.

Un, neko datta.	Yes, it was a cat.
Un, ginkō datta.	Yes, it was a bank.
Un, Sumisu-san datta.	Yes, it was Mr. Smith.
Un, Tōkyō datta.	Yes, it was Tokyo.
Un, okurimono datta.	Yes, it was a gift.

2. Negative answers: → Uun, ___ ja (dewa) nakatta.

Replace the past form datta with ja nakatta or dewa nakatta which is the past negative form. (Again, just as with ja and dewa in your negative answers above, it doesn’t matter whether you choose ja nakatta or dewa nakatta; they mean the same thing.)

Uun, neko ja nakatta or
Uun, neko dewa nakatta.	No, it wasn’t a cat.
Uun, neko ja nakatta or
Uun, neko dewa nakatta.	No, it wasn’t a cat.
Uun, ginkō ja nakatta or
Uun, ginkō dewa nakatta.	No, it wasn’t a bank.
Uun, Sumisu-san ja nakatta or
Uun, Sumisu-san dewa nakatta.	No, it wasn’t Mr. Smith
Uun, Tōkyō ja nakatta or
Uun, Tōkyō dewa nakatta.	No, it wasn’t Tokyo.
Uun, okurimono ja nakatta or
Uun, okurimono dewa nakatta.	No, it wasn’t a gift.

Quick Reference: Noun Tenses

PRESENT/FUTURE TENSE	PAST TENSE
Affirmative	Negative	Affirmative	Negative
N da.	N ja nai.	N datta.	N ja nakatta.
(Ex.) Gakkō da. It’s a school.	(Ex.) Gakkō ja nai. It’s not a school.	(Ex.) Gakkō datta. It was a school.	(Ex.) Gakkō ja nakatta. It wasn’t a school.

Practice

Read the following two sentences and rewrite them in the requested form.

1.	Ame?	“Is it rain?”	__________________________
	Affirmative answer:	“Yes, it’s rain.”	__________________________
	Negative answer:	“No, it’s not rain.”
2.	Kore wa tori da.	“This is a bird.”
	Plain present negative form:	“This is not a bird.”	__________________________
	Plain past form:	“This was a bird.”	__________________________
	Plain negative past form:	“This was not a bird.”	__________________________