I’m learning Japanese on Duolingo and i noticed that sometimes the verb です is not present at the end of the sentence, but I don’t understand when i can omit it. Thanks
Excluding sentences where different verbs would be appropriate, when speaking formally (です instead of だ), you can’t really omit it at the end of a sentence. But when you speak informally, you can omit it basically whenever you want, but it’s only grammatically correct to omit after i-adjectives.
1. Beware duolingo it’s not very good honestly, certainly not as a primary learning resource 2. です isn’t a verb, it’s a unique construct sometimes referred to as a copula 3. It depends on the sentence and what goes before it. You can’t add it after a verb but you can after an adjective or noun. The casual equivalent だ can go after a noun or na-adjective, but neither a verb or i-adjective. If speaking non-casually, です is required in non-verb sentence endings, and ます-conjugations are required in verbs concluding a sentence.
I recommend working thru a structured, ordered learning system like the genki books. They go thru these things.
I use Doulingo to supplement my vocabulary from the grammar I learned in high school and college.
です is almost equivalent to the English is/are. But informal talk amongst friends or close colleagues (or those lower than you in society – CEO vs team lead, elder vs youngster. Teacher vs student), you can drop it.
ぼくはKuradag。これはピザ。
Verbs usually use ~ます in formal, present, positive tense. I can’t think of a time you would end with ます and です in the same sentence.
4 comments
Excluding sentences where different verbs would be appropriate, when speaking formally (です instead of だ), you can’t really omit it at the end of a sentence. But when you speak informally, you can omit it basically whenever you want, but it’s only grammatically correct to omit after i-adjectives.
1. Beware duolingo it’s not very good honestly, certainly not as a primary learning resource
2. です isn’t a verb, it’s a unique construct sometimes referred to as a copula
3. It depends on the sentence and what goes before it. You can’t add it after a verb but you can after an adjective or noun. The casual equivalent だ can go after a noun or na-adjective, but neither a verb or i-adjective. If speaking non-casually, です is required in non-verb sentence endings, and ます-conjugations are required in verbs concluding a sentence.
I recommend working thru a structured, ordered learning system like the genki books. They go thru these things.
I use Doulingo to supplement my vocabulary from the grammar I learned in high school and college.
です is almost equivalent to the English is/are. But informal talk amongst friends or close colleagues (or those lower than you in society – CEO vs team lead, elder vs youngster. Teacher vs student), you can drop it.
ぼくはKuradag。これはピザ。
Verbs usually use ~ます in formal, present, positive tense. I can’t think of a time you would end with ます and です in the same sentence.
です is a copula. I sent you a pm!