For such a simple word, the verb “to be” is complex in many languages. The present tense of “to be” in English can be one of three words (is/am/are), and Spanish has two dedicated verbs for “to be” (ser and estar), which both have their own conjugations! Learning how to say “to be” in Japanese can be similarly challenging, but you may also find some aspects surprisingly simple.
Translations from Japanese to English sometimes require context to understand the intended meaning correctly, and uses of “to be” are no exception. Still, it’s an essential concept to understand when you learn Japanese. Use this guide to learn the most common options, with conjugation charts and example sentences to take you step by step.
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How to say ‘to be’ in Japanese
The Japanese “to be” verb—the one almost-exclusively translated as “is/am/are”—is desu (です). Technically speaking, desu is a linking verb or “copula” rather than a main verb. However, it still gets placed at the end of a sentence and functions as a verb in Japanese word order.
The Japanese verbs describing existence—aru (ある) and iru (いる)—can also be translated to English as “to be” in certain cases. These two verbs don’t translate directly to English very well, so you may see them translated as “have” or “exist” in other situations.
Another verb sometimes used as a “to be” conjugation is the verb for “to become”: naru (成る). Rather than separate past, present, and future tenses, Japanese has past tense and a non-past tense that combines present and future tense. This results in a lack of a future tense like English has. However, naru can sometimes be translated as “will be” to state that something hasn’t happened yet.
- desu (です): The “to be” verb (or copula), this word is closest to the English “to be.”
- iru (いる): Meaning “to exist” for animate objects, this verb is sometimes translated as “there is/are.”
- aru (ある): Meaning “to exist” for inanimate objects, this verb can be translated as “there is/are.”
- naru (なる): Meaning “to become,” naru is sometimes translated as a future tense “will be.”
Conjugating desu in Japanese
The verb desu is unique, and it doesn’t follow the usual Japanese verb conjugation rules. Although its rules are different, desu and its conjugations are still divided into polite and plain forms that dictate the politeness level of the sentence and/or where desu is placed in the sentence.
Affirmative forms of desu
Like other Japanese verbs, desu doesn’t conjugate based on the subject. That means you only need to remember two conjugations for each tense: the polite form and the plain form.
| Japanese | Romanization | Pronunciation | English |
| です | desu | dehs | is/am/are (polite) |
| だ | da | dah | is/am/are (plain) |
| でした | deshita | dehsh-tah | was/were (polite) |
| だった | datta | daht-tah | was/were (plain) |
When deciding whether to use polite or plain form, think about your relationship with the person you’re talking to. Unless you’re close (such as a friend or family member), stick to the polite form. The actual meaning of what you say is the same either way, but the implied familiarity changes.
- Ryokō wa dō deshita ka.（旅行はどうでしたか。）= How was your vacation? (Polite)
- Ryokō wa dō datta?（旅行はどうだった？）= How was your vacation? (Casual)
For adjectives, using desu is as simple as adding it to the end of the sentence after the adjective. However, i-adjectives are not followed by da in plain form.
- Neko wa shiroi desu.（猫は白いです。）= The cat is white. (Polite)
- Neko wa shiroi.（猫は白い。）= The cat is white. (Casual)
Like other verbs, plain form isn’t just for casual speech. When in the middle of a sentence as part of a grammar structure (i.e., when “to be” is not the main verb), the plain form da is typically used over the polite form desu.
- Watashi wa, koko ga taberu niwa ii basho da to omoimasu.（私は、ここが食べるにはいい場所だと思います。）= I believe that this is a good place to eat.
Negative forms of desu
Negative forms of desu are a little more complicated, as each form has two options.
| Japanese | Romanization | Pronunciation | English |
| じゃありません | ja arimasen | jah ah-ree-mah-sehn | isn’t/am not/aren’t (polite) |
| ではありません | de wa arimasen | deh wah ah-ree-mah-sehn | isn’t/am not/aren’t (polite/formal) |
| じゃない* | ja nai* | jah nah-ee | isn’t/am not/aren’t (plain) |
| ではない* | de wa nai* | deh wah nah-ee | isn’t/am not/aren’t (plain/formal) |
| じゃありませんでした | ja arimasen deshita | jah ah-ree-mah-sehn dehsh-tah | wasn’t/weren’t (polite) |
| ではありませんでした | de wa arimasen deshita | deh wah ah-ree-mah-sehn dehsh-tah | wasn’t/weren’t (polite/formal) |
| じゃなかった* | ja nakatta* | jah nah-kaht-tah | wasn’t/weren’t (plain) |
| ではなかった* | de wa nakatta* | deh wah nah-kaht-tah | wasn’t/weren’t (plain/formal) |
*You can also add desu after these conjugations to be slightly more formal.
What is the difference between ja and de wa?
The difference between ja and de wa is simple: ja is a contraction of de wa in the same way that “isn’t” is a contraction of “is not.” Like with English contractions, the contracted form is more casual than the written out form. Therefore, negative forms of desu that start with ja err on the less formal side (although they can still be polite), while those that start with de wa err on the more formal side (although they can still be casual).
This can feel like a lot of incredibly similar Japanese words to remember. For simplicity, you can also think about negative forms of desu (meaning “isn’t/am not/aren’t”) in a rough descending order of politeness, such as:
- de wa arimasen
- ja arimasen
- de wa nai desu
- ja nai desu (if you only remember one, remember this one.)
- de wa nai
- ja nai
You can do the same for the past forms (meaning “wasn’t/weren’t”):
- de wa arimasen deshita
- ja arimasen deshita
- de wa nakatta desu
- ja nakatta desu (if you only remember one, remember this one.)
- de wa nakatta
- ja nakatta
When put into practice, the meaning is the same regardless of which form you choose—only the level of politeness or formality changes.
- Kono tatemono wa yūmei de wa arimasen.（この建物は有名ではありません。）= This building is not famous. (Polite/Formal)
- Kono tatemono wa yūmei ja nai desu.（この建物は有名じゃないです。）= This building is not famous. (Neutral)
- Kono tatemono wa yūmei ja nai.（この建物は有名じゃない。）= This building isn’t famous. (Casual)
Japanese da vs. de aru
Another desu option for “to be” is de aru (である), which is typically used only in documents with formal writing or for literary purposes. This includes everyday documents like newspapers and instructions. To use it in a sentence, all you need to do is use de aru in place of desu or da.
- Deforuto wa 0 de aru.（デフォルトは０である。）= The default is 0.
While de aru can be conjugated de arimasu, it’s excessively formal outside of specific jobs that generally require higher levels of formality (like the military).
Conjugating aru/iru in Japanese
Aru and iru both conjugate by normal Japanese verb rules. While they both mean “to exist,” aru is used for inanimate objects like books and iru is used for animate objects like people.
Affirmative forms of aru/iru
The trick to mastering these two verbs is remembering that aru is a godan verb (the ru changes to ri) and iru is an ichidan verb (the ru is dropped).
| Japanese | Polite Non-Past | Polite Past | English |
| ある aru | あります arimasu | ありました arimashita | there is/there was (inanimate) |
| いる iru | います imasu | いました imashita | there is/there was (animate) |
The same rules apply for the plain form, so you won’t have to remember anything unusual.
| Japanese | Plain Non-Past | Plain Past | English |
| ある aru | ある aru | あった atta | there is/there was (inanimate) |
| いる iru | いる iru | いた ita | there is/there was (animate) |
The simplest way to use the existence verbs is to state that “there is/are.” Alternatively, the exact same form can be used to say “has/have.” Keep an eye out for context to distinguish the two!
- Mizu ga takusan arimasu.（水がたくさんあります。）= There is a lot of water. (A general statement about the quantity of water.)
- Mizu ga takusan arimasu.（水がたくさんあります。）= I have a lot of water. (A statement about specific water, probably in the context of who has water.)
- Kodomo ga futari imasu.（子供が二人います。）= There are two children. (Pointing out two children in the vicinity.)
- Kodomo ga futari imasu.（子供が二人います。）= I have two children. (In a discussion about family.)
Another common way to use the existence verbs as “to be” verbs is for locations. In this case, the Japanese particle ni (used for location) goes between the place and the verb.
- Kono tatemono wa nyūyōku ni arimasu.（この建物はニューヨークにあります。）= This building is in New York.
Negative forms of aru/iru
The polite negative forms of aru and iru also follow normal verb conjugation rules.
| Japanese | Polite Non-Past | Polite Past | English |
| ある aru | ありません arimasen | ありませんでした arimasen deshita | there isn’t/there wasn’t (inanimate) |
| いる iru | いません imasen | いませんでした imasen deshita | there isn’t/there wasn’t (animate) |
Aru has one quirk for the plain negative form: Only the enders nai and nakatta are used and the rest of the verb is eliminated.
| Japanese | Plain Non-Past | Plain Past | English |
| ある aru | ない nai | なかった nakatta | there isn’t/there wasn’t (inanimate) |
| いる iru | いない inai | いなかったinakatta | there isn’t/there wasn’t (animate) |
As is typical for polite vs. plain form in Japanese, the meaning of a sentence doesn’t change much between the two.
- Reizōko ni wa supēsu ga arimasen.（冷蔵庫にはスペースがありません。）= There is not any space in the refrigerator. (Polite)
- Reizōko ni wa supēsu ga nai.（冷蔵庫にはスペースがない。）= There isn’t any space in the refrigerator. (Casual)
How do you conjugate naru in Japanese?
Using naru in Japanese as a form of “to be” is one of the only ways to create a semblance of a future tense in Japanese without context clues like time.
Affirmative forms of naru
Naru is a godan verb, so conjugating it into the polite non-past form is as simple as changing the ru to ri.
| Japanese | Polite Non-Past | Plain Non-Past | English |
| なる naru | なります narimasu | なる naru | will be |
For nouns and na-adjectives, add the Japanese particle ni (に) between the noun or adjective and the naru conjugation.
- Itsuka, kanojo wa isha ni naru tsumori desu.（いつか、彼女は医者になるつもりです。）= Someday she will be a doctor.
For verbs, the formula is plain form + yō ni (ように) + naru conjugation.
- Renshū shitara, jōzu ni ensō dekiru yō ni narimasu yo.（練習したら、上手に演奏できるようになりますよ。）= If you practice, then you will be able to play well.
For i-adjectives, drop the i (い) at the end of the adjective, add ku (く), and then add the naru conjugation. This is the same way you conjugate Japanese adverbs from i-adjectives.
- Dōshite desu ka.（どうしてですか。）= Why not?
- Samuku narimasu kara.（寒くなりますから。）= Because it will be cold.
Negative forms of naru
Conjugating naru into its negative forms is also straightforward, with no unusual rules.
| Japanese | Polite Non-Past | Plain Non-Past | English |
| なる naru | なりません narimasen | ならない naranai | won’t be |
The same sentence structures used for affirmative forms of naru can also be used for negative forms, but they’re less common.
- Mondai ni naranai.（問題にならない。）= That won’t be a problem.
Master ‘to be’ conjugations with Rosetta Stone
Japanese isn’t a Germanic language like English or a Romance language like Spanish, so having a variety of translations for “to be” doesn’t come as a surprise. Rather than focusing on how to say “to be” in Japanese, try thinking about each of these words as their own verbs with their own unique uses. Your Japanese skills will expand the more ways you learn to express yourself!
The difference between desu and your other options for “to be” can be challenging, but learning Japanese doesn’t have to be. Through the Rosetta Stone app, you’ll come across all of these words in context so you can learn them naturally the same way you learned your native language.
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