Page 95 - Basic Japanese

Kirei ni kakimashita.

He wrote neatly.

Occasionally, a particle like ni will be used in an
expression that calls for an unexpected equivalent in the

English translation:

Dare ni Nihongo o naraimashita ka.
Who did you learn Japanese FROM?

2.12. Words meaning ‘is’

In this lesson we find three different Japanese words
translated as ‘is’ in English: desu, arimasu, and imasu. The

word desu is the COPULA and it means ‘equals.’ Whenever
an English sentence containing the word is makes sense if

you substitute equals for is, the Japanese equivalent is desu.

Are wa Fujisan desu.
That is Mt. Fuji. (That one = Mt. Fuji)

Ano hito wa watashi no tomodachi desu.
That person is my friend. (That person = my
friend)

Sore wa watashi no desu.

That’s mine. (That = mine)

Preceding the word desu, there is always a noun or a
phrase consisting of NOUN + no or some other particle, but