Usage of だ/です
  • MirukufyMirukufy December 2009

    Hi there, I was wondering in which cases is だ/です not necessary at the end of a sentence? My Japanese grammar handbook says (in the copula case) they're used for indicating things like condition, quality, number, characteristics, or identity.

    Does '[phrase]を思い出す' at the end of a sentence fit one of those? I tried Googling を思い出すだ but didn't get any results with that exact phrase back. However, I noticed that adding ね, よ, ぞ, etc. to just 思い出すreturned more results. Can anyone explain to me why this is?

  • AodhAodh December 2009

    思い出す is a verb, you don't add だ or です to verbs. The proper forms are:

    思い出す (Short)
    思い出します (Masu/Desu)

    This is a little more technical than what is needed, but it's the best way to explain it. です is the polite form contraction of である. 二つであります。 > 二つです。 In these sentences, です can be dropped in casual speech. Likewise, だ is the short form of です and can also be used in casual speech. 二つです。 > 二つだ。 For some grammar points, short or masu/desu form is needed, but as a complete sentence, it can be excluded in very simple sentences. Like 'It's cold' > さむい (だ)

  • ccpanccpan December 2009

    だ/です usually follows noun, i-adj and na-adj. If you want to add だ/です to a verb to emphasize the situation/reason, you should use のだ/のです or んだ/んです.

    なぜ来なかったのですか?/なぜ来なかったんですか? (Why did you not come?)
    忘れてしまったのです/忘れてしまったんです. (Because I forgot.)

  • KouhiiChanKouhiiChan December 2009

    Yeah, I think だ/です is not needed for verbs, but you can add んだ or んです to the end to emphasize or confirm/explain the sentence.

  • MirukufyMirukufy December 2009

    Thank you for explaining!

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