Introducing A is B: The "A wa B desu" Pattern

Introduction

Welcome to the start of a new module! In our last lesson, you mastered how to tell a restaurant host the number of people in your party, using phrases like futari desu (it's two people). That final word, desu, is the key to today's lesson.

This lesson introduces the most fundamental sentence pattern in the Japanese language: A は B です (A wa B desu). This is the "plug-and-play" structure you'll use constantly to make basic statements like "This is a menu" or "That is the station." Mastering this pattern is the first and most important step in building your ability to communicate in Japan.

The Core Pattern: A は B です (A wa B desu)

Think of this pattern as a simple formula for stating "A is B" in a polite way. It's the grammatical backbone for many of the phrases you'll need.

To get a quick but solid overview, let's start with a resource that breaks this down very effectively.

Japanese Copula: Using 'Desu' (A is B)

The article 'Japanese Copula: Using 'Desu' (A is B)' describes 'desu' as a polite 'equals sign' that comes at the end of a sentence. This is a great way to think about it.

Please read the short sections titled 'The Rule in 30 Seconds' and 'Overview'. Focus on understanding the three main parts: the topic marker 'wa', the role of 'desu', and the fact that the verb always comes last.

As the article explains, the A wa B desu pattern consists of three key components:

A: The topic of the sentence (the "what" or "who" you're talking about).
は (wa): A particle that marks the topic. Crucially, the hiragana character は (ha) is pronounced "wa" when used this way.
B です (B desu): The description of the topic, followed by the polite verb desu (is/am/are).

Remember the tip from the resource: the 'u' in desu is often silent, so it sounds more like "dess".

The image below provides a clear visual breakdown of this structure.

Japanese Sentence Structure: A wa B desu — This slide clearly illustrates the 'A wa B desu' sentence structure. Note how the particle 'は' (ha) is read as 'wa' when it marks the topic, and how 'です' (desu) comes at the very end to make the statement polite.

Word Order and the Topic Marker は (wa)

The most significant difference from English is the word order. In English, we say "This (A) is (verb) a pen (B)". In Japanese, the verb desu always goes at the end.

Let's look at this in more detail.

Japanese Copula: Using 'Desu' (A is B)

Now, let's focus on the word order and the function of the particle 'は' (wa).

Read the section 'Word Order Rules'. Pay close attention to the Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) structure and how 'は' (wa) works to introduce the sentence's main subject.

To summarize, Japanese follows a Topic-Description-Verb structure. Let's use the classic example: Kore wa pen desu. (This is a pen.)

Component	Japanese	Reading	Role	English Equivalent
A (Topic)	これ	Kore	"This"	This
Particle	は	wa	Marks the topic	(no direct word)
B (Description)	ペン	pen	"pen"	a pen
Verb	です	desu	polite "is"	is

This structure is consistent and predictable, which makes it a reliable foundation to build on.

"Plug-and-Play" Vocabulary: Kore, Sore, Are

Now for the practical part. To use this pattern, you need some "A" words. The most useful ones for a traveler are the words for "this," "that," and "that over there."

This and That: Understanding the Difference Between Kore, Sore and Are

This article explains three essential words you can plug into the 'A' slot of our pattern. They are determined by the object's distance from you and the person you're speaking to.

Read the definitions and examples for 'Kore', 'Sore', and 'Are'. Focus on understanding the concept of distance relative to the speaker and listener.

Here is a summary of the rules:

これ (kore): Use for an object near you (the speaker).
それ (sore): Use for an object near the listener.
あれ (are): Use for an object far from both of you.

This infographic is an excellent visual guide to this concept.

This, That & That Over There in Japanese — This infographic visually explains the use of 'kore' (this), 'sore' (that), and 'are' (that over there) based on the object's distance from the speaker and listener.

Putting It All Together: Practice Sentences

Let's combine the A wa B desu pattern with your new vocabulary. Here are some words for the "B" part of the sentence that will be useful during your trip.

メニュー (menyū) - menu
コーヒー (kōhii) - coffee
きっぷ (kippu) - ticket
えき (eki) - station
ホテル (hoteru) - hotel

Now, you can form practical sentences by simply plugging these words into the pattern:

Pointing to a menu in your hand:
これはメニューです。 (Kore wa menyū desu.)
This is a menu.
Referring to a ticket the station agent is holding:
それはきっぷです。 (Sore wa kippu desu.)
That is a ticket.
Pointing to a building down the street:
あれはえきです。 (Are wa eki desu.)
That over there is the station.

This pattern even works for the self-introduction you learned in the first module:
わたしは [Your Name] です。 (Watashi wa [Your Name] desu.)
I am [Your Name].
Here, わたし (watashi - I) is "A" and your name is "B".

Conclusion

Excellent work. You've just learned the single most important sentence structure in Japanese. By understanding this "plug-and-play" pattern, you've unlocked the ability to make countless simple, polite statements.

Key Takeaways:

The fundamental Japanese sentence pattern is A は B です (A wa B desu), which means "A is B".
The word order is Topic (A) → Description (B) → Verb (desu).
The particle は (ha) is pronounced wa when it marks the topic.
です (desu) comes at the end to make the sentence polite.
You can use これ (kore - this), それ (sore - that), and あれ (are - that over there) as the topic (A) to identify objects around you.

Preview of the next lesson:
Now that you can make statements, the next logical step is to ask questions. In the next lesson, we will adapt this pattern to learn how to ask "Where is...?" using the structure [Place] はどこですか？ ([Place] wa doko desu ka?). This will introduce you to the question word doko (where) and the question-marking particle ka.