Expanding です and じゃありません
“It is much more comfortable to be mad and know it, than to be sane and have one’s doubts.” – GB Burgin
Now we’re going to expand. This’ll be almost like a real conversation, how cool is that? We’ll be using everything we’ve learned up until now. です, じゃありません, and the question marker か in one fell swoop in order to practice everything and learn something new. The cool thing is you already know how to do what we’re about to do, even if you don’t know it yet.
For example, how would you say the following?
No, it is not a pear. It is a peach.
a いいえ、なしじゃありません。ももです。
You knew the first part, for sure (いいえ、なしじゃありません) and the second part (ももです). It’s only natural to combine them to make something a little more complicated. Let’s take a look at some images and practice this. Remember, all we’re doing is putting two separate sentences together to form a bigger phrase and idea!
Q. 日本（にほん）ですか？
Is it Japan?
a はい、にほんです。Yes, it is Japan
Okay, were you able to do that? Good – now let’s mix things up a bit.
Q. 日本（にほん）ですか？
Is it Japan?
a いいえ、にほん じゃありません。USAです。 No, it is not Japan. It is the USA.
See how that worked? All you need to do is combine two things you’ve already learned into one phrase. Neat, huh? If you want to get some extra practice, you can go through the big questions on the previous page and answer them using this new style. Also, there’s a practice sheet I’ve made up for you that you can use to get extra practice as well. Lucky for you, the next couple of chapters are very similar to this one, which means you’ll get lots of practice across the board. Right now the things you learn are so important – you’re creating a good foundation for everything else, and as things get more complicated you’ll be able to learn more and more and more quickly because of it.
Also, don’t forget to keep practicing your 1-2 stroke kanji radicals, too! We’ll be moving on to the next stage in kanji here pretty soon!