notes

the copula 「だ」

• understanding 「だ」 is important for understanding “noun + copula” ending sentences (“A is B” sentences)
• 「だ」 is sometimes dropped in casual speech, but is still “necessary” to be grammatically correct
• unlike the three sentence engines, nouns, particles, and conjunctions do not change form (e.g., 「高い」 becoming 「高かった」 or 「だ」 becoming 「だった」)
• 「だ」 has several forms
  • 「だ」 - regular form
  • 「で」 - 「て」 form
  • 「です」 - formal-polite form
  • 「な」 - pre-connective form
  • 「でございます」 - formal-very-respective form
  • 「である」 - formal-objective form (not necessarily polite)
  • and more…
• 「です」 and 「でございます」 can be added to sentences ending with an adjective, but they are purely politeness markers and not functioning as a copula
• 「だ」 is not just used with adjectives
  • ex: 「無事でよかった。」 means “That (you) were safe was good.”
  • ex: 「僕はウサギなのですよ。」 means “It is that I am a rabbit.”

    “conjugation”

• what are usually referred to as conjugations are just helpers attached to verb stems

  resources

• youtube