だ

• IPA^(key): [da̠]

The hiragana character た (ta) with a dakuten (゛).

だ (romaji da)

1. The hiragana syllable だ (da). Its equivalent in katakana is ダ (da).

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, ゆゅ, よょ, ら, り, る, れ, ろ, わゎ, ゐ, ゑ, を, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

• Forms beginning with だ or で: From the particle で (de) or である (de aru). The lemma form だ itself is a contraction of であ, clipping of である (de aru).
• Forms beginning with な: From classical Japanese なり (nari), whence Modern Japanese な (na, na-inflection ending).

だ (intransitive, rōmaji da)

1. (jodōshi) Following parts of speech that do not inflect by themselves, including nouns, na-adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases.
   1. to be

      彼 (かれ)は無 (む)実 (じつ)だ。

      Kare wa mujitsu da.

      He is not guilty.

      冬 (ふゆ)休 (やす)みは明日 (あした)からだ。

      Fuyu yasumi wa ashita kara da.

      Winter vacation is from tomorrow. (Winter vacation starts from tomorrow.)

      私 (わたし)が子 (こ)供 (ども)だった頃 (ころ)

      watashi ga kodomo datta koro

      when I was a child

      美 (び)人 (じん)で優 (やさ)しい人 (ひと)

      bijin de yasashii hito

      a person who is both beautiful and kind

      大学生 (だいがくせい)ならこれくらいはできるはずです。

      Daigakusei nara kore kurai wa dekiru hazu desu.

      This should be easy for a college student.

   2. should; be obliged to; ought to

      汚 (お)物 (ぶつ)は消 (しょう)毒 (どく)だ。

      Obutsu wa shōdoku da.

      The filth should be disinfected.

      お代 (か)わりだ。

      Okawari da.

      (Of a second helping) one more please.

      二 (に)度 (ど)と来 (く)るんじゃない！

      Nido to kuru n janai!

      Never come again!

2. (jodōshi) Some forms follow also inflectable words.
   1. です follow i-adjectives, as the standard polite terminal form for i-adjectives.

      遅 (おそ)いですね。

      Osoi desu ne.

      You are too slow.

   2. だろう / でしょう / なら can follow any inflectable word, equivalent to inflectable words + の + だろう / でしょう / なら.

      飲 (の)むなら乗 (の)るな/飲 (の)むのなら乗 (の)るな！

      Nomu nara noru na/nomu no nara noru na!

      If you are to drink, don't drive!

      彼 (かれ)はきっと成 (せい)功 (こう)するだろう/彼 (かれ)はきっと成 (せい)功 (こう)するのだろう。

      Kare wa kitto seikō suru darō/kare wa kitto seikō suru no darō.

      I believe he will succeed.

• だ is the only commonly used modern Japanese verb with the terminal form (終止形) distinct from the attributive form (連体形). As relative clauses in Japanese are syntactically equivalent to attributives, relative clauses must end in the attributive form. Thus だ, as a terminal form, can not appear at the end of a relative clause. The following forms are used instead of だ in such places:

• Use の after nouns, adverbs or prepositional phrases. But use な before the nominalizer の.

学生 (がくせい)のアリス

gakusei no Arisu

Alice, who is a student

ここまでのあらすじ

kokomade no arasuji

the plot summary until now

後味 (あとあじ)もすっきりなのが特徴 (とくちょう)です。

Atoaji mo sukkiri na no ga tokuchō desu.

The refreshing aftertaste is its distinguishing feature.

今 (きょ)日 (う)は休 (やす)みなので早起 (はやお)きしてなかった。

Kyō wa yasumi na no de hayaoki shite nakatta.

I didn't get up early because it is a holiday today.

• Use な after na-adjective.

実 (じっ)家 (か)が裕福 (ゆうふく)な友 (ゆう)人 (じん)

jikka ga yūfuku na yūjin

a friend whose family is rich

• Alternatively, である can be used when following nouns and denoting the meaning "to be".

学生 (がくせい)であるアリス

gakusei dearu Arisu

Alice, who is a student

• This word is phonologically an enclitic, similar to particles. It is classified as 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”) in traditional Japanese grammar.

• である (de aru)
• や (ya) (Kansai dialect)
• じゃ (ja) (Some western dialects. Also used in archaic speech in fictional characters)

• です (desu) (polite)
• ございます (gozaimasu) (humble)