Grammar: n da / no

A common way to either give or ask for an explanation is to use plain form + んです. Just
remember that when the plain form is noun + だ, the だ becomes な.
例: A student is putting her stuff away.
A) 帰るんですか。 Are you leaving?
(i.e. is it because you are leaving that you are putting your stuff away?
B) ええ。残りたいんですけど、 Yeah. I want to stay (part of the explanation) but
ちょっと病気なんです。 I’m kind of sick. (Which is the reason I’m leaving).

When speaking casually, んです can become either んだ or の. There are a couple restrictions
on when to use one and when to use the other.
1) For questions, の must be used. (The reason is that だ, the plain form of desu, cannot be
used in a question).
2) For statements, の sounds feminine, and can only be used by women. (んだ sounds
more masculine, but is used by both men and women).
3) When followed by けど, んだ must be used. (The reason is that けど nearly always
follows a predicate: verb, adjective, or noun+desu)
例: A student is putting her stuff away.
A) 帰るの？。 Are you leaving?
(i.e. is it because you are leaving that you are putting your stuff away?
B - male) うん。残りたいんだけど、 Yeah. I want to stay (part of the explanation) but
ちょっと病気なんだよ。 I’m kind of sick. (Which is the reason I’m leaving).
B - female) うん。残りたいんだけど、 Yeah. I want to stay (part of the explanation) but
ちょっと病気なのよ。 I’m kind of sick. (Which is the reason I’m leaving).

NOTE: でも is used to mean “but” at the beginning of a sentence. けど is used to mean “but”
in the middle and end of a sentence. (Mistakes related to this will be penalized).

NOTE: To add “some” to a question word (e.g. something, someone, somewhere) add か to the
question word. (Mistakes related to this will be penalized).
例: something = なにか・なんか; somewhere = どこか; someone = だれか.
JIS-B: Grammar –n da / no 名前: ________________________________________
2/2/2009

See the reverse side for explanation of this grammar principle.

次の文章を、「んです」を使って日本語で書きなさい:
A and B are friends. A is a woman, B is a man. A has just arrived late.
1-A. Did something happen? (Is it because something happened that you’re late?)
(「んです」を使いなさい)

_______________________________________________________________________________
1-B. I left the house at 8, but there was an accident, and the train was late. (Which is the reason I
was late.)
(「んです、-て、んです」を使いなさい)

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

A and B are friends. B has just come over to A’s house. A is a woman, B is a man.
あたら か

B: 新 しいテレビ買ったね。
2-A. The TV? No, I got that from Yamaguchi-san. (Which explains why there is a new TV.)
(「んです」を使いなさい)

_______________________________________________________________________________
2-B. So, did you throw away the old one? (Is that the reason it’s not here anymore?)
(「んです」を使いなさい)

_______________________________________________________________________________

3. I wanted to go to the game last week, but I was sick. (Which is why I didn’t go).
(「んです、んです」を使いなさい)

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

4. Do we turn this in? (Asking for an explanation of why everyone is turning it in).
(「んです」を使いなさい)

_______________________________________________________________________________
Formation Exercise:
Add the appropriate casual form of んです to each sentence ending.
Then think of a situation where you could appropriately say the given sentence.

明日、東京に行く。
あぶ

ちょっと、危ないけど。

上野に行きたいけど。

A) あれ、買わない？

B) うん。たかいよ。

A) 中国語を勉強するのをやめた？

B) うん。むずかしかった。

びょうき

昨日、行きたかったけど、病気だった。

時計がない。

今日は水曜日じゃない？

A) リリーさん、病気？

B) いや、旅行している。

しゅくだい わす

宿 題 をやったけど、忘れた。
んです Practice:

Work in pairs.

One student makes a request (e.g., hang out tomorrow, give me money, what time is it, do my
homework, etc.).
The other student must given an excuse not to using んです.

Remember to speak casually!

We will be having an oral quiz on the casual form of んです next week.

Two students come up with a conversation between two people that would use んです。The
conversation must be between friends. Each person must have at least 3 lines.