Structure
Noun + である
[な]Adjective + である
Details
Register
Formal
使用域
硬い
About である
である (or であります) is a construction in Japanese that is considered to be the formal equivalent of だ. This should not be confused with the polite speech word です, as である is simply a combination of the conjunctive form of だ, and the う - Verb, ある.
である may be used in any place that だ would usually be used, but is most likely to be found at the end of sentences/statements.
である may be used in any place that だ would usually be used, but is most likely to be found at the end of sentences/statements.
- 日本一デカい博物館はこの博物館である。The largest museum in Japan is this one.
- ここから悲しいことが起きるのである。This is where something sad starts to happen. (Here comes the sad bit)
- 私達が会えたのは運命であります。It is destiny that we met.
Fun Fact
Because the な that is used with な-Adjectives is simply the attributive form of だ, である may replace な or の when connecting one noun to another. The attributive form just means the form of a word that can be directly linked to a noun. As ある's attributive form is just ある, it does not need to be modifed at all.- 大変であることを人にやらせるのは良くない。It is not good to make someone else do difficult things.
- 重要である箇所をまとめた資料がこちらです。These are the documents highlighting all the important sections.
Caution
であります (as opposed to である) is very formal, and will almost exclusively be used by people within jobs that absolutely require this level of formality (politics, police force, military, etc). Due to this, its use within regular conversation will sound stiff, or perhaps even like the speaker is jokingly being over polite.- 名前はタナカであります!My name is Tanaka! (Responding to a person in a higher rank in a military)
- 最後のプリンを食べたのは私であります。I am the one who ate the last pudding. (Jokingly polite)
Synonyms
Examples
彼はとてもハンサムである。
He is very handsome.
彼はパイロットであった。
He was a pilot.
とても面白いドラマである。
It is a very interesting drama.
題名:「吾輩は猫である。」
Title: 'I am a cat.'
吾輩 is an archaic first-person male singular pronoun meaning 'I', with a nuance of arrogance since it originally meant 'we'. 「 吾輩は猫である」is the title of a satirical novel written in 1905 by Natsume Souseki.
夢は海外で成功することである。
My dream is to be successful overseas.
Get more example sentences!
Premium users get access to 12 example sentences on all Grammar Points.
Self-Study Sentences
Study your own way!
Add sentences and study them alongside Bunpro sentences.
Online
Japanese Literary Style
Wasabi
Formal expressions
Tae Kim
Offline
Tobira
Page 171
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 299
Track Resources!
Bunpro tracks all of the resources you’ve visited, and offers relevant bookmarks of physical books to help with offline tracking.
である – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (6 in total)
Pushindawood
@CrisH Hey! You should be getting the hint “[formal・literature・past]” for this particular sentence (not “polite”). Both であった and でありました are valid/acceptable answers here. Cheers!
CrisH
I was fairly sure it asked for the polite version - I would double-check (is that what you’ve done?), but I don’t think we end-users can see the hints for each question anywhere unless we’re currently answering the questions. Is that right?
I know I do sometimes mix up formal with polite, so that probably is it. I just wanted to confirm.Pushindawood
Yes, I made sure when you made your comment that the hint displayed was “[formal・literature・past]." Cheers!
Got questions about である? Join us to discuss, ask, and learn together!
Join the Discussion