Structure
Verb + ん(1) + だ
[い]Adjective + ん(1) + だ
[な]Adjective + な + ん(1) + だ
Noun + な + ん(1) + だ
(1) の
Details
Part of Speech
Expression
Word Type
Auxiliary Verb
Register
Standard
About ~んです・のです
のです is a construction with several different forms, each meaning roughly the same thing. This expression behaves similarly to だ and です by themselves (asserting that something is true). However, the addition of の strengthens the relationship being highlighted. Due to this, it will come across a bit like 'it is a fact that (A)' in English.
In these sentences, we can think of the ん, or の as simply adding emphasis to the statement. Due to の adding emphasis, this expression will be heard very frequently in explanations.
Caution
There is no real difference between ん and の. Only の is considered 'correct Japanese', but ん evolved to make things easier to say. ん is the most common form in spoken Japanese, and the use of の could be considered a bit formal, or 'stiff'.
While both the だ and です forms are equally as natural, only the です form will be used if adding か to the end ~んですか. This construction shows that the speaker is looking for an explanation about something.
Synonyms
Examples
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いいんですか。
Is it good?
赤がいいんですか。
Is red good?
いいのですか。
Is it good?
これがいいのですか。
Is this good?
川があるんです。
There is a river.
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Online
When and how to use ん
Maggie Sensei
~んです/~のです- Japanese Grammar
Japanization
Explanatory のだ (んだ)
Wasabi
Explanations and expectations
Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese
Offline
Genki I
Page 230
Genki I 2nd Edition
Page 270
[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Page 325
みんなの日本語 II
Page 12 [CH 26]
Marugoto Elementary 1 (A2) Rikai
Page 154
[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Page 322
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 73
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~んです・のです – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (38 in total)
Fuga
Apologies for the late reply!
な is used when this grammar point is attached to a noun or a な-adjective!
Fuga
Hey @PapaYeti !
The が you are referring to is this!
When this が is used at the end of a sentence, it means that there is more information that exist, but the speaker is omitting it due to the information being very obvious.
For example, the sentence 手紙を送りたいのですが has the nuance of, ‘I would like to send a letter, but…(I’m not sure how to send letters/I don’t know where to drop the letter off)’. The extra information will of course be different depending on the context.
I hope this answers your question!
PapaYeti
Thanks!
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