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.
Related
Examples
--:--
Get more example sentences!
Premium users get access to 12 example sentences on all Grammar Points.
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.
Self-Study Sentences
Study your own way!
Add sentences and study them alongside Bunpro sentences.
Online
~んです/~のです- Japanese Grammar
Japanization
Explanations and expectations
Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese
Explanatory のだ (んだ)
Wasabi
When and how to use ん
Maggie Sensei
Offline
[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Page 325
[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Page 322
Genki I
Page 230
Genki I 2nd Edition
Page 270
Marugoto Elementary 1 (A2) Rikai
Page 154
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 73
みんなの日本語 II
Page 12 [CH 26]
Track Resources!
Bunpro tracks all of the resources you’ve visited, and offers relevant bookmarks of physical books to help with offline tracking.