Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 3: 12/14

んです・のですExplanatory, Emphasis, The fact is

Structure

Verb + ん(1) + だ
［い］Adjective + ん(1) + だ
［な］Adjective + な + ん(1) + だ
Noun + な + ん(1) + だ

(1) の

Details

  • Expression

  • Auxiliary Verb

  • 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.

Topics

Context is King

N5 Topic

In this Topic, we're going to learn about a new use of の (often shortened to ん in speech). We'll see how it is used to explain and give contextual reasons for things. As an extension of this, we'll also see how it works with questions.

4m

Related

Vocab Coverage

All Bunpro Vocab that appears on this item.

Examples

--:--

  • いいんですか。

    Is it good?

  • 赤(あか)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(かわ)があるんです。

    There is a river.

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～んです・のです – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (40 in total)

  • PapaYeti

    PapaYeti

    Thanks!

  • AshleyAutumn

    AshleyAutumn

    So I’m a bit confused about one of the review questions for this topic. It has the word "覚える” - “to remember” and I always get it wrong because I’m used to it as a verb but in this case it’s conjugating with ”です” like a noun or adjective. Is this because it’s more like a state of being for the speaker than an active action? Or is the there something special about "ん・の” connector?

  • Pablunpro

    Pablunpro

    Hi! 初めまして！

    I guess you are referring to the example sentence ‘覚えるんです’. If you look at it closely, you will see that 覚える still works as a verb and that んです (the subject of this grammar point) is attached to the verb to give emphasis to the statement ‘覚える’ (I will remember), adding the nuance ‘it is a fact that I will remember’ or ‘The thing is that I will remember’.

    In fact, this is the exact same usage as the last example, ‘忘れるのです’ (‘it is a fact that I will forget’).

    HTH!

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