Desu, the Copula

DESU

Desu is a copula (see yellow box below for definition) and has one of the very few irregular forms in Japanese. Desu can act like the English 'to be' (You know - is, am, are...) in the sense desu is used to explain who or what something or someone is. It is also used when equating one thing with another. Let's take a look:

ゾウは　大きい　です。
zou wa ookii desu .
Elephants are large.

これ　は　ねこ　です。
kore wa neko desu .
This is a cat.

Most of the time you want to use the to be verb you will use desu . Later we will learn other forms to show existence.

MAIN POINTS:

	is, are, am
	always at the end
	It doesn't change like its English cousin (is, are, am) in the present tense
	usually pronounced like "dess" HEAR IT! WAV 11 k

Definition of Copula - from Wikipedia
In linguistics, a copula is a word used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate (a subject complement or an adverbial ). Although it might not itself express an action or condition, it serves to equate (or associate) the subject with the predicate. The word 'copula' originates from the Latin noun for a "link or tie" that connects two different things.

A copula is sometimes (though not always) a verb or a verb-like part of speech. In English primary education grammar courses, a copula is often called a linking verb.

The term is generally used to refer to the main copular verb in the language: in the case of English, this is " to be ". It can also be used to refer to all such verbs in the language: in that case, English copulas include "to be", "to become", "to get", "to feel", and "to seem". Other verbs have secondary uses as copulative verbs, as fall in "The zebra fell victim to the lion."

For a complete list see: List of English copulae .