Mission—Team—FAQ—Privacy—Terms—Sponsors—Grammar—Typing Course—Donate

© 2026 Elon Automation B.V.

Learn Hardcore Japanese: keiyakukikan ha nagai. - The contract period is long.

Hardcore Japanese
/Disputing an incorrect mobile phone bill
/keiyakukikan wa nagai.

keiyakukikan wa nagai.

Word

契約期間けいやくきかん　は　長ながい。keiyakukikan wa nagai.

Meaning

The contract period is long.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Japanese

Lesson

Disputing an incorrect mobile phone bill

Breakdown of keiyakukikan wa nagai.

長ながいnagai

契約期間けいやくきかんkeiyakukikan

a contract period

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have hundreds of Japanese lessons and thousands of exercises.

Start learning Japanese

Questions & Answers about keiyakukikan wa nagai.

What is 契約期間 grammatically? Is it one word or two?

契約期間 is a compound noun made from:

契約 = contract
期間 = period, term, duration

Together, they mean contract period or contract term.

In Japanese, it is very common to combine nouns like this into one larger noun, so 契約期間 functions as a single noun in the sentence.

Why is the particle は used here instead of が?

は marks 契約期間 as the topic of the sentence:

契約期間は長い。 = As for the contract period, it is long.

This often sounds like you are making a general statement about it, or possibly contrasting it with something else.

If you said 契約期間が長い, that would focus more directly on the contract period as the thing that is long, often in a more neutral or descriptive way.

Very roughly:

は = speaking about the contract period
が = identifying the contract period as the thing that is long

Both can be natural, but は often has a more topic-comment feel.

Why does 長い come at the end?

Nihon-shiki romanizationwatasi ha tyuugoku kara kimasita

Hepburn romanizationwatashi wa chuugoku kara kimashita

Start learning Japanese now

Japanese sentences often place the main predicate at the end. Here, 長い is an i-adjective and it works as the predicate of the sentence.

So the structure is:

契約期間 = contract period
は = topic marker
長い = is long

This is a very normal Japanese sentence pattern: [topic] は [adjective]

For example:

この道は長い。 = This road is long.
夏は暑い。 = Summer is hot.

Is 長い a verb here?

No. 長い is an i-adjective, not a verb.

However, in Japanese, an i-adjective can act as the main predicate of a sentence by itself, so you do not need a separate word for is in plain style.

That is why:

契約期間は長い。

already means:

The contract period is long.

There is no missing is in Japanese here.

Why is there no です at the end?

Because this sentence is in plain style.

契約期間は長い。 = plain / casual / neutral written style
契約期間は長いです。 = polite style

Both are correct. The version without です is common in plain speech, writing, explanations, headlines, and dictionary-style examples.

So です is not required; it just changes the politeness level.

Can I say 契約期間は長いです?

Yes, absolutely.

契約期間は長い。 = plain
契約期間は長いです。 = polite

The meaning is basically the same. The choice depends on the situation:

plain style: casual conversation, notes, internal narration, informal writing
polite style: speaking to customers, coworkers in formal contexts, teachers, strangers, etc.

How is 長い being used here? Does it mean physical length or time length?

Here, 長い refers to duration, not physical length.

Japanese uses 長い for both:

something physically long
a long period of time

Since 契約期間 means a time period, 長い naturally means lasting a long time or having a long duration.

So here it means something like:

the contract term is long
the contract period is lengthy

Is this sentence natural Japanese?

Yes, it is natural and grammatically correct.

That said, depending on context, Japanese might also use more specific expressions such as:

契約期間が長い
契約期間は長めだ = the contract term is rather long
契約期間は長すぎる = the contract term is too long

But 契約期間は長い。 is perfectly normal as a simple statement.

Why are there no articles like the or a?

Japanese does not use articles like English does.

So 契約期間 can mean:

the contract period
a contract period
contract duration / contract term

The exact meaning depends on context.

This is very common in Japanese: nouns often appear without words equivalent to a or the.

Does 契約期間は長い imply comparison with something else?

Sometimes, yes.

Because は can create a contrastive nuance, the sentence can sometimes feel like:

As for the contract term, it’s long
possibly implying that something else is not long.

But this depends on context and intonation. It does not always have a strong contrast. Often it is just a simple topic marker.

So:

in isolation: probably just The contract term is long
in context: it may suggest contrast, such as with price, waiting time, or another plan’s contract term

Can 契約期間 be modified directly by 長い, like 長い契約期間?

Yes.

When an i-adjective comes before a noun, it modifies that noun directly:

長い契約期間 = a long contract period

Compare:

契約期間は長い。 = The contract period is long.
長い契約期間 = a long contract period

So the same adjective can be used either:

predicatively at the end of the sentence
attributively before the noun

How is 契約期間 pronounced?

It is pronounced:

けいやくきかん
keiyaku kikan

Breakdown:

契約 = けいやく
期間 = きかん

And the full sentence is:

けいやくきかんはながい。

Are the spaces in 契約期間　は　長い。 normal?

No, not in ordinary Japanese writing.

Normally it would be written as:

契約期間は長い。

Spaces are often added in learning materials to make the structure easier to see:

契約期間 / は / 長い

But standard Japanese usually does not put spaces between words like English does.

Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io