kore wa hon desu.

this

Breakdown of kore wa hon desu.

• は: topic particle
• です: to be
• 本ほん: book

Questions & Answers about kore wa hon desu.

What does これ mean and what kind of word is it?

これ is a demonstrative pronoun meaning this (thing)—it stands in for a noun that is close to the speaker. In English we might say “this” on its own, but in Japanese これ replaces the noun entirely rather than modifying it.

Why is は used after これ, and what does it indicate?

は is the topic-marker particle. It tells us that これ (“this”) is what we’ll be talking about. A rough breakdown:

• これ (this) → topic of the sentence
• は marks “this” as the topic
  By marking “this” as the topic, the rest of the sentence comments on or describes it.

Why isn’t there a particle after 本? Shouldn’t every noun have a particle?

In a copular sentence of the form A は B です, B is simply the predicate noun (the complement of the copula) and doesn’t need an extra particle. Here’s the structure:

• Topic: これ は
• Predicate noun: 本
• Copula: です
  Since 本 is directly linked to です, no additional particle is required.

What is です, and why do we use it here?