Breakdown of watasi no kuruma ha tiisai desu.
はha
topic particle
ですdesu
to be
私watasi
I
車kuruma
car
小さいtiisai
small
のno
possessive case particle
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Questions & Answers about watasi no kuruma ha tiisai desu.
What does の indicate in 私の車?
の is the possessive (or attributive) particle. It links the possessor (私, “I/my”) with the thing possessed (車, “car”). So 私の車 literally means “my car.”
Why is は used after 車 instead of が?
は marks the topic of the sentence—the thing we’re talking about—whereas が marks the subject, often introducing new information. In 私の車は小さいです, you’re saying “(As for) my car, it is small.” Using が would shift the nuance to simply stating “My car is small” as new information, but は gives a sense of contrast or established topic.
Why do we need です after 小さい when 小さい is already an adjective?
In polite Japanese, です is the copula (a polite “to be”). Although 小さい is an い-adjective and can stand alone to describe something, adding です makes the statement more polite. Informally, you might say 私の車は小さい without です, but in most formal or polite contexts you add です.
Can I omit 私の and just say 車は小さいです?
Yes, you can omit 私の if the owner is clear from context. Japanese often drops topics or subjects when they’re understood. If you’ve already established that you’re talking about your car, 車は小さいです is perfectly natural.
Why is 私 (watashi) used here? Are there other ways to say “I”?
私 (watashi) is the neutral, polite first-person pronoun. In casual speech, men might use 僕 (boku) or 俺 (ore), and women might use あたし (atashi). In very formal contexts, people sometimes avoid pronouns altogether and use one’s name plus は.
Could I say 私の車が小さいです instead?
Yes—but the nuance changes. が marks the subject, so 私の車が小さいです simply asserts “My car is small,” often in response to a question like “Which car is small?” Meanwhile, は in 私の車は… makes 私の車 the topic, as if you’re commenting on your car in a broader conversation.
What’s the difference between 小さい and 小さな before a noun?
Both mean “small,” but:
- 小さい is an い-adjective and goes after the noun with です if used predicatively: 車は小さいです.
- 小さな is a な-adjective and must come directly before a noun to modify it: 小さな車 (“a small car”). You cannot say 車は小さなです.
Why doesn’t Japanese require a verb like “to be” (e.g., ある)?
Japanese uses the copula だ/です as its “to be.” You don’t use ある for identifying or describing; ある expresses existence or location of inanimate things (e.g., 車がある, “there is a car”). To say “A is B,” you attach だ (casual) or です (polite) after the adjective or noun.