Breakdown of watasi no tomodati ha ii hito desu.
はha
topic particle
ですdesu
to be
私watasi
I
友達tomodati
friend
いいii
good
人hito
person
のno
possessive case particle
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have hundreds of Japanese lessons and thousands of exercises.
Questions & Answers about watasi no tomodati ha ii hito desu.
Why do we use the particle の after 私 in 私の友達?
The particle の indicates a possessive relationship, similar to ’s in English. Here, 私 + の + 友達 literally means “my friend.”
Why is 友達 marked with は instead of が?
The particle は marks the topic of the sentence—the thing we’re talking about. “As for my friend” is the topic, and いい人です gives more information about that topic. Using が would emphasize the subject or introduce new information.
Why do we say いい人 instead of one word, and why is いい used instead of よい?
いい is the colloquial form of the adjective よい, and it’s far more common in everyday speech. Adjectives in Japanese (i-adjectives) stand on their own and directly modify nouns, so いい and 人 remain separate: いい人 means “good person.”
What role does です play at the end of the sentence?
です is the polite copula, equivalent to “is” in English. It attaches to a noun or adjective to form a polite declarative statement.
Can we drop 私の and simply say 友達はいい人です?
Yes. Japanese often omits elements that are clear from context. If it’s obvious whose friend you’re talking about, you can leave out 私の.
Can we replace です with だ in this sentence?
In casual speech, you can use the plain copula だ: 私の友達はいい人だ. However, だ is less polite, so you’d avoid it in formal or polite contexts.
How is 友達 pronounced and what is its reading?
友達 is pronounced ともだち (tomodachi). The kanji 友 is read とも and 達 is read だち in this word.
What’s the difference between 友達 and 友人?
Both mean “friend,” but 友達 is more casual and common in spoken Japanese, while 友人 is more formal and often used in writing or polite contexts.
Why is the predicate いい人です placed at the end, unlike English where we say “My friend is a good person”?
Japanese sentence structure typically places the predicate (verb or adjective + copula) at the end. You introduce the topic first (私の友達は), then finish with the predicate (いい人です).