Breakdown of watasi no ie ha ookii desu.
はha
topic particle
ですdesu
to be
私watasi
I
大きいookii
big
のno
possessive case particle
家ie
house
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Questions & Answers about watasi no ie ha ookii desu.
What does の do in 私の家?
の is the possessive particle. It links 私 (I/me) and 家 (house) to mean my house.
Why is は placed after 家, and what does it mark?
は marks the topic of the sentence—the thing you’re talking about or describing. Here it tells the listener “as for my house…”.
What’s the difference between は and が when marking a noun?
- は introduces the topic (often known information or something you want to talk about).
- が marks the grammatical subject, often to present new information or emphasis.
Why is です used at the end of the sentence? What role does it play?
です is the polite copula (the “to be” verb). It turns 大きい into a polite statement, similar to saying “is” in English but with a polite nuance.
Can you omit です here? What happens if you do?
Yes. Without です, you get 私の家は大きい, which is casual. Adding です makes it polite; dropping it makes it more colloquial (friendly or informal).
Why isn’t there an explicit English-style “is” in the sentence?
Japanese replaces the English “is/am/are” with です (polite) or だ (plain). There’s no separate word exactly like English “is”; the copula attaches at the end.
Why is 大きい used here instead of a verb?
大きい is an い-adjective, which can serve as a predicate on its own (like a verb). It describes the state of the topic (the house being big) without needing a separate verb.
If you wanted to say “a big house,” where would 大きい go?
As an attributive adjective before the noun: 大きい家 means “big house.” When it predicates (“is big”), it goes after the topic and before です.
Why are there spaces in 私 の 家 は 大きい です when Japanese usually doesn’t use them?
Spaces are added here for learners to clearly separate words and particles. Native Japanese writing typically runs them together without spaces.