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Questions & Answers about sakana ha oisii desu.
How is 魚 pronounced and what does it mean?
魚 is pronounced さかな (sakana) and means fish, referring generally to fish as food or creatures.
What role does the particle は play in this sentence?
The particle は marks 魚 as the topic of the sentence. It tells the listener, “I’m talking about fish,” and sets the stage for the comment that follows (おいしいです).
Why not use が instead of は to mark 魚?
は and が both can follow nouns but have different functions:
- は indicates the topic and often implies a general statement or contrast.
- が marks the grammatical subject and is used to present new or specific information.
Using 魚が would emphasize “it is fish that is delicious” (perhaps contrasting with something else), whereas 魚は simply states “as for fish, it’s delicious” in a general sense.
What kind of word is おいしい?
おいしい is an i-adjective (い形容詞). I-adjectives:
- End with い in their dictionary (plain) form.
- Can directly modify nouns (e.g., おいしい魚).
- Can serve as predicates without a copula, though often paired with です for politeness.
Why is です added after おいしい, and can it be omitted?
です is the polite copula, which adds formality and politeness. In this sentence, おいしいです is the present-polite form of the adjective. In casual speech, you can omit です and simply say:
- 魚はおいしい。
Why is the adjective おいしい placed after the noun in Japanese, while in English adjectives come before nouns?
In English, adjectives usually precede the noun (delicious fish). In Japanese, adjectives:
- Precede nouns when modifying them directly (おいしい魚 = “delicious fish”).
- Follow the topic or subject as predicates (魚はおいしいです = “Fish is delicious”) because they act like verbs in that position.
How do you turn this statement into a question in Japanese?
Add the question particle か at the end:
- 魚はおいしいですか。
In casual speech, you can drop か and use rising intonation: - 魚はおいしい？
How would you express "Fish was delicious" (past tense)?
Conjugate the i-adjective to past form and add です:
- 魚はおいしかったです。
In casual speech, you can drop です: - 魚はおいしかった。
Why are there no articles like “a” or “the” before 魚?
Japanese does not use articles like English. Definiteness is determined by context. If you want to specify “the fish” or “that fish,” you can add a demonstrative:
- その魚はおいしいです。 (That fish is delicious.)
- この魚はおいしいです。 (This fish is delicious.)