nihongo ha omosiroi gengo desu.

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Questions & Answers about nihongo ha omosiroi gengo desu.

Why is used after 日本語 instead of or ?
  • is the topic marker. It introduces 日本語 as “the thing we’re talking about.”
  • marks the grammatical subject when you’re emphasizing new information or answering “What…?”
  • marks a direct object and isn’t used for descriptions.
    So 日本語は… means “As for Japanese, …,” which fits a general statement about the language.
Why does the sentence end with です? What happens if I drop it?
  • です is the polite copula, equivalent to “is” in polite speech.
  • In casual/plain style you’d use :
    日本語は面白い言語だ。
  • You can also say simply 日本語は面白いです (“Japanese is interesting”).
  • Omitting です/だ altogether (日本語は面白い言語) sounds abrupt or like a heading.
Why is 面白い placed before 言語? Don’t adjectives usually follow nouns in Japanese?
  • In Japanese, adjectives–both -adjectives and -adjectives–come before the nouns they modify, just like in English.
  • 面白い言語 literally means “interesting language.” The adjective precedes the noun.
What type of adjective is 面白い, and how does it change in different forms?
  • 面白い is an い-adjective (dictionary form ends in い).
  • It can:
    • Modify nouns: 面白い本 “interesting book”
    • End a sentence: この本は面白い。
    • Change form:
    • Past: 面白かった / 面白かったです
    • Negative: 面白くない / 面白くないです
Why include 言語 when 日本語 already means “Japanese language”?
  • 日本語 alone does mean “Japanese (language),” so 日本語は面白いです is perfectly natural.
  • Adding 言語 makes the structure explicit—“Japanese” → “is an interesting language”—and gives practice with the noun 言語.
What are the readings and meanings of 日本語, 面白い, and 言語?
  • 日本語 (にほんご, Nihongo): “Japanese language”
  • 面白い (おもしろい, omoshiroi): “interesting,” “amusing”
  • 言語 (げんご, gengo): “language”
What’s the real difference between topic () and subject (), and why does it matter here?
  • introduces 日本語 as the topic/context: “As for Japanese, …”
  • highlights or identifies a new subject: “It is Japanese that …”
  • Using here (日本語が面白い言語です) would sound like you’re answering “Which language is interesting?” rather than making a general statement.