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Questions & Answers about kono yama ha takai desu.
What does この mean, and why is there no particle after it?
この is a demonstrative adjective meaning “this.” It directly modifies the noun 山, so it doesn’t need its own particle between it and the noun.
Why is 山 followed by は, and what does this particle do?
は is the topic marker. It tells us that この山 (“this mountain”) is the topic of the sentence. In English we might say, “As for this mountain, (it is tall).”
Could you use が instead of は here?
You could say この山が高いです, but using が marks this mountain as the grammatical subject with a sense of new information or emphasis. は feels more like stating a known topic.
What part of speech is 高い, and why isn’t there a separate verb?
高い is an i-adjective (い形容詞). In Japanese, i-adjectives can function like verbs to describe a state, so you don’t need another verb like “to be.”
Why do we add です after 高い?
Adding です makes the sentence polite. In formal speech you attach です even to i-adjectives. In casual speech you could drop です and just say この山は高い.
How would you say this sentence in plain (casual) form?
In casual speech you simply drop です:
この山は高い
Why are there spaces between each word in この 山 は 高い です。?
Native Japanese writing doesn’t use spaces; this spacing is often used in textbooks to help learners identify word boundaries.
What is the normal word order in Japanese, and how does this sentence follow it?
Japanese typically follows Topic-Comment (or SOV) order. Here we have Topic (この山は) + Predicate (高いです). The predicate (adjective or verb) always goes at the end.
If I wanted to say “That mountain over there is tall,” how would I change この?
Use the demonstrative あの for something farther away:
あの山は高いです。