shiharai wa sumaho de dekimasu.

You can pay with your smartphone.

Breakdown of shiharai wa sumaho de dekimasu.

• は: topic particle
• で: means particle
• スマホ: smartphone
• できる: to be able to do

Questions & Answers about shiharai wa sumaho de dekimasu.

Why is 支払い used instead of 支払う?

Because 支払い is the noun “payment,” whereas 支払う is the verb “to pay.” In this sentence we’re talking about the concept of payment as a topic: “As for payments, (they) can be done by smartphone.”

What does the particle は mark here? Could we use が instead?

は marks 支払い as the topic (“as for payment”). If you used が — 支払いがスマホでできます — you’d be marking “payment” as the grammatical subject of できます (“payment can be done by smartphone”), which puts a bit more emphasis on the existence or availability of the service. Both are grammatically correct but carry slightly different nuances.

Why is スマホ written in katakana?

スマホ is an abbreviation of the English word “smartphone.” Japanese writes loanwords and their abbreviations in katakana to show they come from other languages.

What role does the particle で play after スマホ?

で indicates the means or instrument used to perform an action. Here it means “with” or “using”: you make the payment with a smartphone.

What kind of verb is できます? Why not できる?