tonari no mise wa yasui desu.

Word
隣となり　の　店みせ　は　安やすい　です。tonari no mise wa yasui desu.
Meaning
The shop next door is cheap.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Hardcore Japanese
Lesson
Lesson 24
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Questions & Answers about tonari no mise wa yasui desu.

What does the particle の do in 隣の店?
の links two nouns, turning the first into a modifier of the second. Here, 隣 (next/next-door) modifies 店 (shop), so 隣の店 means “the shop next door.”
Why is the topic particle written は but pronounced “wa” here?
When は is used as the topic particle, it’s pronounced “wa.” So 店は is read “mise wa,” not “mise ha.” In other positions (inside words like はな, flower), it’s “ha.”
Is です necessary after an い-adjective like 安い?
No. 安い by itself is a complete predicate (plain/casual). 安いです is the polite form. Both are grammatical; choose based on formality.
Can I say 安いだ?
No. い-adjectives (like 安い) never take だ. Use 安い (plain) or 安いです (polite). だ is for nouns and な-adjectives.
What’s the difference between は and が in this sentence?
  • 隣の店は安いです。 Sets “the shop next door” as the topic and comments about it; often contrastive or known topic.
  • 隣の店が安いです。 Focuses on identifying the subject as “the one that is cheap.” Natural as an answer to “Which shop is cheap?”
When would I say 隣の店が安いです instead?

Use が when you’re identifying the cheap shop among options or answering a “which”/“who” question:

  • どの店が安いですか。— 隣の店が安いです。
What exactly does 隣 mean? Is it the same as 近く, 近所, or 横?
  • 隣 (となり): “next to,” “adjacent” (typically immediately neighboring and often same type/category: seats, houses, shops).
  • 近く / 近所: “nearby/in the neighborhood,” not necessarily adjacent.
  • 横 (よこ): “beside/side,” spatially to the side; can overlap with “next to” but emphasizes side position rather than adjacency within a category.
How do I pronounce the whole sentence, and what are the readings?

Tonari no mise wa yasui desu. Readings: 隣(となり), 店(みせ), 安い(やすい), は(wa), です(desu).

Why are there spaces between the words in what I saw?
Japanese normally has no spaces. Textbooks and learning materials often add spaces to show word boundaries for learners.
Is 店 read みせ or てん, and what’s the difference?
Alone as “shop,” it’s みせ. In many Sino-Japanese compounds it’s てん, e.g., 店員(てんいん) “store clerk,” 支店(してん) “branch store.”
Can I use お店 instead of 店?
Yes. お店 adds a politeness/respect nuance toward the shop or listener. Both are common; お店 is slightly softer/politer.
How do I make negative and past forms with 安い?
  • Plain present: 安い
  • Plain negative: 安くない
  • Plain past: 安かった
  • Plain past negative: 安くなかった
  • Polite present: 安いです
  • Polite negative: 安くないです or 安くありません
  • Polite past: 安かったです
  • Polite past negative: 安くなかったです or 安くありませんでした
Can I add ね or よ at the end? What changes?
  • 安いですね。 Seeking agreement/soft reaction (“It’s cheap, isn’t it?”).
  • 安いですよ。 Informing/emphasizing to the listener (“It’s cheap, you know.”).
Can I rearrange the words, like 店は隣の安いです?
No. Modifiers come before the noun they modify, and 隣の must be followed by a noun (e.g., 店). Say 隣の店は安いです. To contrast shops: この店は高いですが、隣の店は安いです。
How do I say “The shop next door is cheaper (than this one)”?
  • 隣の店のほうが安いです。
  • More explicit: 隣の店のほうがこの店より安いです。 To mean “much cheaper,” use ずっと安いです.
How do I ask this as a question?

Polite: 隣の店は安いですか。
Casual: 隣の店、安い？

Does 隣の店 mean a specific shop even without “the”?
Yes, context supplies definiteness in Japanese. 隣の店 naturally refers to “the shop next door” that both speakers can identify from context, even though Japanese has no articles like “the/a.”