Learn Hardcore Japanese: kono kasyu ha totemo ninki desu.

In English we don’t mark the topic like this, so it often just gets translated as “This singer is very popular,” but the nuance in Japanese is “regarding this singer…”

Why isn’t there a particle after 歌手? Shouldn’t it be 歌手が or 歌手は?

There is a particle there: it’s は.

この歌手は
- この = this
- 歌手 = singer
- は = topic marker

You might be thinking of が, which is the subject marker. But:

When は is used, it replaces the usual subject marker が.
So you don’t say この歌手がは; you choose one: が or は.

Here, the speaker wants to set “this singer” as the topic, so they use は.

What does とても mean, and what is it modifying?

とても means “very”.

In this sentence, とても modifies 人気:

人気 = popularity / being popular
とても人気 = very popular

So the structure is:

とても (very) + 人気 (popular) + です (polite copula)

Just like English “very popular”, とても must come before the word it modifies.
You cannot say:

✗ 人気とてもです
✗ 人気ですとても

Those are ungrammatical or at least very unnatural.

What kind of word is 人気? Is it a noun or an adjective?

人気 (にんき) is originally a noun, meaning “popularity.”

However, in Japanese, some nouns can be used like na-adjectives (形容動詞). 人気 is often used in this way:

人気がある = “to have popularity” → “to be popular”
人気な歌手 = “a popular singer”

In この歌手はとても人気です, 人気です is literally “is popularity,” but it’s understood as “is popular.”

So you can think of 人気 here as a noun used adjectivally, functioning like “popular.”

Why is it 人気です and not 人気がある? Are both correct?

Both are grammatically correct, but the nuance and style differ:

この歌手はとても人気です。
- Literally: “This singer is very popularity.”
- Natural sense: “This singer is very popular.”
- A bit short, simple, and casual-in-feel; often used in conversation.
この歌手はとても人気があります。
- Literally: “This singer has a lot of popularity.”
- Natural sense: “This singer is very popular.”
- Sounds a bit more neutral and standard, especially in writing or more careful speech.

You’ll see and hear both. If you want to sound more textbook-natural, この歌手はとても人気があります is very safe. But 人気です is also widely used in everyday speech.

Why do we need です at the end? Could I just say この歌手はとても人気?

です is the polite copula, similar to “is / am / are” in English. In polite Japanese, sentences that end with a noun or na-adjective usually need です (or だ in casual speech).

Polite: この歌手はとても人気です。
Casual: この歌手はとても人気だ。

If you say この歌手はとても人気 and just stop, it sounds incomplete or at best very rough/elliptical in limited contexts.

So:

In normal polite speech → use です.
In casual speech with friends → you can use だ (not です).

Can this sentence also mean “This is a very popular singer”?

Yes, depending on context, it can be understood in two ways:

“This singer is very popular.”
- You’re already talking about a particular singer.
“This is a very popular singer.”
- Said while pointing to a person, a poster, a video, etc.

Japanese often leaves out “this is” / “he is” / “she is” explicitly, and この歌手は can function a bit like “this (person) is a singer and…”.

Context (who you’re talking about, what you’re pointing at) will make it clear which is intended.

What’s the difference between この歌手, その歌手, and あの歌手?

They all mean “this/that singer”, but the nuance changes based on distance (physical or psychological):

この歌手 – “this singer”
- Close to the speaker, or someone the speaker feels “close” to in the current context.
その歌手 – “that singer”
- Close to the listener, or something the listener just mentioned, or is “in the listener’s mind.”
あの歌手 – “that singer over there”
- Far from both speaker and listener (either physically or in conversation).

Example:

If you’re holding a CD and talking about the singer on it:
→ この歌手はとても人気です。 (“This singer is very popular.”)
If your friend just mentioned a singer:
→ その歌手はとても人気です。 (“That singer [you mentioned] is very popular.”)
Pointing at a distant stage or poster:
→ あの歌手はとても人気です。 (“That singer over there is very popular.”)

Could I change the word order, like とても人気です、この歌手は?

In everyday Japanese, you almost never say it that way. The normal word order is:

[Topic] は [Comment].
→ この歌手はとても人気です。

Japanese allows some word order flexibility, but putting この歌手は at the start as the topic is the default and most natural.

A sentence like とても人気です、この歌手は might appear in very stylized writing or dialogue for effect, but as a learner you should stick to:

この歌手はとても人気です。

How do I say the negative, like “This singer is not very popular”?

You have a couple of common options:

Using ではありません (polite negative of です):

この歌手はあまり人気ではありません。
→ “This singer is not very popular.”

Using 人気がありません:

この歌手はあまり人気がありません。
→ Literally: “This singer doesn’t have much popularity.”
→ Natural: “This singer is not very popular.”

Notes:

あまり means “not very / not much” when used with a negative form.
Don’t say あまり人気です — あまり needs a negative to follow.