Learn Hardcore Japanese: kanozyo ha totemo sinsetu desu.

彼女 (かのじょ) – she / her
は – topic particle: marks 彼女 as the topic, like “as for her / speaking of her”
とても – adverb meaning very
親切 (しんせつ) – kind, a na-adjective (more on that below)
です – polite sentence ending (copula), similar to is / am / are, used to make the sentence polite

Put together: As for her, (she) is very kind (polite) → “She is very kind.”

Why is the particle は used here instead of が?

は marks the topic: what we’re talking about.
が usually marks the subject: who/what is doing or being something, often when the information is new or being contrasted.

In 彼女はとても親切です:

We’re simply talking about her as a topic and giving information about her:
- 彼女は – “as for her” / “she (speaking of her)”

If you used が (彼女がとても親切です), it would sound more like:

“She is the one who is very kind (as opposed to someone else)”
Used in contrast or when emphasizing that she, specifically, is the kind one.

For a neutral statement like “She is very kind,” は is the natural choice.

What kind of word is 親切? Is it a verb, an adjective, or something else?

親切 (しんせつ) is a na-adjective (形容動詞) in Japanese.

Na-adjectives behave grammatically like nouns that need な or だ / です to connect.
On its own: 親切
Before a noun: 親切な人 – “a kind person”
As a predicate with だ / です:
- 彼女は親切だ – “She is kind.” (plain)
- 彼女は親切です – “She is kind.” (polite)

So in 彼女はとても親切です, 親切 is the na-adjective “kind,” and です works like “is.”

Why is there no particle after とても?

とても is an adverb, and adverbs in Japanese (just like in English) do not need particles.

It modifies the adjective 親切 directly:
- とても親切 – “very kind”

Just like English doesn’t say “She is in very kind,” Japanese doesn’t attach a particle to とても.

Are there other words similar to とても? Is it formal, casual, or neutral?

とても is:

Common
Neutral
Fine in both polite and casual situations

Similar words:

すごく親切 – very / incredibly kind (more casual, emotional in tone)
とっても親切 – cute / casual variant of とても (spoken, informal)
たいへん親切 – very / extremely kind (a bit more formal or serious)
ものすごく親切 – extremely kind (stronger emphasis, often spoken)

For learners, とても is a safe, standard choice in most situations.

Can I change the word order, like 彼女は親切ですとても?

No; that is not natural Japanese.

Basic pattern here is:

[Topic] は [adverb] [adjective] です
彼女は とても 親切です

You generally cannot move とても to the end like English “She is kind, very.”
It must go before the adjective it modifies:

✔ とても親切
✘ 親切ですとても

Can I omit 彼女 and just say とても親切です?

Yes, if it’s clear from context who you’re talking about.

Japanese often drops pronouns and topics when they’re understood. For example:

Person A: 先生はどうですか。 – “How is the teacher?”
Person B: とても親切です。 – “(They) are very kind.”

Here, 先生 is already known, so 彼女 or 彼 / その人 can be omitted.

If context is not clear, you should keep 彼女は or use the person’s name or role.

Does 彼女 always just mean “she,” or can it mean “girlfriend” too?

彼女 (かのじょ) has two common meanings:

she / her – third-person pronoun for a female
girlfriend – “(my) girlfriend / (his) girlfriend,” depending on context

Examples:

彼女はとても親切です。 – “She is very kind.”
彼女がいます。 – “I have a girlfriend.”

Context (and sometimes intonation or previous sentences) tells you which meaning is intended. In an isolated sentence calling someone 彼女 can sometimes be ambiguous, but often the situation clears it up.

Why is です used here instead of だ?

です is the polite copula; だ is the plain (informal) one.

彼女はとても親切です。 – polite; used in most formal or neutral situations, with teachers, coworkers, etc.
彼女はとても親切だ。 – plain; used in writing, among close friends, or when narrating.

Meaning is essentially the same (“She is very kind”), but politeness level changes.

As a beginner, defaulting to です / ます style is usually safest.

How would I make this sentence negative or past tense?

Starting from 彼女はとても親切です:

Negative (polite):

彼女はあまり親切じゃないです。 – “She is not very kind.”
- あまり pairs naturally with negatives.
Or more literal negative of the original:
- 彼女はとても親切じゃないです。 – “She is really not kind (at all).”

Past (polite):

彼女はとても親切でした。 – “She was very kind.”

Past negative (polite):

彼女はあまり親切じゃなかったです。 – “She was not very kind.”

For na-adjectives like 親切, the pattern is:

親切です → 親切じゃないです → 親切でした → 親切じゃなかったです

Is 親切 only used for women, since the example has 彼女?

No. 親切 (kind) is gender-neutral.

You can use it for anyone:

彼はとても親切です。 – He is very kind.
あの人は親切です。 – That person is kind.
店員さんは親切でした。 – The store clerk was kind.

The choice of 彼女 in this sentence just makes the subject female; the adjective itself is not gendered.

Is this sentence formal, casual, or somewhere in between?

彼女はとても親切です。 is polite standard Japanese:

Uses です, not だ, so it’s not casual.
It’s perfectly appropriate for:
- Speaking to teachers
- Speaking to coworkers or customers
- Most everyday polite situations

More casual variants:

彼女はすごく親切だよ。 – casual, friendly
あの子、めっちゃ親切。 – very casual, slangy (めっちゃ).

How do you pronounce the whole sentence naturally?

In romaji:

かのじょはとてもしんせつです。
kanojo wa totemo shinsetsu desu.

Rhythm tips:

Smoothly group it as: kanojo-wa / totemo / shinsetsu-desu
The は is pronounced wa (because it’s the topic particle).
The u at the end of です (desu) is usually very light, almost like “dess” in natural speech.