Learn Hardcore Japanese: kawa no kesiki ha sizukade kirei desu. - The view of the river is quiet and beautiful.

So 川の景色 literally feels like “river’s scenery” or “river scenery”.
の is connecting 川 (river) to 景色 (scenery) to show that the scenery is associated with the river.

What is the role of は in 川の景色は静かできれいです?

は is the topic marker. It tells you what the sentence is about.

川の景色は … = As for the river’s scenery … / The river’s scenery …

Japanese sentences are usually topic–comment:

Topic (before は): what we’re talking about
Comment (after は): what we’re saying about it

So:

Topic: 川の景色 (the river’s scenery)
Comment: 静かできれいです (is quiet and beautiful)

You could translate the structure as:
“Speaking of the river’s scenery, it is quiet and beautiful.”

Why is it 静かで and not just 静か before きれいです?

静かで is the te-form of the na-adjective 静か.

In Japanese, when you want to connect two adjectives that both describe the same noun, you typically:

Put the first adjective into its te-form, and
Leave the second adjective in its normal form.

Here:

静か → 静かで (te-form)
きれい stays as きれい before です

So:

静かできれいです ≈ “is quiet and beautiful”

Using just 静かきれいです would be ungrammatical. You need the で (the te-form) to link them.

Are 静か and きれい the same kind of adjective in Japanese?

Both 静か and きれい behave as na-adjectives (形容動詞) in grammar, even though きれい looks a bit like an i-adjective.

静か (shizuka) = quiet, calm
- Attributive: 静かな川 (a quiet river)
- Predicate (polite): 川は静かです (the river is quiet)
きれい (kirei) = pretty / beautiful / clean
- Attributive: きれいな川 (a beautiful river / a clean river)
- Predicate (polite): 川はきれいです (the river is beautiful / clean)

Key point: きれい ends in い, but it is not an i-adjective. It patterns like 静か: when it directly modifies a noun, it uses な (きれいな).

What exactly is で doing in 静かできれいです?

The で here is:

the te-form ending of the na-adjective 静か
functioning as a connector meaning something like “and” or “being … and …”

So:

静か + で + きれいです
≈ “(it) is quiet and beautiful”

This で is not the same as:

で meaning “at / in / by” (as in 学校で勉強する = “study at school”)
で as an instrumental marker (“with / by means of”)

Here it’s purely the te-form used to link adjectives.

Could we say 静かで、きれいです with a comma? Does that change the meaning?

You can write:

川の景色は静かで、きれいです。

The comma just adds a slight pause in writing and can make it feel a bit more careful or rhythmic, but:

Grammatically, it’s the same structure.
The meaning is essentially the same: “The river’s scenery is quiet and beautiful.”

In spoken Japanese, you might naturally pause a little there anyway. The comma just reflects that in writing.

Can I reverse the adjective order, like きれいで静かです? Does it sound different?

Yes, you can say:

川の景色はきれいで静かです。

This is grammatically correct and natural. However, order can slightly affect nuance or what you emphasize.

静かできれいです
- Feels like: it’s quiet, and (on top of that) beautiful
きれいで静かです
- Feels like: it’s beautiful, and (on top of that) quiet

In many everyday contexts, the difference is very subtle, and both will be understood simply as “quiet and beautiful.”

Could we say 静かできれいな川の景色です instead? How is that different from the original?

Yes:

静かできれいな川の景色です。

is also correct, but the structure is different.

Original sentence:
- 川の景色は静かできれいです。
- Topic: 川の景色
- Predicate: 静かできれいです
- Translation: The river’s scenery is quiet and beautiful.
Modified version:
- 静かできれいな川の景色です。
- Whole phrase 静かできれいな川の景色 is a noun phrase:
  “quiet and beautiful river scenery”
- The sentence is like: (これは) 静かできれいな川の景色です。
  = This is quiet and beautiful river scenery.

So:

Original: describing the river’s scenery.
Modified: identifying something as “quiet and beautiful river scenery.”

Both are correct, but they answer slightly different questions in context.

Why do we need です at the end? What would happen if I said 静かできれい only?

です is the polite copula, similar in function to “is/are” in English in this kind of sentence.

静かできれいです。
= “(It) is quiet and beautiful.” (polite)

If you just say:

静かできれい。

that’s a casual ending (dropping だ/です), which:

Is natural in informal speech among friends, especially in some speech styles.
But can sound unfinished or colloquial, depending on region and context.

More systematically:

静かできれいだ。 = casual/plain form (often in writing, or to yourself)
静かできれいです。 = polite form (standard conversation, talking to strangers, etc.)

In beginner textbooks, です is taught as the default polite ending.

Could I use が instead of は and say 川の景色が静かできれいです? How would that change things?

You can say:

川の景色が静かできれいです。

It is grammatically correct, but は and が differ in nuance.

川の景色は静かできれいです。
- は marks topic: what we’re talking about.
- Neutral description: “As for the river’s scenery, it is quiet and beautiful.”
川の景色が静かできれいです。
- が often marks the subject in a descriptive or contrastive sense.
- Could feel more like you’re identifying or highlighting the river’s scenery among options
  (e.g., “It’s the river’s scenery that is quiet and beautiful,” as opposed to something else).

In isolation, the は version feels more like a straightforward descriptive sentence you’d see in a textbook.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence 川の景色は静かできれいです?

In romaji (standard Hepburn):

kawa no keshiki wa shizuka de kirei desu

Syllable-by-syllable:

か・わ (kawa) – river
の (no) – “of”
け・し・き (keshiki) – scenery
は (wa) – topic marker (written は, pronounced wa)
し・ず・か・で (shizuka de) – quiet + te-form
き・れ・い (kirei) – pretty / beautiful
です (desu) – polite copula (often pronounced almost like des)

Spoken smoothly:
kawa no keshiki wa shizuka de kirei desu

Japanese usually doesn’t use spaces, so why is the sentence written as 川　の　景色　は　静かで　きれい　です。 with spaces?

In real Japanese writing, you would normally see:

川の景色は静かできれいです。

with no spaces.

The version with spaces:

川　の　景色　は　静かで　きれい　です。

is a teaching aid used in textbooks and classrooms to:

Separate words or grammar units clearly
Help learners see where particles like の and は attach
Make it easier to parse the sentence structure

So the spaces are for learners, not part of normal native writing.

What’s the nuance of 景色? Is it just “view,” or something more like “landscape”?

景色 (けしき, keshiki) is often translated as “scenery,” “view,” or “landscape.”

Nuance:

Refers broadly to what you see in a place (nature, townscape, etc.).
Often used for natural scenery, but also for cityscapes, depending on context.

Examples:

山の景色 – mountain scenery / the view of the mountains
窓からの景色 – the view from the window
海の景色 – sea/ocean scenery

So 川の景色 is very naturally “the scenery of the river” or “the view of the river area,” not just a small “peek” but the overall scene.

Could I say something shorter like 川は静かできれいです instead of 川の景色は静かできれいです? Does that sound different?

Yes, you can say:

川は静かできれいです。
= “The river is quiet and beautiful.”

Differences:

川の景色は …
- Focuses specifically on the scenery/view of the river.
- You’re talking about what it looks like.
川は …
- Talks about the river itself being quiet and beautiful.
- Could include more general qualities (sound, atmosphere, appearance).

In many real contexts, both might be used, but 川の景色は is more precise if you want to highlight what you see.