Breakdown of kono hotchikisu wa chiisai desu ga, kopiiyoushi o juumai matomeraremasu.
はwa
topic particle
ですdesu
to be
小さいchiisai
small
をo
direct object particle
Questions & Answers about kono hotchikisu wa chiisai desu ga, kopiiyoushi o juumai matomeraremasu.
Why is there a は after このホッチキス?
は marks the topic of the sentence.
So このホッチキスは means something like:
- As for this stapler, ...
- This stapler, ...
The speaker is introducing this stapler as the thing they are going to comment on.
If you used が instead, it would sound more like you are specifically identifying this stapler as the one with that property, rather than simply talking about it as the topic.
Why is it 小さいです and not 小さいだ?
小さい is an い-adjective, so it does not take だ.
- Correct: 小さいです
- Incorrect: 小さいだ
With い-adjectives, the adjective itself already functions as the predicate, and です is added only to make it polite.
So:
- 小さい = is small
- 小さいです = is small (polite)
This is different from な-adjectives and nouns, which do use だ / です:
- 静かだ / 静かです
- 先生だ / 先生です
What does が mean here? Is it really but?
