sono haiyuu ha yuumei desu.

A common pronunciation guide is:

sono haiyuu wa yuumei desu

In kana only:

その はいゆう は ゆうめい です

A few notes:

• 俳優 = はいゆう = haiyuu
• 有名 = ゆうめい = yuumei
• The particle は is written ha but pronounced wa here.
• In careful speech, です is desu, but in natural speech the u is often very light, so it can sound a bit like des.

Because here は is a particle, not part of a normal word.

When は is used as the topic marker, it is pronounced wa. This is one of the first pronunciation exceptions learners meet in Japanese.

So in this sentence:

俳優 は → haiyuu wa

This does not change the spelling. It is still written は.

その is a demonstrative determiner. It goes before a noun and means something like:

• that
• the (depending on context)
• that ... we’re talking about

So:

• その俳優 = that actor

A useful comparison:

• この俳優 = this actor
• その俳優 = that actor / the actor you mentioned
• あの俳優 = that actor over there

A simple way to remember その: it usually refers to something near the listener or something already mentioned in the conversation.

The は marks 俳優 as the topic of the sentence.

So the sentence structure is roughly:

• その俳優は = as for that actor
• 有名です = is famous

Japanese often works in a topic-comment pattern rather than a strict English-style subject-predicate pattern.

So a very literal breakdown is:

As for that actor, [he/she] is famous.

In many beginner sentences, the topic and the subject feel similar, but they are not always exactly the same thing.

Yes, but more specifically, 有名 is a na-adjective.

Japanese has two major adjective types that beginners learn:

• i-adjectives like 高い
• na-adjectives like 有名

That matters because 有名 behaves differently depending on where it appears.

At the end of a sentence:

• その俳優は有名です。

Before a noun:

• 有名な俳優 = a famous actor

Notice the な before the noun. That is a key feature of na-adjectives.

Because 有名 is not directly modifying a noun in this sentence.

Compare:

• 有名な俳優 = a famous actor

  • Here 有名 directly describes 俳優, so it needs な.

• その俳優は有名です = That actor is famous

  • Here 有名 is at the end as the main description of the topic, so no な is used.

So:

• before a noun → 有名な
• at the end of a sentence → 有名です / 有名だ

です adds politeness and functions like a polite sentence ending, often compared to is/am/are in beginner explanations.

So:

• 有名です = is famous in polite style

A useful thing to know is that です does not always match English to be perfectly. In beginner translations, it is often treated that way because it helps make sense of the sentence.

Style comparison:

• その俳優は有名です。 = polite
• その俳優は有名だ。 = plain / less polite

So in this sentence, です makes the statement sound polite and natural.

Yes. Japanese word order is often different from English.

English:

• That actor is famous.

Japanese:

• その俳優は有名です。
• literally, something like As for that actor, famous is.

A simple pattern for many beginner Japanese sentences is:

Topic + は + description + です

So this sentence follows a very common structure:

• その俳優 = topic
• は = topic marker
• 有名 = description
• です = polite ending

Japanese does not use articles like English does.

There is no direct equivalent of:

• a
• an
• the

Instead, Japanese relies on:

• context
• demonstratives like この / その / あの
• word order and situation

In this sentence, その already makes the noun specific, so その俳優 naturally gives the idea of that actor or sometimes the actor in question.

So the lack of the is normal in Japanese.

No. Normally, Japanese is written without spaces.

So this sentence would usually appear as:

その俳優は有名です。

Beginner materials often insert spaces to make it easier to see the parts:

• その
• 俳優
• は
• 有名
• です

But in real Japanese writing, you generally should not expect spaces between words.

In standard speech, that sounds incomplete by itself.

Usually you would say either:

• その俳優は有名です。 = polite
• その俳優は有名だ。 = plain

However, in very casual conversation, Japanese sometimes drops endings when the meaning is obvious. So you might hear sentence fragments, but as a learner, it is better to use:

• 有名です or
• 有名だ

depending on the level of politeness you want.

Yes, if the context already makes it clear which actor you mean.

For example:

• 俳優は有名です。

But this changes the nuance. Without その, it can sound more general or more dependent on context, and in some situations it may sound unnatural unless the topic is already clear.

Using その makes the reference more specific:

• that actor
• the actor we’re talking about

So その helps anchor the sentence to a specific person.

They are different structures.

その俳優は有名です

• a full sentence
• That actor is famous

その有名な俳優

• just a noun phrase, not a full sentence by itself
• that famous actor

Breakdown:

• 有名です = predicate at the end of a sentence
• 有名な俳優 = famous actor, where 有名 modifies 俳優

So if you want a complete statement, use:

• その俳優は有名です。

If you just want to refer to someone as that famous actor, use:

• その有名な俳優

In modern Japanese, 俳優 can be used for actor in a general sense, though it has also often been associated with performers in general and can sometimes feel somewhat male-leaning depending on context and speaker.

A common specifically female term is:

• 女優 = actress

However, usage can vary, and modern language choices are changing. In many beginner materials, 俳優 is simply taught as actor.

So in this sentence, the grammar does not tell you the person’s gender. That would come from context.

A common casual version is:

その俳優は有名だ。

This is the plain-style counterpart of:

その俳優は有名です。

Very casual speech may also shorten or soften things depending on the speaker, but the standard polite/plain contrast is:

• 有名です = polite
• 有名だ = plain

For learners, this is one of the most useful style pairs to remember.