～んです・のです - Grammar Discussion

Grammar Points
#21

@mrnoone Thank you for your reply. It’s clear now.

On a different note, I have a suggestion. Would it be difficult to add some kind of a “Favorites” section to the site and add an “Add to favorites” button to every sample sentence displayed in the study process? As I go through the study process, I notice that some sentences are especially interesting/useful and it would be great to have a place where I could access them for a review at some later time. Thank you.

BTW, I’m on a free trial now, I’ll subscribe when it’s over. If such a feature already exists in a paid version, then I’m sorry for bothering you. :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#22

@andrey1267

Thank you very much, feel free to ask anything :+1:
We don’t have a feature to add individual sentences to “favorites” (yet), however, you can add the whole grammar point instead:

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You can also use “note” function to copy-paste interesting sentences for the time being.
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By the way, the trial version is identical to the full version :wink: Cheers!

1 Like
#23

Hey, I wanted to discuss a bit more about the nuiance of のです。I understand that it can be use after a verb like so

今日は学校に行くのですね。

But can the verb be in another tense and form?

合計五百漢字を習いましたのです。

Or is it something like this?

合計五百漢字を習ったのです。

2 Likes
#24

Hey and welcome on the community forums again! :partying_face:
I haven’t seen your avatar for a very long time, glad to see it again :blush:

The verb can be used in another tense, but it should be in the short form.
Verb itself can take all tenses, negative forms, progressive form (ている), etc.
However, since verb already contains information about the tense, negative, you don’t have to (and must not) change のです(のだ）at all. Also, If you want to make phrase polite, you simply change だ to です and it will be enough.

To sum up:
verb(short form) + ん/の + だ/です

So, let’s see some examples:
If you want to say “(someone) went to school, right?”

学校に行きましたのですね。- wrong (verb should be in short form)
学校に行くのでしたね。- wrong (verb should be in past tense, のだ shouldn’t be inflected)
学校に行ったのですね。- good (polite)
学校に行ったのだね。- good

If you want to say “Someone (went to school and) is at school, right?” or “(Someone) is going to school (right now), right?” (depends on context)

学校に行っていますのですね。- wrong (verb should be in short form)
学校に行っているのですね。- good (polite)
学校に行っているのだね。- good

If you want to say “(someone) didn’t go to school, right?”

学校に行きませんでしたのですね。 - wrong (verb should be in short form)
学校に行くのじゃなかったですね。- wrong (verb should be in negative past, のだ shouldn’t be inflected)
学校に行かなかったのですね - good (polite)
学校に行かなかったのだね - good

If you want to say “(someone) does not go to school, right?” or “(someone) will not go to school, right?”

学校に行くのじゃないですね。 - wrong (verb should be in negative form, のだ shouldn’t be inflected)
学校に行かないのだね。 - good
学校に行かないのですね。 - good (polite)

So only:

合計五百漢字を習ったのです。

is correct.

I hope it helps (and I haven’t overcomplicated explanation), if clarification is needed just ask!
Cheers :+1:

5 Likes
#25

Thank you for the clarification!! That is extremely helpful, because I did try and research this before asking, but I didn’t see any concrete example like the ones you provided. Much appreciated.

2 Likes
#26

Why can I not use よ in this example?
忘わすれる のです 。

I will forget.

2 Likes
#27

Hello! On WK forums this link was posted:

It seems to be appropriate for given grammar point, however it is not listed in reading materials.
If it is on purpose, is there a better grammar point for given Tae Kim’s article?

Thanks!

2 Likes
#28

Hey and welcome on the community forums! :partying_face:

I have added it to the reading materials :+1:

Thanks for the suggestion!

2 Likes
#29

Can I ask why 覚おぼえるんです is considered as “I will remember” rather than “I remember”? Same with 忘わすれるのです. I don’t really get why they use “will” rather than a present-tense.

#30

These are both plain form, which in this instance means it is in the future tense. To make it present tense (-ing) you would need to say 覚えている and 忘れている.

2 Likes
#31

Oh. That makes sense. Thank you!

#32

Sorry to bother. When I saw “the bus is late”, and was asked for explaining/emphasis, I went with “ですよ”.
I can see now, after getting it wrong, that the system wanted のです.
That said, is it also the case that バスは遅おそいですよ emphasizes something to the listener?

1 Like
#33

@chrischriskurisu
Hey and long time no see!

Particle よ is a particle expressing strong assertion.
That is, when you have an information and you believe that the interlocutor (person you are talking with) doesn’t know it, then you add よ to emphasize that.

Another use, basically extension of the above is when you try to change the way someone thinks about something. Make them adopt your line of thought. Because of that it might not be the best particle to use towards your boss!

On the other hand, のだ・んだ expresses additional explanation, for example reason (You can think in some cases for んだ to mean “it is because” or “it is that”), describe something (summarize it), express determination. It kinds of adds “background” to what interlocutor knows.

So to sum up:
Both are ok, but a slightly different nuances.

よ - assertion, imposing your views to others
の - supplying background information like reason, explaining, people speaking have common context

バスはきっと遅れるよ。このあたりは渋滞がひどいんです。電車で行った方がよいですよ。
The bus will be late for sure! (assertion/new information) It is because there is heavy traffic in vicinity. (providing explanation) You should go by bus. (changing someones line of though)

I hope it helps,
Cheers!

1 Like
#34

Dropping in with a bit of local dialect trivia!

「んだ」 is one of the most prominent and well-known aspects of the Yamagata Prefecture dialect (山形弁). It’s used on is own as an affirmative response (replacing はい, そうです, etc.)

It’s further embellished with one (or more) final particle depending on the region within the prefecture:

  • 村山弁「んだず」「んだべした」「んだずにゃー」
  • 新庄弁「んだじゅー」「んだにゃー」
  • 置賜弁「んだっそ」「んだごで」
  • 庄内弁「んだのー」
1 Like
#35

Hey, so in many reading practices i noticed “なのです” instead of just “のです” is being used. Can someone please explain this to me?

Thanks in advance!

#36

Can someone explain to me why sometimes the んです/のです construction takes が at the end? I’m told it has something to do with marking a phrase but I don’t really understand what that means. My example sentence is:
手紙を送りたいのですが
from Duolingo, translated as “I would like to send a letter”.
Or maybe this is a separate construction entirely because of たい?

#37

Apologies for the late reply!

な is used when this grammar point is attached to a noun or a な-adjective!

#38

Hey @PapaYeti !

The が you are referring to is this!

When this が is used at the end of a sentence, it means that there is more information that exist, but the speaker is omitting it due to the information being very obvious.

For example, the sentence 手紙を送りたいのですが has the nuance of, ‘I would like to send a letter, but…(I’m not sure how to send letters/I don’t know where to drop the letter off)’. The extra information will of course be different depending on the context.

I hope this answers your question!

1 Like
#39

Thanks!

#40

So I’m a bit confused about one of the review questions for this topic. It has the word "覚える” - “to remember” and I always get it wrong because I’m used to it as a verb but in this case it’s conjugating with ”です” like a noun or adjective. Is this because it’s more like a state of being for the speaker than an active action? Or is the there something special about "ん・の” connector?