How to say "are" in Japanese?

Question

Like if i wanted to say "are you american"?

It would be anata wa american-jin something. right?

anata wa-you

american-jin-american

whats are?

Answer 1

You would use the copula "desu", which kinda means "is", though Japanese grammar gets a bit more complicated than that.  For now just think of it that way.

あなたはアメリカ人ですか。

anata wa amerika-jin desu ka?

The "ka" marks the sentence as a question.

It's best to avoid using あなた (anata) though, unless you absolutely don't know their name.  If you do know their name, say this:

[last name] さんはアメリカ人ですか。

[last name]-san wa amerika-jin desu ka?

Answer 2

There are no "plurals" in Japanese. And as for your translation above, you can't translate English and Japanese as if they have the same grammar. English grammar and Japanese grammar are 2 different things.

And, yes. Anata wa Amerika-jin desu ka? ( Are you American?)

Not American, in Japanese Americans are Amerika-jin. For example, Canadians becomes Kanada-jin, Chinese becomes Chuugoku-jin etc etc.

Answer 3

You could say 'Anata wa Amerikajin desu ka?" But if you were talking to a stranger, I wouldn't reccomend using the word 'Anata' because it is very personal.

You could use 'Kimi' A more informal way for saying you, or 'Omae' But I don't think you should use 'Omae' because it is sort of an insult(Looking down on someone)

Answer 4

Are you American? "あなたは、アメリカ人ですか？

"anata wa amerika-jin desuka ? is normal.

Add "desuka" is polite expression. 99% Japanese people uses this one.

"anata wa amerika-jin"? This expression is very blunt and impolite way.

Answer 5

In Japanese language use wa/は to express are...[or the main object ]

like                  ÃƒÂ§Ã‚§ÂÃ£ÂÂ¯Ã¥Â­Â¦Ã§Â”Ÿã§ã™    =　I'm a student

私= I'm      [watashi]     学生=student     [gakusei]