Basic Evaluation, Size, and Difficulty | Learn Japanese in English

Sentence explanations

1. これはとてもいいです。

   This is very good.

   これ

   this

   は

   as for

   とても

   very

   いい

   good

   です

   is

   More detail

   これ means “this” and refers to something understood as relatively close to the speaker. It is a demonstrative pronoun, so it can stand on its own; the related forms are それ “that” near the listener and あれ “that over there.” In the supplied sentence, the translation identifies the referent only as “this,” not as a more specific object. は marks これ as the topic. The topic pattern Xは…です means “As for X, …” or more naturally “X is ….” は is a topic particle, and its written form is pronounced wa in this use. とても is an adverb meaning “very.” It strengthens the following description: とてもいい means “very good.” いい is the adjective meaning “good” here. Its useful related form is よい, a more formal or written variant; both are used for “good,” but their inflections are not interchangeable in every surface form. The negative form is よくない, as in the following contextual sentence それはよくないです (“That is not good”): the adjective changes from いい to よくない before the negative ending. This change belongs to the adjective, not to です. です is the polite copular ending in this sentence. It makes the statement polite and completes the pattern Xは adjective です. With an adjective such as いい, it follows the adjective; it is not itself the word meaning “good.” Together, これ は とても いい です forms これはとてもいいです: “This is very good.” The topic is “this,” とても intensifies the adjective いい, and です presents the evaluation politely. The next sentence provides a contrasting pattern, それはよくないです (“That is not good”), using それ for “that” and the negative adjective form よくない.

2. それはよくないです。

   That is not good.

   それ

   that

   は

   as for

   よくない

   not good

   です

   is (polite)

   More detail

   それ means “that” and is a demonstrative pronoun. It refers to something identified in the situation or discourse, but the supplied sentence does not specify exactly what that thing is. Compare これ “this,” as in the preceding example; the choice depends on the speaker’s demonstrative distinction, not simply on the nearest noun. は marks それ as the topic: “as for that …”. It is written は but pronounced wa when it functions as the topic particle. This particle does not itself mean “is” or “not.” よくない means “not good” here. It is the negative form of the adjective いい/よい “good.” The negative pattern is irregular: よい → よくない, rather than a form built directly by adding ない to よい. In this sentence, よくない expresses the negative assessment; it does not by itself specify why something is not good. For comparison, 大きすぎます in the following example means “is too big,” using a different adjective and the suffix すぎる “to be too …”. です is the polite copular ending used here after the adjective. It makes the statement polite; it is not a separate lexical verb meaning “is” in the same way an English verb does. With an adjective such as よくない, the adjective carries the main description and です adds polite sentence style. Together, それ + は sets “that” as the topic, よくない gives the negative evaluation, and です presents the statement politely: “That is not good.”

3. これは大きすぎます。

   This is too big.

   これ

   this

   大きすぎます

   is too big

   More detail

   これ means “this” and is a demonstrative pronoun: it refers to something identified as relatively close to the speaker. Its form does not change for gender or number. The related forms それ and あれ refer to something relatively close to the listener and far from both speaker and listener, respectively; choose among them according to the situation, not simply according to the noun’s characteristics. 大きすぎます expresses that something is excessively large. The adjective is 大きい (“big”); before すぎる (“to exceed the appropriate degree; to be too …”), its final い is removed: 大きい → 大きすぎる. The polite non-past form of すぎる is すぎます, giving 大きすぎます. The ます ending makes the statement polite; the excessive-degree meaning comes from すぎる. Example: この箱は大きすぎます。 — “This box is too big.” Here 大きすぎます describes the box as larger than is suitable for the relevant purpose or situation. Together, これ (“this”) and 大きすぎます (“is too big”) produce the complete meaning: “This is too big.”

4. これは小さすぎます。

   This is too small.

   これ

   this

   小さすぎます

   is too small

   More detail

   これ means “this” here. It is a demonstrative pronoun used for a thing or matter identified as relatively near the speaker or as the current focus. Unlike English “this,” it does not change for gender or number. Example: これは本です。 — “This is a book.” The pattern これは〜です presents or identifies the topic; は marks これ as the topic. 小さすぎます says that something is “too small.” Its adjective base is 小さい (“small”); 小さすぎる means “to be too small,” and the observed 小さすぎます is its polite non-past form. The element すぎる is attached to an adjective to express exceeding an appropriate or desired degree: 大きすぎます means “is too big,” as in the supplied preceding sentence. With an i-adjective, the final い of the adjective base is removed before すぎる: 小さい → 小さすぎる. This change belongs to 小さい, not to a noun. Example: この箱は小さすぎます。 — “This box is too small.” The same pattern can be reused with other adjectives, such as 簡単すぎます — “is too easy.” Together, これ identifies the topic as “this,” and 小さすぎます states that it exceeds the suitable size in the small direction. Thus the whole utterance means “This is too small.”

5. それはとても簡単です。

   It is very easy.

   それは

   as for that; it

   とても

   very

   簡単

   easy; simple

   です

   is; am; are (polite)

   More detail

   それは uses それ for “that” or, as in the fixed translation, “it,” with は marking it as the topic. The specific referent is not identified by the fixed sentence. それ contrasts with これ (“this”) and あれ (“that over there”); は is the topic marker. とても is an adverb meaning “very.” It intensifies the description that follows. For example, とても難しいです means “It is very difficult.” 簡単 means “easy” or “simple” here. It is a na-adjective: before a noun, use 簡単な, as in 簡単な問題 (“an easy problem”); as a predicate, 簡単です means “is easy.” Its useful opposite is 難しい (“difficult”), as in それはとても難しいです (“It is very difficult”). です is the polite predicate ending used here to state that something has the described quality. It does not change for English-style person or number distinctions. In this sentence, it completes the polite predicate 簡単です. Together, the topic それは, intensifier とても, and predicate 簡単です produce the polite statement “It is very easy.”

6. それはとても難しいです。

   It is very difficult.

   それは

   as for that

   とても

   very

   難しい

   difficult

   です

   is; polite sentence ending

   More detail

   それは combines それ (“that” or “it”) with は, which marks the topic. Here it presents an already understood matter as the topic; the supplied translation supports “it,” without identifying a more specific referent. は is a topic marker, not part of the pronoun itself. A useful pattern is Xは…です (“As for X, …” / “X is …”). とても is an adverb meaning “very.” It strengthens the following description: とても難しい means “very difficult,” rather than merely “difficult.” 難しい is the dictionary form of the Japanese い-adjective meaning “difficult.” In this sentence it is the adjective’s non-past form. Its opposite in the supplied preceding sentence is 簡単 in 簡単です, meaning “easy”; these are different adjectives, not two forms of one adjective. Example: この問題は難しいです。 — “This problem is difficult.” です is a polite sentence-ending form used here after the adjective. With an い-adjective such as 難しい, it adds polite style to the statement; the adjective itself carries the descriptive meaning. Thus 難しいです is a polite way to say “is difficult.” Together, それは sets the topic, とても intensifies the description, and 難しいです politely states that the topic is very difficult. The whole utterance means “It is very difficult.”