How to say "I am~"/"I am not~" in Japanese

みなさんこんばんは。 Hello everyone! In this live-stream, Wasabi tutor Naomi explained in simple Japanese and English how to say “I am~” and “I am not~” in Japanese:

わたしは～です。
I am ~.
わたしは～ではありません。
I am not ~.

“です” is the formal version of to be. For complete beginners, we recommend learning the formal version first.

Let’s see some examples:

わたしはなおみです。

I am Naomi.

わたしは日本人にほんじんです。

I am Japanese.

As you see, you put whatever noun you want to use between “わたしは” and “です”.
Here is another example:

わたしは京都出身きょうとしゅっしんです。

I am from Kyoto.

(Please note “京都出身きょうとしゅっしん” is a noun, and can literally be translated as “originating from Kyoto” - “I am from Kyoto” is simply the more elegant translation.)
Next, let’s take a look at the negative form “わたしは～ではありません”.

わたしは日本人にほんじんではありません。

I am not Japanese.

わたしはなおみではありません。

I am not Naomi.

The noun is placed between “わたしは” and “ではありません”.
Now, if you want to ask somebody else if they are something, you can simply replace “わたし” (I) for “あなた” (You), and then add “か” at the end of the sentence. “か” is the general question particle in Japanese.

あなたは日本人にほんじんですか？

Are you Japanese?

In Japanese “あなた” is not commonly used, so you can also omit. Alternatively, you can put the name of the person you are addressing plus “さん”, which is a polite suffix attached to people’s names.

なおみさんは日本人にほんじんですか？

Ms. Naomi, are you Japanese?

That’s it for today. If you have any questions, you can always clear them up by booking a lesson with one of our native Japanese tutors. See you next time!

単語たんごリスト（Vocabulary list）

日本人にほんじん	Japanese
人ジン	Attached to a country it means a citizen of that country, e.g. “アメリカ人” = American, “ドイツ人” = German, “インド人” = Indian, etc.
出身しゅっしん	One’s birthplace, the place where one originally comes from
ほかに	Additionally, in addition
次つぎ	Next
もう一度いちど	One more time