What are the ways to conjugate "I" and "to be" (in romaji)


I think being able to to specify who you are talking about and yourself is
very crucial in a language so, how do they do it?

To clarify I know in French there is 6 ways to specify a person:

Je (I), tu (you (informal)), il/elle (he and she, respectively (can also mean
it)), nous (we), vous (you guys/formal you), and ils/elles (the boys and the
girls, respectively).

And in French the verb To be is specific to the type of person:

Je [suis] (I am), tu [es] (you are (informal)), il/elle [est] (he/she/it is),
nous [sommes] (we are), vous [êtes] (you guys are/you are (formal)), and
ils/elles sont (they are).

So my question is, how would that be done in in Japanese keeping in mind both
genders?

For example: How would you say: I am happy. (In French it would be: Je suis
content(e if you were a girl).

If Japanese is different, then what makes in different. What does it have that
French/English don't and what is similar.




These Romance language concepts simply do not apply to Japanese. In addition
to the points made in a comment by Zhen Lin,

> Japanese does not have genders, and its nouns are indeclinable. Its verbs do
> not conjugate for grammatical person either.

Japanese also does not have a grammatical requirement to supply subjects or
pronouns with verbs.

The way to express "I am happy" in Japanese is... well let's take the more
interesting answer first, which is:

> _ureshii_

Just the one word "happy"; no conjugation (this is in dictionary form); no "to
be" (the meaning of "is" is folded into this adjective); not even a pronoun
(the subject is inferred by expectation and context).

Another answer is

> _shiawase da_ or _shiawase desu_

where "shiawase" again means "happy" and "da" is a copula (to be). "desu" is
another form of the copula, but the difference is nothing to do with subject
gender or number, but determines the politeness level of the sentence.

If you want to supply the subject you can:

> _watashi_ (I) wa shiawase da  
>  _anata_ (you) wa shiawase da  
>  _kare_ (he) wa shiawase da  
>  _kanojo_ (she) wa shiawase da

but these pronouns are not like English pronouns -- overusing them is a great
way to sound unnatural and maybe even rude, as you may be culturally expected
to use a more polite form of address for the person you are speaking to (or
about), such as their name or position plus a suitable honorific like _san_.

(Also, while English only has one "I" and one "you", Japanese has about a
billion "I" and just as many "you"s. _watashi, boku, ore, watakushi, atashi,
wa, uchi, sessha, warawa_ , all mean "I" and appear in different contexts and
usages, some limited to fiction.)

You can do away with the pronoun entirely and still infer the subject in the
right context.

> (having been told of someone who just come into a large amount of money, has
> quit work, and is travelling around the world)
>
> _shiawase da na..._ ( **He** (inferred by context) must be happy...)




These Romance language concepts simply do not apply to Japanese. In addition
to the points made in a comment by Zhen Lin,

> Japanese does not have genders, and its nouns are indeclinable. Its verbs do
> not conjugate for grammatical person either.

Japanese also does not have a grammatical requirement to supply subjects or
pronouns with verbs.

The way to express "I am happy" in Japanese is... well let's take the more
interesting answer first, which is:

> _ureshii_

Just the one word "happy"; no conjugation (this is in dictionary form); no "to
be" (the meaning of "is" is folded into this adjective); not even a pronoun
(the subject is inferred by expectation and context).

Another answer is

> _shiawase da_ or _shiawase desu_

where "shiawase" again means "happy" and "da" is a copula (to be). "desu" is
another form of the copula, but the difference is nothing to do with subject
gender or number, but determines the politeness level of the sentence.

If you want to supply the subject you can:

> _watashi_ (I) wa shiawase da  
>  _anata_ (you) wa shiawase da  
>  _kare_ (he) wa shiawase da  
>  _kanojo_ (she) wa shiawase da

but these pronouns are not like English pronouns -- overusing them is a great
way to sound unnatural and maybe even rude, as you may be culturally expected
to use a more polite form of address for the person you are speaking to (or
about), such as their name or position plus a suitable honorific like _san_.

(Also, while English only has one "I" and one "you", Japanese has about a
billion "I" and just as many "you"s. _watashi, boku, ore, watakushi, atashi,
wa, uchi, sessha, warawa_ , all mean "I" and appear in different contexts and
usages, some limited to fiction.)

You can do away with the pronoun entirely and still infer the subject in the
right context.

> (having been told of someone who just come into a large amount of money, has
> quit work, and is travelling around the world)
>
> _shiawase da na..._ ( **He** (inferred by context) must be happy...)

