Lesson 50: 〜んです・〜かな・〜じゃない？

N4 · Lesson 50 · 18 min — Explain a reason with んです, wonder aloud with かな, make a guess with じゃない？

Welcome to N4! This lesson has no new word forms. Instead you learn three kinds of tone: んです to explain a reason, かな to wonder to yourself, and じゃない？ to make a guess. They all follow the plain form from Lesson 44. んです shows up all over N4 questions, so let's learn it well! First, the comic!

After this lesson, you can:

• Explain a situation and ask for reasons with んです: どうしたんですか。——おなかが いたいんです。
• Talk to yourself and show you're unsure with かな: どの 店みせかな⋯⋯
• Make a guess and ask the other person to confirm with じゃない？: あの 喫茶店きっさてんじゃない？

Answer in sight?

The lantern in the photo is Yanaka Shrine's! Rin and Kumata check every shop nearby⋯⋯ (きっさてん = old-style café; カウンター = counter)

Explain with んです, wonder aloud with かな, guess with じゃない？. Next: Rin says the name on the letter, and Mr. Kuma drops his ladle⋯⋯

Words for this lesson: finding a shop on the street

• 喫茶店きっさてん (kissaten): old-style café
• 近ちかく (chikaku): nearby, vicinity
• おなかが すく (onaka ga suku): to be hungry (stomach)
• ちがう (chigau): wrong; different
• カウンター (kauntā): counter (the long bar in a shop)
• どうした (dō shita): What's wrong?
• 神社じんじゃ (jinja): shrine
• おなかが いたい (onaka ga itai): (stomach) hurts

Grammar 1 / 3: んです

Plain form + んです: explain a situation or reason ("the thing is..."); ask for reasons with んですか

• んです = "The thing is...": Use んです to explain a situation or reason. Use it when the other person wants to know why, or when you want to give some background: この 近ちかくに 店みせが あるんです。(The thing is, there's a shop near here.) Compared with plain です, it feels like "let me explain."
• Form: plain form + んです: Verbs and i-adjectives in the plain form attach directly: あるんです、行いかないんです、すいたんです、いたいんです。Nouns and na-adjectives need な: 学生がくせいなんです、好すきなんです。(Exactly like ので in Lesson 46!) In the past, use だった with no な: 学生がくせいだったんです。
• Asking for a reason: 〜んですか: When you see something is off and want to ask "What's wrong?" or "Why?", use んですか: どうしたんですか。どうして 食たべないんですか。It sounds more natural than どうして 食たべませんか, and it shows "I'm curious about the reason."
• Casual: 〜んだ／〜の？: With friends, explain with んだ (あるんだ) and ask with の? (どうしたの？). In writing or formal speech you may see のです. To teachers and shop staff, keep using んです／んですか.

• 「どうしたんですか。」「おなかが いたいんです。」 — "What's wrong?" "My stomach hurts."
• すみません、あしたは アルバイトなんです。 — Sorry, I have a part-time job tomorrow. (explaining why you can't go)
• どうして ラーメンを 食たべないんですか。 — Why aren't you eating the ramen?
• 神社じんじゃの 近ちかくで この 写真しゃしんの 店みせを さがして いるんです。 — I'm looking for the shop in this photo, near the shrine.
• 「どうしたの？」「かさが ないんだ。」 — "What's up?" "I don't have my umbrella!" (to a friend)

Grammar 2 / 3: かな

Plain form + かな／かしら: asking yourself "I wonder...?" (unsure)

• かな = asking yourself: When you're unsure and say "I wonder..." to yourself, use かな: どの 店みせかな。(I wonder which shop it is.) It doesn't ask the other person to answer. It just says your doubt out loud.
• Form: plain form + かな: Verbs and i-adjectives use the plain form: 降ふるかな、来くるかな、おいしいかな、おいしかったかな。Nouns and na-adjectives take no だ: 店みせかな、しずかかな (like でしょう).
• Often used with question words: どこかな、だれかな、なにかな、いつかな、どの 店みせかな。You hear these most when searching for something, waiting for someone, or hesitating.
• かしら and politeness: かしら means the same as かな but sounds softer. It used to be women's speech, and now it's mostly older women who say it. Rin just says かな. To ask a teacher or shop staff directly, don't use かな. Say 〜ですか: 駅えきは どこですか。

• どの 店みせかな⋯⋯ — I wonder which shop it is⋯⋯
• あしたは 雨あめかな。 — I wonder if it'll rain tomorrow⋯⋯
• この ラーメン、おいしいかな。 — I wonder if this ramen is good?
• 熊太くまたは もう 来きたかな。 — I wonder if Kumata has come yet⋯⋯
• この 花はなは なにかしら。 — I wonder what flower this is. (かしら: softer)

Grammar 3 / 3: じゃない？

〜じゃない？(↗)／〜でしょう？: "Isn't it...?" (guess, check, remind)

• じゃない？↗ = "Isn't it...?": Say your own guess and ask the other person to confirm: あの 喫茶店きっさてんじゃない？ It has じゃない in it, but it really means "I bet it's that one." Tell them apart by sound. A denying じゃない drops in pitch after な (じゃな＼い). A guessing じゃない？ is flat and rises at the end ↗. A reminding じゃない！ is also flat, but doesn't rise.
• Form: nouns directly, add ん for verbs: Nouns and na-adjectives attach directly: 喫茶店きっさてんじゃない？、しずかじゃない？。When guessing with verbs and i-adjectives, add the ん from Grammar 1: すいたんじゃない？ (Maybe you're hungry?)、いたいんじゃない？ (Maybe it really hurts?).
• Reminding: "Look, it's right there!": When something is right in front of you and you remind the other person, you also use じゃない: かさ？ ここに あるじゃない！ (Umbrella? It's right here!) This "reminder / surprise" じゃない！ attaches directly to verbs, with no ん. It sounds exclaiming and doesn't rise at the end. A "guess" takes ん: すいたんじゃない？↗. Men sometimes say じゃないか, which sounds stronger and harder.
• More polite: でしょう？／ですね？: じゃない？ is casual, for friends. For a polite check, use でしょう？ from Lesson 46 (rising ending): あれは くまやでしょう？ It's more polite than じゃない？. But to a teacher or shop staff, でしょう？ can sound like "It's like that, right?", pushing them to agree. The ね from Lesson 9 is safest: 先生せんせい、あれは くまやですね？

• あの 喫茶店きっさてんじゃない？ — Isn't that the café?
• それ、先生せんせいの かさじゃない？ — Isn't that the teacher's umbrella?
• リン、おなかが すいたんじゃない？ — Rin, aren't you hungry?
• かさ？ ここに あるじゃない！ — Umbrella? It's right here!
• あれは くまやでしょう？ — That's くまや, right? (polite style, more polite than じゃない？)