nominalizer N4 common casualpolitewritten
のは〜だ — cleft sentence: 'the one who/that ... is ~'
のは〜だ
Meaning
- it is ~ that … / the one that … is ~ — pulls one element out of a sentence to spotlight it
Key sentence
私が会いたいのは君だ。
The one I want to see is you.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Clause (nominalized with の) + は … + だ | [clause]のは + [focus] + だ | 彼が来たのは昨日だ |
Examples
彼が生まれたのは北海道だ。
It was in Hokkaido that he was born.
この問題を解決したのは彼女だ。
The one who solved this problem was her.
私が知りたいのは理由です。
What I want to know is the reason.
Easily confused with
は (plain topic order) 君に会いたい just states the wish. 会いたいのは君だ restructures it to single out 君 as the one and only focus — the cleft answers an implicit 'which/who/where exactly?' のだ Both use の, but のだ frames a whole statement as an explanation (行くんだ); のは〜だ splits one sentence to highlight a specific part (行くのは私だ — the one going is me).
See のは〜だ in real sentences
Jengo shows のは〜だ the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar.