焦Longer sentences
It's the one who
Save the news for last. ~のは~だ highlights exactly the piece of information you want to stress.
The pattern
What we already know は, the news です
Everyone knows this part
昨日来たのはKinou kita no waThe one who came yesterday…
The new information
田中さんです。Tanaka-san desu.…is Tanaka.
One sentence, four focuses
Start with: Tanaka bought a car in Tokyo yesterday
It was Tanaka who bought a car in Tokyo yesterday.
Who
What Tanaka bought in Tokyo yesterday was a car.
What
Where Tanaka bought the car was Tokyo.
Where
When Tanaka bought the car in Tokyo was yesterday.
When
Reasons and particles
What stays
The reason I was late is the rain.
It was at the station that I met him.
Particles with real meaning, such as で, can stay.
Grammar notes
Connecting, tense and limits
Before のは, use the plain form, with な after な adjectives and nouns. The final です usually stays in the present even when the event's in the past, as above. Manner words like ゆっくり can't sit in the focus slot.
Don't mistake this の for the one that means “to do”. Here it stands in for a person, thing, place, time or reason.
Check yourself
What's the focus?
Your turn
は or が?
The one who came is Yamada.
Say it yourself
Setting the record straight
Your coworker says your manager broke the printer. Actually, the person who broke it was the new employee, and it was on Monday.
Automatic feedback on your own answers is coming to Premium.