In Japanese, there are three main sentence types; these are noun sentences, adjective sentences, and verb sentences. Some of them can make a full sentence all by themselves with a single word.

はじめましょう！

Noun Sentences (名詞文 or めいしぶん)

A noun sentence is a sentence that consists of a noun or pronoun as the main subject or object. It usually expresses a fact or a statement of existence.

Example 1: 彼女(かのじょ)は学生(がくせい)です。– She is a student.

A noun must be followed by だ or です to create a full sentence. (Read more about the difference between だ and です here). Thus, the simplest noun sentence is noun + です (or だ).

Example 2: ラーメンです。- This is ramen.

Adjective Sentence (形容詞文 or けいようしぶん)

An adjective sentence is a sentence that consists of an adjective as the main predicate. It usually describes the quality or characteristic of a noun or pronoun.

Example 1: 彼女(かのじょ)はきれいです。- She is beautiful.

In Japanese, there are two types of adjectives: い-adjectives (i-adjectives) and な-adjectives (na-adjectives).

い-adjectives do not need です or だ to make a complete sentence. You can use a dictionary form of an i-adjective to make a complete casual sentence.

Example 2: 寒(さむ)い。- It’s cold.

な-adjectives can be looked at as a special kind of noun in Japanese. They require だ or です to create a complete sentence even in casual Japanese.

Example 3: しずかです。- It is quiet.

Verb Sentences (動詞文 or どうしぶん)

A verb sentence is a sentence that consists of a verb as the main predicate. It usually describes an action or state of being.

Example 1: 彼女(かのじょ)は勉強(べんきょう)します。- She studies.

Verbs can make stand alone complete sentences by themselves even in their plain and dictionary forms.

Example 2: 行(い)く! – I go (I will go)

Example 3: 食(た)べましょう！ – Let’s eat!