Writing a recommendation in Japanese: criteria, evidence and です・ます or である

Level B2

Writing a recommendation in Japanese: criteria, evidence and です・ます or である

By the end of this lesson, you can write a short recommendation or evaluation that justifies a choice for a specific reader. The central idea is this: you tell the reader what you judged by, what shows it and what you conclude, and you choose です・ます (desu/masu) or だ・である (da/de aru) once, for that reader and that kind of text, then keep it at the end of every sentence. である is not better or more polite Japanese. It is a choice that reports and essays often make.

Warm-up: a message, two sides, a limit, a source

These pieces come back in this lesson, even if this is the first time you see them. The first example is a message to one person: 図書館が使えないので (toshokan ga tsukaenai node), “we can't use the library, so…”, gives the reason, and 変更していただけますか (henkō shite itadakemasu ka) politely asks for a change.

それに対して (sore ni taishite), “by contrast”, sets two options against each other on one point. 一方で (ippō de), “on the other hand”, brings in another side. 必ずしも (kanarazushimo) with a negative ending, “not necessarily”, limits a claim that goes too far.

The last example names its source: お知らせによると (oshirase ni yoru to), “according to the notice”. When you write from a source, say which one and add nothing it doesn't say. A recommendation needs all of this, because the reader isn't in front of you: the text has to give its reasons by itself.

The words of an evaluation

基準 (kijun) is a criterion, 調査 (chōsa) a survey and 報告書 (hōkokusho) a report. 評価する (hyōka suru) means “to evaluate”. 新入生 (shinnyūsei) is a new student, and みなさん (minasan) is a polite “all of you” for a group of readers. 静かさ (shizukasa), “quietness”, is the noun made from 静か (shizuka, quiet). 無料 (muryō) means “free of charge” and 向いている (muite iru) “suited”. 以上のことから (ijō no koto kara), “for all these reasons”, opens a conclusion, and そのため (sono tame) means “for that reason”. 考える (kangaeru) is here “to consider”, to judge after reasoning. である (de aru) is a sentence ending of written Japanese: the second model shows it at work.

Model 1: a recommendation for new students

Listen once without reading. This text speaks to its readers, new students, so it is in です・ます: every sentence ends in a polite form, です, ます, ました, ません or でしょうか (deshō ka), a gentle way of asking.

Now look at how it is built. Line 1 names the reader and the question. Line 2 gives the criteria. Lines 3 and 4 give evidence, one criterion each. Lines 5 and 6 admit a limit. Line 7 concludes.

勉強するなら (benkyō suru nara) is “if you're going to study”. 値段 (nedan) is “price”. 飲みながら (nomi nagara) is “while drinking”, 勉強したい人 (benkyō shitai hito) “people who want to study” and おすすめします (osusume shimasu) “I recommend”.

Name the criteria first

Before you praise anything, say what you are judging by. 基準は…の二つです (kijun wa … no futatsu desu) says how many criteria there are and names them, joined by と (to). 二つ (futatsu) is “two”, for things. In this pattern each criterion is a noun, so 静かさ rather than 静か. 時間 (jikan) is “time”.

The sentence is a promise: the reader now expects evidence on each criterion. If one never comes back, take it out.

基準(きじゅん)は静かさと値段／時間と値段の二つです

Back each criterion with evidence

Evidence is something the reader could check: a figure, a fact, a named source. 調査によると (chōsa ni yoru to) names the source, and 学生百人に聞いた (gakusei hyakunin ni kiita) says who was asked: a hundred students. 人 (nin) counts people: 百人 (hyakunin) is a hundred, 八十人 (hachijūnin) eighty, 六十人 (rokujūnin) sixty. 答えました (kotaemashita) is “answered” and 便利 (benri) “convenient”.

The survey's words come in a plain form before と, the 静かだと (shizuka da to) you see here, even though the sentence ends politely. In the third example the figures are the evidence: 無料 against 五百円 (gohyaku en), and 一人 (hitori) means “per person”.

学生百人に聞いた調査によると、八十人が図書館は静かだ／六十人がカフェは便利だと答えました

Say what your choice doesn't do

A recommendation that hides its weak point reads like an advert. Here 一方で brings in the other side, ですから (desu kara), “so”, gives its consequence, and 必ずしも keeps the limit to its true size: the library isn't a bad place, it just isn't necessarily good for people who want coffee while they study. 飲めません (nomemasen) means “can't drink”. After this, the conclusion is stronger, because the reader has seen you weigh both sides.

Conclude from what you've shown

以上のことから points back at everything above, so it comes after your reasons. A conclusion then does one of two jobs. A recommendation tells the reader what to choose: 図書館をおすすめします (toshokan o osusume shimasu). An evaluation says what you judged: 図書館のほうが…に向いていると考えます (toshokan no hō ga … ni muite iru to kangaemasu), “I consider the library better suited to…”. のほう (no hō) marks the side you pick in a comparison.

電車 (densha) is “train”. Add no new reason here: if it matters, it belongs in the evidence.

以上(いじょう)のことから、図書館をおすすめします／図書館のほうが…に向いていると考えます／電車をおすすめします

Model 2: the same facts in a report

Now the same facts for another reader. This text is an evaluation in a report, and it speaks to nobody in particular, so みなさん and the opening question are gone. Instead, この報告書では (kono hōkokusho de wa), “in this report”, says what the text does. The sentences end in である or in a plain form: this is だ・である style.

Compare the two models line by line: the criteria, the evidence and the limit are the same. Model 2 isn't a better text. A new student would rather read model 1, and the reader of a report expects model 2.

The conclusion uses 考える. Reports often prefer it to 思う (omou), “to think”, because it presents the judgment as reasoned, though 思う isn't wrong.

Turning polite endings into だ・である

English marks a formal text mostly through vocabulary (“buy”, “purchase”). Here the plain form isn't talk between friends: in a text that speaks to nobody in particular, it and である show what kind of text this is. Japanese marks this choice at the end of every sentence, and the change depends on the word before it.

After a noun or a word like 静か, です becomes だ or である: 無料です, 無料だ, 無料である. Both are the same style. だ is shorter and more direct, and common in columns and essays. である keeps more distance, and is the usual habit of reports and papers, so our report uses it. After a word like 高い (takai, expensive), です simply drops: カフェは高い. 高いである is wrong. Reports also write いい as 良い (yoi), “good”.

Verbs go to their plain forms, as in the two models: かかります becomes かかる, 答えました becomes 答えた, 飲めません becomes 飲めない. ではありません becomes ではない (de wa nai). でした becomes であった (de atta) or だった (datta); 去年 (kyonen) is “last year”.

Watch for です inside other words: ですから doesn't belong in this style, so the report says そのため, which works in both. 一方で, それに対して, によると, 必ずしも and 以上のことから stay as they are.

Choose one style, for your reader

Start by asking who will read. A text addressed to someone, such as a message, a notice or a recommendation for new students, usually calls for です・ます. A report, a paper or an essay that speaks to nobody in particular often takes だ・である. This is a choice of genre, not of level: である is neither more polite nor more correct. In a message like the first example, a request to someone, だ・である would sound out of place.

Then stay with your choice. 図書館は無料です。カフェは一人五百円かかる。 changes voice between two sentences for no reason. Fix it either way, as the second and third examples do. A judgment fits both styles too, as the last two examples show.

Two things are not mixing. Inside a sentence, before a noun, a reporting と or a linker like なら or ので, plain forms are normal in both styles: 勉強する場所, 静かだと答えました, 勉強するなら. And a direct quotation keeps the speaker's words: 「静かです」と答えた. Writers do sometimes switch style on purpose for an effect; if you can't name the purpose, keep one style.

Your turn, and the summary

The same job on a new subject: the train or the car to the beach. 車 (kuruma) is “car”, 二時間 (nijikan) “two hours”, 四時間 (yojikan) “four hours” and 五千円 (gosen en) “five thousand yen”. The first line opens a report. After it, the lines come in pairs: a です・ます sentence, then the same point for a report. Cover the second line of each pair, read the first and say it in だ・である style, then check. In the last pair the job changes as well: the recommendation becomes an evaluation with と考える.

Then write your own on something you know. Name the reader, choose the style, give two criteria, evidence you can back, a limit and a conclusion. Use only facts you can check.

In short: criteria first, evidence for each one, an honest limit, then a conclusion that adds nothing new. Choose です・ます or だ・である for your reader and keep it at every sentence end. である is a written choice, not a higher form.

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