だ

About

だ attaches to nouns or な-adjectives and is most commonly found at the end of a sentence, or in the middle as an embedded clause. In spoken language, its use indicates casual speech, and in written language, it indicates the formal "だ・である style".

Since だ sounds fairly emphatic and assertive, it tends to be used more by men than women.

だ cannot follow い-adjectives, and must be connected to verbs via other grammar, such as the explanatory の.

Summary

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  だ can attach to a noun or な-adjective.

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  だ indicates casual speech.

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  だ has an emphatic, assertive tone, and is mainly used by men.

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  だ can be seen in written Japanese and indicates the だ・である style.

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  だ cannot directly follow a verb or い-adjective.