Formal Written Japanese: Write in the Style of Print

Formal written style: である and the language of print

減少する (genshō suru) is the kango equivalent of 減る (heru), “decrease”.

Short answer: newspapers, essays, reports and academic writing use the plain style, often with である instead of です: これは問題である, “this is a problem”. Clauses are joined with the bare verb stem or ており rather than て, negatives can use 〜ず, and vocabulary leans on Chinese-origin compounds (減少する rather than 減る). Headlines go further, dropping verbs altogether.

Endings: である and だ

Pick one style and keep it for the whole text. である is the most formal.

Written	Meaning	Spoken equivalent
mondai de aru	is a problem	問題です
jūyō da	is important	重要です
zōka shita	increased	増えました
akiraka de wa nai	is not clear	はっきりしません
to kangaerareru	it is thought that	と思います

Linking clauses

Instead of the て form, writing often uses the ます stem alone (連用形) or ており, and ず for “without / not”.

Formal connectors and phrases

These appear in almost every report and article.

Ending sentences on nouns

Reports, notes and slides often end on a noun instead of a verb (体言止め), giving a crisp, compact style.

Kango verbs for writing

Writing prefers two-kanji する verbs over native verbs.

Written	Meaning	Spoken
kaishi suru	begin	始める
shūryō suru	end	終わる
kōnyū suru	purchase	買う
kakunin suru	confirm	確かめる
zōka suru	increase	増える
shiyō suru	use	使う

Rewriting an email as a report

The same content, in polite email style and in report style.

先週せんしゅうsenshūlast week新しいあたらしいatarashiinewパソコンpasokonPCsをo(object)買いましたかいましたkaimashitabought

Senshū atarashii pasokon o kaimashita.“We bought new PCs last week. (email)”Why: Polite, native verb.

先週せんしゅうsenshūlast week新規しんきshinkinewPCピーシーpīshīPCsをo(object)購入したこうにゅうしたkōnyū shitapurchased

Senshū shinki pīshī o kōnyū shita.“New PCs were purchased last week. (report)”Why: Plain, kango verb.

新規PCしんきピーシーshinki pīshīnew PCs購入こうにゅうkōnyūpurchase（先週）せんしゅうsenshū(last week)

Shinki pīshī kōnyū (senshū)“New PC purchase (last week). (slide)”Why: Noun ending: most compact.

Check yourself

Try each one, then open the answer to check and hear it.

“is a problem” in an essay
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mondai de aru
“bought” in a report
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kōnyū shitaKango verb.
“without saying anything” (written)
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nanimo iwazu niず = ないで.
“according to the survey”
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chōsa ni yoru to
“it is thought that…”
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~ to kangaerareru

Headline Japanese

Headlines drop particles and verbs and end on a noun, much like English headlines.

首相しゅしょうshushōprime minister来週らいしゅうraishūnext week訪米へほうべいへhōbei etowards visiting the US

Shushō, raishū hōbei e“PM to visit US next week”Why: へ at the end: “heading towards”. 訪米 = 訪 visit + 米 America.

円安えんやすen’yasuweak yen進むすすむsusumuadvances

En’yasu susumu“Yen continues to weaken”Why: Topic + verb, no particles.

大雨おおあめōameheavy rain警報けいほうkeihōwarning発令はつれいhatsureiissued

Ōame keihō hatsurei“Heavy rain warning issued”Why: Three nouns: the verb is a noun too (発令, issuing).