(no subject)

[kittydesade]

"It is 12:30."
"I am a student."
"My major is the Japanese language."

These sentences will all be translated into Japanese using an appropriate noun and the word 'desu.'

(It) is half-past twelve.　じゅうにじはんです。
(I) am a student.　がくせいです。
(My major) is the Japanese language.　にほんごです。

Note that none of these sentences has a 'subject'. Sentences without subjects are common in Japanese; spoken Japanese often omits subjects which are implied or otherwise clear. (Or which they think are clear.) In order to put a topic or otherwise make clear what the subject is, we use the particle は (which is pronounced "Wa" in this case, unlike the rest of the time when it's pronounced "ha").

For example:
My major is the Japanese language. せんもんは　にほんごです。
I am Sue Kim. わたしは　スー　キムです。
Mr. Yamashita is a teacher.　やましたさんは　せんせいです。
Mary is an American.　メアリーさんは　アメリカじんです。

[わたしは] [ジャグアルです]。I am Jaguar. (more literally, Jaguar I am.)
[わたしは] [だいがくせいです]。 I am a college student. (A college student I am.)


Note that in Japanese, as in Russian and some other languages, also has no indefinite particles, so there is no particle corresponding to 'a' or 'the.' There is an indicative particle corresponding to 'this', which will appear later.