What is your name?

The は (wa) Particle and です (desu)

The most important pattern in Japanese is A は B です (A wa B desu), meaning "A is B."

わたしは マリアです。 (Watashi wa Maria desu.) → "I am Maria."

The particle は (written "ha" but pronounced "wa") marks the topic of the sentence. です (desu) is the polite form of "to be."

Asking someone's name

To ask someone's name politely:

• おなまえは？ (Onamae wa?) → "Your name is...?" (polite)
• おなまえは なんですか？ (Onamae wa nan desu ka?) → "What is your name?" (full form)

The prefix お (o) before なまえ adds politeness. The particle か (ka) at the end turns a statement into a question.

Answering

• わたしは [name] です。 → "I am [name]."
• You can often drop わたしは when it is obvious from context.