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This question might sound stupid but it got me thinking for some hours. A
friend bought me this gel pen from a Japanese store in my country, and it is
written in the pen:

> かわいいデス

instead of かわいいです _kawaii desu_.

I do not understand why です is in katakana. I mean, katakana is used for non-
Japanese words, as far as I was taught when I was going to Japanese classes.

So I do not understand... Probably it is just because they wanted to do it
that way! In that case, sorry for bothering!

[![pen](https://i.stack.imgur.com/N9wy1.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/N9wy1.png)
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2019-01-19T21:04:00.220
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2020-12-25T17:22:53.337
2019-01-19T21:17:21.920
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question
grammar katakana orthography hiragana
Why using です in katakana?
The final part of a Japanese sentence is sometimes rendered in katakana for
various reasons. Examples include:

>   * ごめんネ
>   * ひどいヨー
>   * 分かってマス！
>   * 美味しいデス
>   * 大丈夫かナ?
>

In fiction, this typically happens with people who were raised abroad (e.g.,
[金剛](https://kancolle.fandom.com/wiki/Kongou) and
[九条カレン](http://kinmosa.wikia.com/wiki/Karen_Kujo)) or who have a bit eccentric
personality (e.g., [野田恵](http://nodamecantabile.wikia.com/wiki/Noda_Megumi)).
In particular, using です/デス everywhere ignoring ordinary grammar is recognized
as one of the cute "[character-specific sentence-endings
(キャラ語尾)](https://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E8%AA%9E%E5%B0%BE)"; users of this type of
です speak like おはようです, やめろです or がんばるです. So, to be as specific as possible, I
think the emphasis on デス in your example is for adding a bit of cute and/or
exotic flavor to the otherwise uninteresting sentence.

There are a few _real_ native Japanese speakers who use katakana like this in
a casual online chat and such, believing it's interesting, cute, or whatever.
It's a matter of personal taste, but it may feel like someone who is trying to
make themselves look young.
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2019-01-22T06:21:50.377
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2019-01-22T09:08:29.200
2019-01-22T09:08:29.200
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answer