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I found the sentence:

女性の身体は本来美しいもの。
'The female body is a fundamentally beautiful thing.'

in the following passage:

毎食後2錠から3錠、油っこい食事のあとは少し多めに飲むだけと、とっても簡単にダイエットできてしまいます。
'An effective diet can be achieved simply achieved by taking from two to three pills after each meal, the number increasing with the oil content the cuisine.'

女性の身体は本来美しいもの。
'The female body is a fundamentally beautiful entity.'

私のお気に入りの『ハーモニー7』は、身体の機能を整えながら自然にバランスの取れたプロポーションに戻してくれる、ダイエットの強－－い味方です。
'Harmony 7 appeals to me because of its ability to arrange the body's functions while returning to a natural balance of proportions, making it an ideal diet support.'

Is the quoted sentence grammatical? Is the verb hidden? I apologize in advance for my ignorance as this question has probably arisen before and been answered.

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2 Answers

up vote 5 down vote

Isn't this just a sentence of the form: X は Y です?

It's just like saying 私は学生。

If you are confused be the lack of です, it is very common for it to just be dropped when it comes at the end of sentences.

Does this answer your question?

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I am familiar with this pattern, I just usually heard it in spoken conversation. It flows naturally for me, but I am wondering if it is grammatical in written language or if it is more of a colloquial convention. Does a japanese sentence have to have a verb? – yadokari Oct 5 '11 at 18:05
@yadokari As always, it depends on context. If sufficient context has been established then parts of the sentence that has been established may be elided. This includes verbs that are "obviously" there. – Flaw Oct 6 '11 at 0:31
1  
@yadokari: The text in your question is colloquial, as is clear from the expressions とっても and 強ーーい. Omitting です is also a small factor which contributes to the overall colloquial tone of the text, but it is not a big factor. – Tsuyoshi Ito Oct 6 '11 at 12:11
up vote 3 down vote

My grammar dictionary has this to say about ending a sentence in もの(だ):

The speaker talks about the situation like some tangible object. This pattern tends to be more emotive than without the use of もの.

The following are uses for もの:

  • emotive excuse

  • exclamation

  • nostalgic reminiscence

  • desire

  • indirect command

  • conviction

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2  
Thanks, that is useful to know. I am familiar with those uses, but in this example もの literally means "thing"; it is not really being used as a figure of speech as I understand it. I asked a Japanese friend and this was their non-expert answer: this type of usage is used to give an air of familiarity and ease to a statement. For this reason you often find it in advertising as the advertiser uses it to get in your good graces. She says it is technically incorrect; if she was writing a school report she would not use it. – yadokari Oct 6 '11 at 1:59
She also surmised that as in Japanese the verb comes at the end, it's not as jarring to omit the verb as it would be in English. This sentence which I quoted was not jarring to my ear, I was just looking to understand the grammar better and see if I was missing something. – yadokari Oct 6 '11 at 2:01

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