Desu

[Anexa]

I notice that sometimes it is pronounced, (de-su) and other times it is pronounced just (des). How do you know when to use each pronunciation?

[McCrank]

some makes the SU sound a lot more apparent than others. its all the same.

[Anexa]

Ahh ok.. thank you...

[calpis2007]

what does "dasu kedo mo" mean?

[WalterWills]

So why do some japanese people voice the "su" at the end?

Is it merely an accent thing?

[wolfmaster]

what does "dasu kedo mo" mean?

U sure it's not desu kedo, like
Moshi Moshi, Minami desu kedo.

Kedo means because at the end of the sentence, but it beats me why they answers the phone like that.....

[Bueller_007]

"Kedo" means "but", not "because".

[wolfmaster]

"Kedo" means "but", not "because".

duh, that's what i meant.. heheh

why do they say that when answering the phone?

[Jason]

For some people, it's just how they speak. I've noticed that people tend to ennunciate すs more when they want to be more polite.

けど and が are often put on the end of statements to make them softer.

[nisenihonjin1400]

が、けれど、けど (from left to right, polite to informal) at the end of sentences are kind of like a "..." in English (though don't get too hung up on using it strictly for such purposes). It is indeed a soft way of introducing yourself/something to another person. It implies that something should follow but is simply understood and left unspoken. In the case with the phone it's like "Hello, this is Minami... (who is this?/what can I do for you?)" where the part in parenthesis is unspoken. This applies to other situations to like this one:

「日本にようこそ」と言う本が見つからないんですけれど = I couldn't find the book "Welcome to Japan"... (could you help me find it?)

They can also be in the middle of sentences meaning "but" as stated above. An example would be:

私はアイスクリームが食べたいけど、おなかが痛い = I wanted to eat ice cream, but my stomach hurt.

One thing to remember is that if have an NA-adjective or noun as the last word in the clause before けど or けれど, you must place だ between it (きれい＋だ＋けど). This rule does not apply to が