Brenton
Philip SharpVerbs in all basic forms.
May 6th 2008 04:53
Present.
Present form of verbs is the most common, and simply indicates an action. These verbs always end in the suffix ~ます (~masu).
To Go: いきます (ikimasu)
To Eat: たべます (tabemasu)
To Drink: のみます (nomimasu)
Past.
To make a verb into past form, you remove す and add した (Shita).
Have Gone: いきました (ikimashita)
Have Eaten: たべました (tabemashita)
Have Drunk: のみました (nomimashita)
Negative.
To make a sentence negative you again remove す, this time replacing it with せん(です) (sen (desu)). Desu at the end makes it more polite but is not essential.
Doesn’t go: いきません(です) (ikimasen (desu))
Doesn’t eat: たべません(です) (tabemasen (desu))
Doesn’t drink: のみません(です) (nomimasen (desu))
Past Negative.
We’ve seen that ません (masen) makes a word negative. If you remember, です (desu) is used in Japanese to finish a sentence. To make a past negative verb, we use the negative ません (masen) with the past tense of です (desu); でした (deshita).
Didn’t go: いきませんでした (ikimasen deshita)
Didn’t eat: たべませんでした (tabemasen deshita)
Didn’t drink: のみませんでした (nomimasen deshita)
Questions.
If you remember, the best way to make a question is to add a か (ka) to the end of a sentence. This is true of all the above examples.
Does it/he/she go?: いきますか (ikimasuka)
Did it/he/she eat?: たべましたか (tabemashita)
Didn’t he/she/it drink?: のみませんでしたか (nomimasen deshitaka)
Negative form written as a question usually indicates a polite invitation.
Won’t you drink?: のみませんか/のみませんですか (nomimasenka/nomimasen desu ka). The second of these two options is most polite.
Plain form.
Plain form is the more relaxed, colloquial version of a verb. It is less polite and should only be used with friends. For Present positive verbs it’s best to simply use the ~ます (~masu) form up the top.
Plain past
For plain past form, just remove ます and add た.Words that end in み (Mi) are an exception as they also replace み with ん (N), and use だ instead of た.
Have Gone: いきた (ikita)
Have Eaten: たべた (tabeta)
Have Drunk: のんだ (nonda)
Plain Present negative
For plain present negative, where a verb does not end with an い (i) sound, such as in たべます (tabemasu), you simply remove ます (masu) and add ない (nai).
If it does end with an い (i) sound then the い (i) sound is replaced with it’s あ (a) line equivalent. For example, with のみます (nomimasu), み (Mi) is replaced with ま (ma) before ない (nai) is added.
Doesn’t go: いかない (ikanai)
Doesn’t eat: たべない (tabenai)
Doesn’t Drink: のまない (nomanai)
Plain Past Negative
Plain past Negative is the exact same as present negative, except instead of adding ない (nai), you add なかた
Didn’t go: いかななかた (ikanakata)
Didn’t Eat: たべななかた (tabenakata)
Didn’t Drink: のまななかた (nomanakata)
As above, all plain form verbs can be changed to questions by adding か (ka) to the end.
Present form of verbs is the most common, and simply indicates an action. These verbs always end in the suffix ~ます (~masu).
To Go: いきます (ikimasu)
To Eat: たべます (tabemasu)
To Drink: のみます (nomimasu)
Past.
To make a verb into past form, you remove す and add した (Shita).
Have Gone: いきました (ikimashita)
Have Eaten: たべました (tabemashita)
Have Drunk: のみました (nomimashita)
Negative.
To make a sentence negative you again remove す, this time replacing it with せん(です) (sen (desu)). Desu at the end makes it more polite but is not essential.
Doesn’t go: いきません(です) (ikimasen (desu))
Doesn’t eat: たべません(です) (tabemasen (desu))
Doesn’t drink: のみません(です) (nomimasen (desu))
Past Negative.
We’ve seen that ません (masen) makes a word negative. If you remember, です (desu) is used in Japanese to finish a sentence. To make a past negative verb, we use the negative ません (masen) with the past tense of です (desu); でした (deshita).
Didn’t go: いきませんでした (ikimasen deshita)
Didn’t eat: たべませんでした (tabemasen deshita)
Didn’t drink: のみませんでした (nomimasen deshita)
Questions.
If you remember, the best way to make a question is to add a か (ka) to the end of a sentence. This is true of all the above examples.
Does it/he/she go?: いきますか (ikimasuka)
Did it/he/she eat?: たべましたか (tabemashita)
Didn’t he/she/it drink?: のみませんでしたか (nomimasen deshitaka)
Negative form written as a question usually indicates a polite invitation.
Won’t you drink?: のみませんか/のみませんですか (nomimasenka/nomimasen desu ka). The second of these two options is most polite.
Plain form.
Plain form is the more relaxed, colloquial version of a verb. It is less polite and should only be used with friends. For Present positive verbs it’s best to simply use the ~ます (~masu) form up the top.
Plain past
For plain past form, just remove ます and add た.Words that end in み (Mi) are an exception as they also replace み with ん (N), and use だ instead of た.
Have Gone: いきた (ikita)
Have Eaten: たべた (tabeta)
Have Drunk: のんだ (nonda)
Plain Present negative
For plain present negative, where a verb does not end with an い (i) sound, such as in たべます (tabemasu), you simply remove ます (masu) and add ない (nai).
If it does end with an い (i) sound then the い (i) sound is replaced with it’s あ (a) line equivalent. For example, with のみます (nomimasu), み (Mi) is replaced with ま (ma) before ない (nai) is added.
Doesn’t go: いかない (ikanai)
Doesn’t eat: たべない (tabenai)
Doesn’t Drink: のまない (nomanai)
Plain Past Negative
Plain past Negative is the exact same as present negative, except instead of adding ない (nai), you add なかた
Didn’t go: いかななかた (ikanakata)
Didn’t Eat: たべななかた (tabenakata)
Didn’t Drink: のまななかた (nomanakata)
As above, all plain form verbs can be changed to questions by adding か (ka) to the end.
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