Japanese VERBS

Lesson 1
The Plain Form
Please remember that all Japanese verbs end in u, but to be more precise, it's the last
syllable of the plain form that ends in u. Let's take the verb aruku, which means "to
walk," for example: it ends in ku, not u. Keeping this in mind will make further study
much easier.
There are 3 types of verbs in Japanese: yodan, ichidan, and irregular.1 First we will look
at only some simple yodan verbs, which can end in u, ku, gu, su, tsu, nu, bu, mu, or ru:
• kau (to buy)
• aruku (to walk)
• isogu (to hurry)
• kasu (to lend)
• matsu (to wait)
• shinu (to die)
• asobu (to play)
• yomu (to read)
• kaeru (to return)
Now let's try some in sentences:
• Mama wa mise de banana o kau. (Mom buys/will buy bananas at the store.)
• Jim wa manga o yomu. (Jim will read a comic book.)
• Ojii-san wa sugu kaeru. (Grandpa will return soon.)
Ichidan verbs all end in either eru or iru. Some frequently used ones are:
• taberu (to eat)
• kimeru (to decide)
• miru (to look, watch)
• kariru (to borrow)
Here are a couple of example sentences:
• Watashi wa ringo o taberu. (I'll eat an apple.)
• Naomi wa terebi o miru. (Naomi will watch TV.)
This is very simple Japanese, and also very juvenile or "familiar." Only kids or people
speaking with family or friends would use this plain form. Before actually trying out the
language you need to learn the Base 2 forms and the polite endings that go with them.
We will start learning about those in Lesson 2.
Word Check
Verbs:
kau: to buy
aruku: to walk
isogu: to hurry
kasu: to lend
matsu: to wait
shinu: to die
asobu: to play
yomu: to read
kaeru: to return
taberu: to eat
kimeru: to decide
miru: to look, watch
kariru: to borrow
Others:
mise: a store
manga: comic book
ojii-san: grandfather
sugu: soon
watashi: I
ringo: apple
terebi: TV 2
Notes
1. Yodan verbs are also called godan or "type 1" verbs, depending on the source.
Interestingly, the Japanese learn their own language in a completely different way, and
do not use the terms yodan or ichidan when teaching or learning verbs. Asking your
native-speaking Japanese friends about these will not help: they have never heard of
them, unless it was from another foreigner. The yodan/godan/ichidan method of verb
instruction only remains today as one method to teach Japanese verb forms to non-
native speakers.
2. Terebi is wasei eigo, or "Japanized English," and comes from television.
Lesson 2
Yodan Verbs with Base 2 + masu
The first ending you'll want to master is the polite form masu. Since masu requires the
Base 2 form, yodan verbs are changed so they end in i — their "Base 2" form — before
the masu ending is added. Notice how the following yodan verbs, which were
introduced in Lesson 1, change in order to add masu, the present polite ending.
Especially notice how verbs ending in su and tsu change:
Plain Verb Base 2 Form Polite Verb Form
kau (to buy) kai kaimasu
aruku (to walk) aruki arukimasu
isogu (to hurry) isogi isogimasu
kasu (to lend) kashi kashimasu
matsu (to wait) machi machimasu
shinu (to die) shini shinimasu
asobu (to play) asobi asobimasu
yomu (to read) yomi yomimasu
kaeru (to return) kaeri kaerimasu
Now we are ready to speak polite, "adult" Japanese. Let's convert the plain yodan verb
example sentences used in Lesson 1 to polite sentences by converting them to Base 2
and adding masu:
• Mama wa mise de banana o kaimasu. (Mom buys/will buy bananas at the store.)
• Jim wa manga o yomimasu. (Jim will read a comic book.)
• Ojii-san wa sugu kaerimasu. (Grandpa will return soon.)
Lesson 3
Ichidan Verbs with Base 2 + masu
Ichidan verbs are a snap, because you change them to Base 2 by just dropping the ru
at the end. Look carefully at these ichidan verbs and how they conjugate, and notice
how they differ from the yodan group covered in Lesson 2:
Plain Verb Base 2 Form Polite Verb Form
taberu (to eat) tabe tabemasu
oboeru (to remember) oboe oboemasu
kimeru (to decide) kime kimemasu
deru (to leave, come out) de demasu
kariru (to borrow) kari karimasu
miru (to look, watch) mi mimasu
Here are some examples:
• Watashi wa ashita kimemasu. (I'll decide tomorrow.)
• Jerry wa sugu heya kara demasu. (Jerry will come out of the room soon.)
• Ayako wa mainichi terebi o mimasu. (Ayako watches the TV every day.)
Now, you are probably thinking: How can I tell ichidan verbs from yodan? True, there
are also yodan verbs that end in eru or iru, but with practice and experience they will
gradually be mastered. A mistake made from not knowing whether a verb is yodan or
ichidan is a very minor one, and should not be worried about at this stage.
Word Check
ashita: tomorrow
sugu: soon
heya: a room
kara: from
mainichi: every day
terebi: TV
Lesson 4
Base 2 + masen
Now that you are a little familiar with Base 2, let's try masen, which is the negative form
of masu. Look at these yodan examples:
• Watashi wa kasa o kaimasen. (I'm not going to buy an umbrella.)
• Kare wa machimasen. (He won't wait.)
• Kimiko wa Osaka ni ikimasen. (Kimiko isn't going to Osaka.)
And here are some ichidan:
• Watashi wa ima tabemasen. (I'm not going to eat now.)
• Kanojo wa kasa o karimasen. (She isn't going to borrow an umbrella.)
Easy enough, right?
Word Check
kasa: umbrella
kau: to buy
kare: he, him
matsu: to wait
iku: to go
ima: now
taberu: to eat
kanojo: she, her
kariru: to borrow
Lesson 5
Base 2 + mashita
Mashita is used to change verbs to their past polite form. Let's make some examples:
• John wa Sendai ni ikimashita. (John went to Sendai.)
• Kodomotachi wa kouen de asobimashita. (The children played at the park.)
• Yoshi wa ringo o tabemashita. (Yoshi ate an apple.)
• Shizu wa manga o kaimashita. (Shizu bought a comic book.)
• Bob wa sono eiga o mimashita. (Bob saw that movie.)
There are yodan and ichidan verbs in the examples above. Can you tell them apart?
Word Check
iku: to go
kodomotachi: children
kouen: a park
asobu: to play
ringo: apple
taberu: to eat
manga: a comic book
kau: to buy
sono: that
eiga: movie
miru: to see
Lesson 7
desu, iru and aru
This would be a good place to leave the "action verb" endings and explain the "to be"
verbs desu, iru and aru.
Desu is added to the end of statements to make them polite, including ones that end in
plain verb forms or their conjugations. Do not add it to verbs that are already in a polite
form, like something from the masu group.
After nouns and adjectives, desu acts like English "be verbs" (am, are, is, etc.) and
states that something (a noun) is something (a noun or adjective):
• Kare wa Tanaka-san desu. (He is Mr. Tanaka.)
• Carol wa nijuu go sai desu. (Carol is 25 years old.)
• Bob wa byouki desu. (Bob's sick.)
• Ashita wa ame desu. (Tomorrow it will rain. [The weather forecast for tomorrow
is rain.])
• Sono gakkou wa furui desu. (That school is old.)
The plain form of desu is da, which is used by kids and adults in familiar settings:
• Mite! Hikouki da! (Look! An airplaine!)
• Iya da. (No. [I don't want to...])
I should point out here that the above sentences do not need desu or da to be complete
or grammatically correct. In fact, you will often hear them with neither. Desu or da are
added to "finalize" the statement in some cases, with desu being the one to choose
when the setting calls for polite speech.
Iru and aru mean "to be (in a certain place)" or "to exist." Generally speaking, iru is
used for people and animals, and aru for everything else:
• Tom wa iru? (Is Tom here / there?)
• Hai, Tom wa iru yo. (Yes, Tom's here.)
• Kabe ni kumo ga iru. (There's a spider on the wall.)
• Jisho wa tsukue no ue ni aru. (The dictionary is on the desk.)
• Kouen ni ookina ki ga aru. (There's a big tree in the park.)
You can make these polite by converting them to their Base 2 form and adding masu.
Iru is an ichidan verb, and aru is a yodan, so be sure to convert them accordingly:
• Tom wa imasu ka? (Is Tom there?)
• Kouen ni ookina ki ga arimasu. (There's a big tree in the park.)
The plain negative forms of these are inai and nai :
• Sumimasen, ima Tom wa inai. (Sorry, Tom's not here now.)
• Jisho ga nai. (I don't have a dictionary.)
And the polite negative forms would use masen, which was introduced in Lesson 4:
• Sumimasen ga, ima Tom wa imasen. (Sorry, but Tom's not here now.)
• Jisho ga arimasen. (I don't have a dictionary.)
The plain past of these are itta and atta, which should only be used in very familiar
settings:
• Kinou Tom wa itta. (Yesterday Tom was here.)
• Koko ni ookina ki ga atta. (There was a big tree here.)
The polite past forms are imashita and arimashita :
• Kinou Tom wa imashita. (Yesterday Tom was here.)
• Koko ni ookina ki ga arimashita. (There was a big tree here.)
For plain past negative use inakatta and nakatta :
• Kinou Tom wa inakatta. (Yesterday Tom was not here.)
• Koko ni ki ga nakatta. (There was not a tree here.)
And for polite past negative use masen deshita :
• Kinou Tom wa imasen deshita. (Yesterday Tom was not here.)
• Koko ni ki ga arimasen deshita. (There was not a tree here.)
Now let's get back to desu. Its plain negative form is dewa nai or ja nai :
• Kanojo wa juuhassai dewa nai. (She's not 18.)
And the polite negative is dewa arimasen :
• Iie, kare wa haisha dewa arimasen. (No, he's not a dentist.)
The plain past, polite past, plain past negative, and polite past negative forms are datta,
deshita, dewa nakatta, and dewa arimasen deshita, respectively.
There is another form of desu that I've been asked about: de aru. This is one that is
rarely used these days. You really don't need to concern yourself with it at all unless you
decide to study Japanese literature. The only time you will hear it is on historical dramas
or documentary programs. If you are really interested in the technical background, here
it is: Among the several roles of de, one is "as," as in being in a certain position, state or
condition. Connected with aru it means "to exist as...." So, if you were to say John wa
gakusei de aru, you're technically saying "John presently exists as a student" (John is a
student). Again, it is rarely used these days in daily communication. Use desu instead.1
Have I mentioned how "grammatically loose" Japanese is? Well, it is, and you will run
into lots of strange constructions which cannot be explained in English simply because
they do not exist in English. With desu, there is one way it is often used which will throw
the student who is still trying to "think out in English" everything heard in Japanese. This
is when it is used after the object. A good example would be:
A: O-tousan wa? (Where's Dad?)
B: Shigoto desu. (He's at work.)
B could even answer o-tousan wa shigoto desu, which, to the mind of the student of
Japanese, could mean "Dad is a job," but it doesn't. This is the "wild card" nature of
desu.
I realize that making sense out of this will take some time, but Japanese allows much
more "vagueness" than English does. In the example given above, desu is simply
added behind the minimum required answer as a polite formality, and has no other
value as a grammatical component. The seasoned listener will recognize this and not
expect desu to mean anything more.
Word Check
ame: rain
gakkou: school
furui: old
hikouki: airplane
iya: disagreeable; unpleasant; No! 2
kabe: wall
kumo: spider
tsukue: desk
ue: the top (of something)
ookina: big
ki: tree
ima: now
jisho: dictionary
haisha: dentist
Notes
1. Most native speakers do not voice the u on the end of masu or desu. If you want to
sound like most natives, pronounce them "moss" and "dess." You will, however,
occasionally hear a few speakers voice the final su, making them sound something like
mah-su and deh-su, with just a very short su. You can imitate the version you like.
2. Iya da! is used as a simple reply to reject something, and is especially used by
children.
Lesson 6
Base 2 + masen deshita
In Lesson 4 we learned that masen is used to show polite negative. To make that past
tense we just add deshita. To illustrate this we will take a few of the examples shown in
Lesson 5 and change them from positive past to negative past:
• John wa Sendai ni ikimasen deshita. (John didn't go to Sendai.)
• Kodomotachi wa kouen de asobimasen deshita. (The children didn't play at the
park.)
• Yoshi wa ringo o tabemasen deshita. (Yoshi didn't eat an apple.)
Please note that deshita is the past tense form of desu, which will be covered next.
Lesson 8
Base 2 + tai
A very useful Base 2 ending is tai, which is used to show that you want to do
something:
• Watashi wa kasa o kaitai. (I want to buy an umbrella.)
• Kodomotachi wa asobitai. (The children want to play.)
• Bob wa tempura o tabetai. (Bob wants to eat tempura.)
• Miki wa sono eiga o mitai. (Miki wants to see that movie.)
The above examples are plain forms. To make them polite, add desu: Watashi wa kasa
o kaitai desu, etc.
Again, tai shows that you want to do something, and is not used when you want
something. Accordingly, tai is only used with verbs, and is never used alone with an
object. For example, you wouldn't say watashi wa inu o tai for "I want a dog." You would
use the adjective hoshii and say, "Watakushi wa inu ga hoshii."
Now, what if you don't want to do something? In that case, we use takunai. Again, add
desu to make it polite. Let's make the examples above negative. We'll make the first
two plain:
• Watakushi wa kasa o kaitakunai. (I don't want to buy an umbrella.)
• Kodomotachi wa asobitakunai. (The children don't want to play.)
And the next two polite:
• Bob wa tempura o tabetakunai desu. (Bob doesn't want to eat tempura.)
• Miki wa sono eiga o mitakunai desu. (Miki doesn't want to see that movie.)
Another handy derivative is takereba, which is the conditional form of tai. Use it for "if
(you) want to":
• Terebi o mitakereba, yuushoku o hayaku tabenasai. (If you want to watch TV,
hurry and eat your dinner.)
• Shichiji no densha ni noritakereba, ashita hayaku okimashou. (If you want to
make the 7:00 train, let's get up early tomorrow.)
Word Check
kasa: umbrella
kodomotachi: children 1
eiga: movie
yuushoku: dinner
hayaku: early; fast, quickly
shichiji: 7:00 (shichi [seven] + ji ["o'clock"])
densha: train
noru: to ride
ashita: tomorrow
okiru: to get up
(Verbs are shown in their plain form.)
Notes
1. Kodomo means "child." Although tachi can be added to make the plural "children,"
please remember that tachi works with only a few select nouns, mainly those describing
people or animals. There are no plural forms for other objects, which makes Japanese
uncomplicated in that respect.
Lesson 9
Base 2 + mashou
Sometimes it is written masho with a line above the o, but either way this one is easy to
remember. It simply means "let's (do something)." For example:
• Ikimashou. (Let's go.)
• Tabemashou. (Let's eat.)
• Yasumimashou. (Let's take a break.)
As in English, this is also used to mean "I'll do (something) for you / Let me do
(something) for you," as in:
• Watashi ga hakobimashou. (I'll carry this / these [for you].) 1
• (to a pet) Esa o agemashou. (Let's get you some food.)
• Anata no jitensha o naoshimashou. (I'll fix your bicycle. / I'll help you fix your
bicycle.)
Word Check
iku: to go
yasumu: to rest; to take a break; to take or have a day off
hakobu: to carry
esa: pet food
ageru: to give
anata: you 2
jitensha: bicycle
naosu: to repair
Notes
1. In Japanese, the object (as well as the subect) can be omitted when it is known or
obvious. In this example, even hakobimashou alone would be both natural and
grammatically sufficient.
Lesson 10
Base 2 + nasai
Here is a real simple one, but you will want to be careful how you use it. For simple
commands, add nasai to verbs in the Base 2 form:
• Tabenasai! (Eat!)
• Minasai! (Look!)
• Yominasai! (Read it!)
• Iinasai! (Tell me!)
• Suwarinasai! (Sit down!)
• Koko ni kinasai! (Come here!)
Word Check
taberu: to eat
miru: to look
yomu: to read
iu: to say
suwaru: to sit
kuru: to come
Lesson 11
Irregular Verbs kuru and suru
Did something seem amiss with the last example in Lesson 10? I hope so, because it
means you noticed that while kuru looks like a yodan verb, it conjugated like an ichidan.
It is now time to introduce the irregular verbs kuru and suru.
We have already practiced using yodan and ichidan verbs. Besides these are the
irregulars, but the good news is that there are only two: kuru, which means "to come";
and suru, which means "to do." These two have their own set of rules when it comes to
conjugating, but since both are used frequently they can be mastered quickly and
naturally.
The Base 2 form of kuru is just ki. Let's use it to review some of the endings already
learned:
• Bob wa kimasu. (Bob will come.)
• Sue wa kimasen. (Sue won't come/won't be coming.)
• John wa kimashita. (John came.)
• Ken wa kimasen deshita. (Ken didn't come.)
• Yumi wa kitai desu. (Yumi wants to come.)
Suru is not only a handy "stand alone" verb, but is also used to make countless nouns
into verbs: benkyou suru (study), shimpai suru (worry), chuumon suru (place an order),
yakusoku suru (promise). The Base 2 form of suru is shi. Look at these examples:
• Watashi wa shimasu. (I'll do it.)
• Kare wa shimasen. (He won't do it.)
• Bill wa ashita benkyou shitai desu. (Bill wants to study tomorrow.)
• Anata wa yakusoku shimashita. (You promised.)
• Hiromi wa shimpai shimasen deshita. (Hiromi didn't worry.)
This should be enough about kuru and suru for the time being. Now that they have
been introduced you will see them pop up from time to time in future lessons. Just
remember that they are irregular and do not follow the same rules as the other verbs.
Lesson 13
Base 2 + ni iku / ni kuru
Now that we are familiar with the verbs iku (go) and kuru (come), let's learn two useful
Base 2 endings that use them. Simply convert your reason for coming or going into
Base 2, then add the relevant one:
• Watashi wa kasa o kai ni iku. (I'm going to go buy an umbrella.)
• Miki wa watashi no atarashii PC o mi ni kuru. (Miki is coming over to see my
new PC.)
Because these are left in their plain form, as explained in Lesson 1, we'll add endings to
clean them up or change the tense:
• Watashi wa kasa o kai ni ikimasu. (I'm going to go buy an umbrella.)
• Miki wa watashi no atarashii PC o mi ni kimashita. (Miki came over to see my
new PC.)
And here are some more good ones:
• Chuuka ryouri o tabe ni ikimashou. (Let's go out and eat Chinese food.)
• Watashi wa kouen ni asobi ni ikitai. (I want to go play in the park.)
• Rob wa jitensha o kari ni kimasen deshita. (Rob didn't come to borrow the
bicycle.)
• Asobi ni kite ne. (Come over for a visit, okay?) 1
Word Check
kasa: umbrella
atarashii: new
miru: to see, look, watch
chuuka ryouri: Chinese food
kouen: park
asobu: to play
jitensha: bicycle
kariru: to borrow
Notes
1. Asobi ni kuru is a set phrase used to invite someone "to come for a pleasure visit."
You may hear it often, but don't take it literally. Most of the time it is just a polite nothing,
made obvious by having no date or time attached to it.
Lesson 12
Forming Questions with ka
Making questions in Japanese is easy. Unlike English, where you have that silliness of
subjects and verbs trading places, in Japanese all you do is stick ka on the end of a
word, phrase, or sentence to turn it into a question. For example, do you remember
"Ojii-san wa sugu kaerimasu" from Lesson 2? (Grandpa will return soon.) Well, just slap
ka on the end and you've turned it into a question: "Ojii-san wa sugu kaerimasu ka."
(Will Grandpa return soon?) Simple, right?
Let's make questions out of some of our other previous examples:
• Yoshi wa ringo o tabemashita ka. (Did Yoshi eat an apple?)
• Miki wa sono eiga o mitai desu ka. (Does Miki want to see that movie?)
• Yasumimashou ka. (Shall we take a break?)
By the way, true Japanese doesn't use a question mark. You will see lots of question
marks used, usually in advertisements or trendy one-liners, but real Japanese literature
does not use it. In a sense, ka is the question mark.
Lesson 14
Base 2 + nikui / yasui
These two are very handy. Use them to show that something is hard or easy to do.
Use nikui for "hard to do":
• Kono budou wa tabenikui. (These grapes are hard to eat.)
• Kono kanji wa yominikui. (These kanji are hard to read.)
• Sono tatemono wa minikui. (That building is hard to see.) 1
And use yasui for "easy to do": 2
• Kono PC wa tsukaiyasui. (This PC is easy to use.)
• Kanojo no namae wa oboeyasui. (Her name is easy to remember.)
• Kono kanji wa kakiyasui. (This kanji is easy to write.)
Word Check
kono: this, these
budou: grapes
taberu: to eat
kanji: Chinese characters 3
yomu: to read
sono: that, those
tatemono: a building
miru: to see, look, watch
tsukau: to use
kanojo: she, her 4
namae: name
oboeru: to remember
kaku: to write
Notes
1. Besides the converted verb minikui, which means "hard to see," there is also an
adjective minikui meaning "ugly." Accordingly, the sentence sono tatemono wa minikui
could also mean "that building is ugly." Be especially careful to make the intended
meaning clear when using it to refer to people or their property.
2. Yasui also exists as an adjective meaning "inexpensive."
4. Kanojo no is the possessive pronoun "her."
Lesson 15
Base 2 + sugiru
Sugiru is a verb which means "to pass by; to go too far." It teams up nicely with other
verbs in the Base 2 form to mean to "overdo" something. As with any other verb,
changing it to its Base 2 form with masu, sugimasu, makes it polite. Here are some
examples:
• Kare wa itsumo nomisugiru. (He always drinks too much.)
• Kimiko wa tabesugimashita. (Kimiko ate too much.)
• Kodomotachi wa terebi o misugiru. (The kids watch too much TV.)
Sugiru is sometimes shortened in familiar conversation to sugi. For example, you could
say kodomotachi wa terebi o misugi.
Word Check
itsumo: always
nomu: to drink
Lesson 16
Base 2 + nagara
When you need to say that someone is doing something while doing something else,
nagara comes in handy. Add it to verbs in Base 2 to mean "while (doing something)...."
Note how the action connected with nagara comes before it:
• Bob wa hatarakinagara ongaku o kiku. (Bob listens to music while he works.)
• Kimiko wa benkyou shinagara terebi o mimasen. (Kimiko doesn't watch TV
while studying.)
• Hanashinagara sanpo shimashou. (Let's take a walk while we talk.)
This should do it for the Base 2 combinations. We will move on to Base 1 in the next
lesson.
Word Check
hataraku: to work
ongaku: music
kiku: to listen, hear 1
benkyou suru: to study
hanasu: to talk, speak
sanpo suru: to take a walk 2
Notes
1. There is also a kiku which means "to ask" that is used often.
2. Use aruku for "to walk," as a means of getting somewhere. When walking is the
object, use sanpo suru (to go for a walk).
Lesson 17
Base 1 + nai — The Plain Negative Form
We will now look at Base 1, which is mainly used for creating negative verb endings.
Ichidan are easy to convert into Base 1 because you just knock off the ru. In other
words, Bases 1 and 2 are the same. Verbs in the yodan group are changed so that they
end in a: iku changes to ika, matsu to mata, yomu to yoma, and etc. If the verb ends in
u with another vowel before it, like kau, just change the u to wa; so kau becomes kawa.
The irregular kuru changes to ko, and suru to shi, just like its Base 2 form.
The following tables should help clarify the way the three types of verbs are converted
into Base 1 from their plain Base 3 forms, with Base 2 thrown in for review and
comparison. Please note the changes carefully.
Yodan verbs:
Base 3 (root form) Base 2 Base 1
kau (to buy) kai kawa
aruku (to walk) aruki aruka
isogu (to hurry) isogi isoga
kasu (to lend) kashi kasa
matsu (to wait) machi mata
shinu (to die) shini shina
asobu (to play) asobi asoba
yomu (to read) yomi yoma
kaeru (to return) kaeri kaera
Ichidan verbs:
taberu (to eat) tabe tabe
oboeru (to remember) oboe oboe
kimeru (to decide) kime kime
deru (to leave) de de
kariru (to borrow) kari kari
miru (to look) mi mi
Irregular verbs:
kuru (to come) ki ko
suru (to do) shi shi
Now what we want to do is use Base 1 + nai to change some verbs into their plain
negative form: kau (to buy) becomes kawanai (will not buy); kariru (to borrow) becomes
karinai (will not borrow); kuru (to come), konai (will not come); and suru (to do), shinai
(will not do).
Look at these example sentences:
• John wa kasa o kawanai. (John isn't going to buy an umbrella.)
• Jim wa manga o yomanai. (Jim doesn't read comic books.)
• Ojii-san wa sugu kaeranai. (Grandpa isn't going to return soon.)
• Watashi wa terebi o minai. (I'm not going to watch TV.)
• Sachiko wa konai. (Sachiko won't be coming.)
Notice how this ending can be used to mean "not going to do (something) for the time
being" as well as "don't do at all" as a matter of personal policy. For example, Jim wa
manga o yomanai could mean that Jim never reads comic books, or that he just isn't
going to read a comic book now or in the near future. As in English, Japanese used in
actual conversation would be modified as needed in order to make meanings clear.
Please remember that the ending nai by itself is plain, and should only be used in
informal settings. Depending on the situation, you may want to upgrade it to a polite
form, like Base 2 + masen, which we already covered in Lesson 4, or by simply adding
desu on the end after nai :
• John wa kasa o kaimasen. / John wa kasa o kawanai desu.
• Jim wa manga o yomimasen. / Jim wa manga o yomanai desu.
Can you get a good feel for the changeover between Base 2 + masen and Base 1 +
nai here?
Word Check
kasa: umbrella
kau: to buy
manga: a comic book, comics; cartoons
yomu: to read
ojii-san: grandfather
sugu: soon
kaeru: to return
kuru: to come
Lesson 18
Base 1 + nai deshou
Here's an easy one. Adding deshou after nai means that somebody is probably not
going to do something, or that something is not likely to happen:
• John wa kasa o kawanai deshou. (John probably isn't going to buy an umbrella.)
• Jim wa manga o yomanai deshou. (Jim probably doesn't read comic books.)
• Yuki wa furanai deshou. (It probably won't snow.)
Actually, deshou is a handy add-on that also works with plain positive (Base 3) verbs,
as in:
• Ojii-san wa sugu kaeru deshou. (Grandpa will probably return soon.)
• Sachiko wa kuru deshou. (Sachiko will probably come.)
• Bill wa ika o taberu deshou. (Bill will probably eat the squid.)
Word Check
kau: to buy
yuki: snow
furu: to fall from the sky 1
ika: squid
Notes
1. Furu means "to fall down from the sky," like rain, snow, or hail. For falling objects, use
ochiru.
Lesson 19
Base 1 + nakatta
The past tense of nai is a bit odd, but I think that this is a good place to introduce it:
nakatta. (Nai with its i dropped and katta added. Remembering that na is the negative
element and katta is for past tense will be a big help later on.) This is how you make
plain past tense.
Let's make a few examples:
• Watashi wa terebi o minakatta. (I didn't watch TV.)
• Sachiko wa konakatta. (Sachiko didn't come.)
• Ojii-san wa shinbun o yomitakunakatta. (Grandpa didn't want to read the
newspaper.)
Word Check
shinbun: newspaper
yomu: to read
Lesson 20
Base 1 + nakereba
Base 1 + nakereba is used to make negative conditional sentences — what will happen
if something doesn't happen. Look at these examples:
• Ojii-san ga sugu kaeranakereba watashi wa makudonarudo ni ikimasu. (If
Grandpa doesn't return soon I'm going to McDonald's.)
• Miki ga heya o tsukawanakereba Junko wa tsukaitai desu. (If Miki isn't going to
use the room Junko wants to use it.)
• Naoko wa kasa o karinakereba (kanojo wa) koukai suru deshou. 1 (If Naoko
doesn't borrow an umbrella she'll probably regret it.)
As mentioned in the last lesson, please remember that the na in nakereba comes from
nai and is the negative element. The kereba is the conditional ("if") element which was
introduced back in Lesson 8 with tai (takereba).
Word Check
heya: room
tsukau: to use
kariru: to borrow
koukai suru: to regret
Notes
1. A very convenient thing about Japanese is the fact that you can omit subjects that are
understood or obvious — you don't have to retain them for the sake of good grammar,
as in English. In this example there is no question that kanojo wa (she) is Naoko, so it is
omitted.
Lesson 21
Base 1 + nakereba narimasen
This verb ending is not only a long one, it's a bit of a tongue twister. It is used quite a lot
because it means "must do." Let's take iku (to go), change it to Base 1 ika, and add
nakereba narimasen to make this simple example sentence: Watashi wa ikanakereba
narimasen. (I have to go.)
Looking at it literally, the nakereba means "if one does not...," as you will remember
from Lesson 20, and narimasen means "will not become"; so in the example above you
are saying "If I don't go it won't do."
Here are some more examples:
• Jim wa ima kaeranakereba narimasen. (Jim has to return now.)
• Laura wa kasa o kawanakereba narimasen. (Laura has to buy an umbrella.)
• Kodomotachi wa tabenakereba narimasen. (The children must eat.)
You have probably noticed that the polite negative ending masen is stuck on the end
here. Yes, this is a verb within a verb ending: naru (to become) is the root word here,
which is in its Base 2 form with masen added on (narimasen). If we were to use the
plain negative form of naru (naranai) instead, the ending becomes nakereba naranai,
which changes the whole sentence to its plain form. This can be handy when adding
other endings, like deshou from Lesson 18. Let's use this ending with the three
examples above and see how the meanings are "softened":
• Jim wa ima kaeranakereba naranai deshou. (Jim probably has to return now.)
• Laura wa kasa o kawanakereba naranai deshou. (Laura probably needs to buy
an umbrella.)
• Kodomotachi wa tabenakereba naranai deshou. (The children probably need to
eat.)
As you grow accustomed to Japanese verb usage and ending patterns, you will see
how the entire meaning or "feeling" of a sentence can be adjusted or "fine tuned" at will
by combining the right ending components as you finish the sentence up.
Good luck with nakereba narimasen. I already mentioned that it's a tongue twister.
More than memorizing its meaning, mastering a clean, clear pronunciation of it is
usually the most difficult part.
Word Check
ima: now
kasa: umbrella
Lesson 22
Base 1 + seru / saseru
These are used when you want to let/have/make someone do something. In English we
fortunately have three different words which allow us to easily adjust the meaning to the
one we want to convey. Accordingly, "I'll let him go to the store," "I'll have him go to the
store," and "I'll make him go to the store" all have different nuances. In Japanese,
however, seru, for yodan verbs, and saseru, for the others, are used for all of these. By
the overall context and by using other "helper" words the different meanings, or feelings,
as in "let him" vs. "make him," can be conveyed.
The important thing to remember is that yodan verbs use seru, like this:
• Obaa-san wa kodomotachi ni soto de asobaseru. (Grandma lets the children
play outside.)
• Okaa-chan wa Kimiko ni kasa o kawaseru. (Mom will have Kimiko buy an
umbrella.)
• Sensei wa gakusei ni mainichi shimbun o yomaseru. (The teacher makes the
students read the newspaper every day.)
And ichidan verbs and the irregular kuru use saseru:
• Roku ji ni kodomotachi ni yuushoku o tabesaseru. (I'll have the kids eat dinner at
6:00.)
• John ni raishuu made ni kimesaseru. (I'll have John decide by next week.)
• Kare ni ashita kosaseru. (I'll have him come tomorrow.)
With suru verbs, suru is simply replaced with saseru:
• Otou-san wa Bob ni benkyou saseru. (Dad will make Bob study.)
• Kanojo ni saseru. (I'll have her do it.)
As you can see, in these constructions the person being let or made to do something
becomes the indirect object, which is signified by adding ni after it.
One tricky thing is that there are some verbs which already have a "set form" to convey
this meaning, and do not follow the above rules. A good example is miseru, which
means "to show" or "to let see," as in:
• Kare wa karera ni mainichi terebi o miseru. (He lets them watch TV every day.)
So, although miru is an ichidan verb, you won't hear or see "misaseru." As you get used
to more and more natural Japanese expressions, you will know which verbs are
conjugated as outlined above and which have their own set forms which are used
instead.
Now for the easy part: Since seru and saseru end in eru, they can be conjugated
further like any other ichidan verb, making it easy to apply what has been learned in the
previous lessons in order to make them negative, past tense, polite, and etc. For
example:
• Ritsuko wa Kumi ni pen o kawasemashita. (Ritsuko had Kumi buy a pen.)
• Ojii-san wa kodomotachi ni ame o tabesasemasen. (Grandpa won't let the
children eat candy.)
• Watashi wa Kenji ni eigo o benkyou sasetai desu. (I want to have Kenji study
English.)
• John ni mise ni ikasemashou. (Let's have John go to the store.)
• Kodomotachi ni terebi o misemashou ka. (Shall we let the kids watch TV?)
These examples all use Base 2 final endings. Please review any you may have
forgotten.
Word Check
sensei: teacher
gakusei: student(s)
mainichi: every day
shinbun: newspaper
yuushoku: dinner
taberu: to eat
raishuu: next week
made ni: by (a time or date, to set a deadline: by 5:00, by tomorrow, etc.)
kimeru: to decide
kare: he, him
ashita: tomorrow
kuru: to come
kanojo: she, her
karera: they, them
ame: candy, sweets 1
eigo: the English language
mise: a store, a shop
iku: to go
Notes
1. Yes, "rain" is also ame, but it uses a different kanji. The word ame for sweets is
usually written in hiragana.
Lesson 23
Base 1 + zu ni
Use zu ni with Base 1 to say that someone did something without doing something else
which was expected. Yes, that's a tad confusing, but these examples should make it
clear:
• Kare wa yuushoku o tabezu ni nemashita. (He went to bed without eating
dinner.)
• Kyou Shizuka wa kyoukasho o motazu ni gakkou ni kimashita. (Today Shizuka
came to school without her textbook.)
• Bob wa maemotte denwa sezu ni John no ie ni ikimashita. (Bob went to John's
house without calling first.)
Please note that in some cases the ni after the zu may be omitted, especially when no
particular emphasis needs to be applied.
Word Check
neru: to sleep
kyoukasho: textbook
motsu: to hold; to have
gakkou: school
maemotte: beforehand; in advance
denwa suru: to telephone (someone)
ie: house; home
Lesson 24
Base 3 + deshou
Even though deshou was already introduced in Lesson 18, I thought it would be a nice
and easy way to begin the Base 3 verb endings. But before we begin, please remember
that Base 3 is actually the root or "dictionary" form of the verb; the plain, unsophisticated
form used by kids or in very familiar situations, as explained in Lesson 1. (To my mind it
would make more sense to call this form Base 1, but I suppose we must allow each
language its quirks.)
Remember these examples?
• Jim wa manga o yomu.
• Ojii-san wa sugu kaeru.
• Watashi wa ringo o taberu.
• Naomi wa terebi o miru.
• Mama wa mise de banana o kau.
Not only should you be able to translate these, you should know which are ichidan and
which are yodan. Please review Lesson 1 if necessary.
Let's get back to deshou. This is an easy add-on which means "perhaps" or "probably."
For example, add it to kau (to buy) in Mama wa mise de banana o kau and you have
Mama wa mise de banana o kau deshou (Mom will probably buy some bananas at the
store). Let's do a few more:
• Raishuu watashi wa Okayama ni iku deshou. (I'll probably go to Okayama next
week.)
• Kenji wa atarashii kuruma o kau deshou. (Kenji will probably buy a new car.)
• Ashita wa ame (ga furu) deshou. 1 (It will probably rain tomorrow.)
Base 3 + deshou is very handy when you are not sure of something. Use it when you
don't want to take full responsibility for an outcome. That is why you will hear it used at
the end of practically every sentence of a weather forecast in Japan.
Another use for this form is questioning or confirming something already assumed, as
we would use tag questions in English. Please note that ka is not added at the end; a
rising intonation is used instead:
• Osaka ni iku deshou? (You're going to Osaka, aren't you?)
• Sue wa kuru deshou? (Sue's coming, isn't she?)
• Tomoka wa eigo no shukudai o suru deshou? (Tomoka will do her English
homework, right?)
Word Check
raishuu: next week
atarashii: new
kuruma: car
ashita: tomorrow
ame: rain
furu: to fall (rain, snow, etc.)
shukudai: homework
Notes
1. The verb furu used in this example means "to fall," but only if it's rain or snow that's
doing the falling. (A falling object uses the verb ochiru). As in English, the fact that the
rain will fall is understood, making the verb unnecessary, so it is often omitted.
Lesson 25
Base 3 + hazu
When something is "supposed to be," "ought to be," or "planned to be," we use the
Base 3 form of the verb with hazu (plain) or hazu desu (polite) added on:
• Raishuu watashi wa Osaka ni iku hazu desu. (I'm supposed to go to Osaka next
week.)
• John wa sugu kuru hazu. (John should be coming soon.)
Hazu can also be added to some conjugated forms:
• Bob mo ikitai hazu. (Bob will probably also want to go.)
Word Check
sugu: soon
kuru: to come
iku: to go
Lesson 26
Base 3 + hou ga ii
This one is used for "should do," "had better do," "would rather do." Actually, the hou
means "way" or "method," and ii means "good" or "better," so when you use hou ga ii
you are literally saying "...way is good/better."
Examples:
• Kanojo ni denwa suru hou ga ii. (I/we should call her.)
• Watashitachi wa sukoshi yasumu hou ga ii. (We had better rest a little.)
• Anata wa motto nihongo o benkyou suru hou ga ii. (You should study
Japanese more.)
Hou ga ii is especially fitting when expressing a preferred choice or method:
• Kyou densha de iku hou ga ii. (It would be better to go by train today.)
• Raishuu suru hou ga ii. (It would be better to do it next week.)
• Ato de taberu hou ga ii. (It would be better to eat later.)
When showing personal preference, you can skip the verb and use hou ga ii right after
a noun with no:
• Yakiniku no hou ga ii. (I'd rather have a barbeque.)
• Inu no hou ga ii. (I'd rather get a dog.)
• Hawaii no hou ga ii. (I'd rather go to Hawaii.)
As with most verb endings, and according to the grammar books, desu can be added to
hou ga ii to make it more polite, but, frankly, I have yet to actually hear hou ga ii desu
in daily conversation. When you hear it, the sentence will usually end with hou ga ii,
which makes it easier to catch than many other endings.
If there is any confusion between hou ga ii and hazu, which was covered in the last
lesson, just remember that hou ga ii is generally active: should do, prefer; while hazu is
more passive: should be, should happen.
Word Check
kanojo: she, her
denwa suru: to call (someone) on a telephone
sukoshi: a little
yasumu: to rest
motto: more
nihongo: the Japanese language
kyou: today
densha: train
suru: to do
ato de: later
taberu: to eat
yakiniku: Japanese-style grilled meat and vegetables
inu: dog
Lesson 27
Base 3 + ka dou ka
Ka dou ka is the Japanese equivalent of the English "whether or not." It's

straightforward enough and easy to use:
• Kare wa dekiru ka dou ka kikimashou. (I'll ask him whether or not he can do it.)
• Watashitachi wa iku ka dou ka mada wakarimasen. (I don't know if we are going
yet.)
• Hideki wa ashita yasumu ka dou ka wakarimasu ka. (Do you know if Hideki has
tomorrow off?)
As you can see in the examples above, ka dou ka does not end a sentence, but
connects two phrases which contain verbs. It's like using "whether or not" in English,
only the component order is opposite in Japanese.
Word Check
dekiru: can; to be able to
kiku: to ask
mada: not yet (used with negative forms)
wakaru: to know; to understand
ashita: tomorrow
yasumu: to rest; to take a break; to take time off from work
Lesson 28
Base 3 + kamo shiremasen
This one is used frequently, so you'll want to master it right away. Kamo shiremasen
means "maybe, perhaps." Let's look at these examples:
• Watashi wa raishuu Osaka ni iku kamo shiremasen. (Maybe I'll go to Osaka
next week.)
• Jack mo kuru kamo shiremasen. (Jack may also come.)
• Ashita yuki ga furu kamo shiremasen. (It might snow tomorrow.)
As you have probably noticed, this conjugation ends with the polite negative ending
masen, meaning that, yes, you can change it to the plain form nai if you don't need to
be polite:
• Ashita ame ga furu kamo shirenai. (It might rain tomorrow.)
• Konban watashitachi wa soto de taberu kamo shirenai. (We may eat out
tonight.)
Because nai follows shiru (to know) after it has been changed to its Base 1 form for
plain negative shiranai, and because masen follows shiru after it has been changed to
its Base 2 form for polite negative shirimasen, it is common for foreigners to slip when
using kamo shirenai or kamo shiremasen and say "kamo shiranai" or "kamo
shirimasen." These are incorrect, so please be careful when pronouncing. It will take
some practice.
Actually (and since you'll need to know this sooner or later), the shire in this conjugation
does come from shiru. It is its "conditional" Base 4 form, where it is converted to shireru
(can know). As such, it is handled the same as an ichidan verb (please review Lesson 1
if necessary), and is conjugated accordingly. Simply put, shirenai and shiremasen are
the Base 1 and 2 forms of shireru with the plain negative nai or the polite negative
masen added on. Therefore, when you say kamo shirenai or kamo shiremasen you
are saying "cannot be known."
Since this verb ending is rather long, people sometimes shorten it to just kamo, as in:
• Ashita Bob kara meeru ga kuru kamo. (Perhaps we'll get an e-mail from Bob
tomorrow.) 1
• Sanji goro watashi wa dekakeru kamo. (I might go out around three o'clock.)
I suggest, however, that you do not abbreviate it in this way until you are familiar
enough with the language to make it sound natural, and familiar enough with the culture
to know when it is appropriate.
Word Check
yuki: snow
ame: rain
konban: this evening; tonight
soto: outside
kara: from
sanji: three o'clock
goro: about, around (used with times and dates)
dekakeru: to go out
Notes
1. The technically accurate term for e-mail in Japanese is denshi meeru, but it's usually
just called meeru.
Lesson 29
Base 3 + kara
Kara is often used as the equivalent to our "because" or "since." It comes at the end of
the phrase it modifies, the reason or cause of the action which follows:
• Ame ga furu kara kasa o motte ikimashou. (Since it is going to rain, let's take
umbrellas.)
• Beth wa itsumo okureru kara denwa suru. (Beth is always late, so I'll call her.)
In spoken Japanese, you'll often hear the action stated first, with its reason, signified by
kara at the end, given after. In this case, grammatically speaking, they each become
separate sentences. Let's do this to the above examples:
• Kasa o motte ikimashou. Ame ga furu kara. (Let's take umbrellas since it's going
to rain.)
• Watashi wa Beth ni denwa suru. Itsumo okureru kara. (I'll call Beth because
she's always late.
Kara is very handy and can be used with many other verb forms and endings. Let's look
at a few examples:
• Gyuunyuu ga nai kara mise ni ikimasu. (We don't have any milk, so I'm going to
the store.)
• Jisho o kaitai kara honya ni ikimasu. (I'm going to the bookstore because I want
to buy a dictionary.)
• Suzuki-san no ie ni ikitakunai! Kare wa itsumo iya na mono o tabesaseru kara. (I
don't want to go to Mr. Suzuki's place because he always makes me eat nasty
stuff.)
• Ongaku o kikimasu. Terebi o mitakunai kara. (I'm going to listen to music
because I don't want to watch TV.)
• Kenji wa kanada no gakkou ni ikimashita kara eigo ga jouzu desu. (Kenji's
English is good because he went to a Canadian school.)
You may remember a different kara from Lesson 28 which means "from
someone/somewhere." Just like English, Japanese has many words that are written and
pronounced the same as others while having a different meaning, helping to make the
study of languages the wonderfully complicated pain that it is! But, it's no big problem.
Again, just like English, context and experience with sentence structure will eventually
make it all very easy. Kara after names and places will usually mean "from"; kara after
verbs and adjectives, as in this lesson, means "because."
Word Check
furu: to fall (rain, snow, etc.)
motte iku: to take (something with you)
itsumo: always
okureru: to be late
denwa suru: to call someone on the telephone
gyuunyuu: milk
mise: store
jisho: dictionary
honya: bookstore
ie: house, home
iya na: bad, nasty, disgusting
mono: thing; stuff
ongaku: music
kiku: to listen
kanada: Canada
gakkou: school
jouzu: be good at (something); skilled
Lesson 30
Base 3 + keredomo
Keredomo is used for "although" or "but," so, as you can imagine, it is used a lot. Like
"but" in English, it comes between the contrasting phrases. Let's try some examples:
• Kare wa nihongo o hanasu keredomo, heta desu. (He speaks Japanese, but
he's not good at it.)
• Keiko wa piano o yoku renshuu suru keredomo, jouzu ni narimasen. (Keiko
practices the piano a lot, but she doesn't get any better.)
• Jack wa kenkou ni ki o tsukeru keredomo, yoku byouki shimasu. (Although
Jack is careful about his health, he gets sick a lot.)
Keredomo is easy to master because you'll hear it used often, as well as its shorter
forms, keredo and kedo.
Word Check
hanasu: to speak
heta: be poor at (something); unskilled (direct opposite of jouzu introduced in the last
lesson)
yoku: (adverb used before a verb) often, a lot, frequently; well
renshuu suru: to practice
...ni naru: to become (something)
kenkou: health
ki o tsukeru: to take care 1
byouki suru: to get sick, be sick
Notes
1. Ki means "energy, spirit, attention," and tsukeru means "to attach." When combined,
ki o tsukeru is an often used phrase meaning "take care" when saying good-bye to
someone or warning them, or Attention! when calling a group to order.
Lesson 31
Base 3 + koto ga dekimasu
Koto ga dekimasu is a long one, and is added to the plain (Base 3) form of a verb to
simply show ability to do that verb. But first, in order to make this lesson as
uncomplicated as possible, let's take a look at each part.
First is koto. No, this is not the well-known instrument of Japanese classical music. This
is the mundane koto that gets lots of daily wear and tear changing Japanese verbs into
nouns. Well, it really doesn't change the verb, but is added after the verb so that it can
be used like a noun. In English, we add ing to make a noun out of a verb, like reading in
the sentence I like reading. (Remember studying "gerunds" in school?) Anyway, in
Japanese we do the same thing by adding koto after a plain verb form. Like our ing,
koto has no practical use by itself. If you have to have a translation, "the thing of" is
probably the closest you can get.
Better than all this talk would be an example. Watch carefully: yomu (to read) + koto
(the thing of) = yomu koto (the thing of reading; reading as a noun [gerund]), as in:
• Watashi wa yomu koto ga suki. (I like reading.)
The literal translation of the above example would be "I like the thing of reading; I like
reading as a thing to do."
Next, the verb dekiru means "can" or "be able to (do something)." In this lesson it is
shown in its polite form dekimasu, but dekiru is also fine when you don't need to be
polite. (If you need to review ichidan verbs with masu go back to Lesson 3.)
Finally, the particle ga is what you use to join koto and dekimasu. Just think of koto ga
dekimasu as a set phrase. Here are some examples:
• Watashi wa nihongo o yomu koto ga dekimasu. (I can read Japanese.)
• Keiko wa piano o hiku koto ga dekimasu. (Keiko can play the piano.)
• Ashita Jack wa Tokushima ni iku koto ga dekimasu. (Jack can go to Tokushima
tomorrow.)
Now, for kicks — no, actually for review — let's try some other endings with dekiru, and
see what happens:
• Watashi wa furansugo o yomu koto ga dekimasen. (I can't read French.)
• Bob wa Junko ni denwa suru koto ga dekimashita. (Bob was able to call
Junko.)
• Richard wa ika o taberu koto ga dekimasen deshita. (Richard couldn't eat the
squid.)
And let's throw in one with a plain ending:
• (one boy to another) Boku wa jitensha ni noru koto ga dekiru! (I can ride a
bicycle!)
Yes, it's a long ending for just "can," but there are a few shortcuts and alternatives. With
"suru verbs," like denwa suru used in one of the above examples, you can drop the
suru and just add dekiru. For example, "Bob wa Junko ni denwa suru koto ga
dekimashita" can be shortened to "Bob wa Junko ni denwa dekimashita." Denwa is a
noun, and adding the suru makes it a verb, so instead of adding koto to turn it back into
a noun again, you can just omit suru. Here are a couple more:
• Furansugo o nihongo ni honyaku dekimasu. (I can translate French into
Japanese.)
• Kinou, John wa benkyou dekimasen deshita. (John wasn't able to study
yesterday.)
Either way, long or short, both versions are used, but the shorter version is more
common in daily conversation.
Again, dekiru or one of its forms can directly follow a noun only if it is one that uses
suru to change it to a verb. In that case the suru is omitted. After other verbs you add
koto ga before dekiru. There is a short alternative for other verbs, but that will have to
wait until we get into the Base 4 endings.
One last thing: I described the meaning of koto as "the thing of," but please don't think
that koto can mean any "thing." It generally means intangible "things" like ideas,
essences, meanings, expressions, actions, etc. It means "thing" as used in the
sentence saving money is a good thing. It is generally not used for physical things or
objects. It does not mean "thing" in money is a good thing to have. There is another
word in Japanese which is used for physical things, and that is mono, which was
introduced in Lesson 29.
Word Check
koto: the "thing" or idea of something done
suki: to like something
dekiru: can; to be able to do something
hiku: to play (a stringed instrument)
ashita: tomorrow
furansugo: the French language
denwa: a telephone
denwa suru: to call someone on a telephone
ika: squid
taberu: to eat
boku: I (masculine familiar)
jitensha: bicycle
noru: to ride
honyaku suru: to translate
kinou: yesterday
Lesson 32
Base 3 + koto ni shimasu
The ending koto ni shimasu has essentially the same meaning as the verb kimeru,
which was introduced way back in Lesson 1. It shows that you have made a decision,
and it shows that the decision was yours.
As I am sure you know by now, koto ni shimasu is the polite form; koto ni suru is the
plain.
Here are some polite present and past tense examples:
• Watashi wa tabun ashita kaimono ni iku koto ni shimasu. (I'll probably decide to
go shopping tomorrow.)
• Jones sensei wa ashita no suugaku no jugyou no junbi o suru koto ni
shimashita. (Mr. Jones decided to prepare for tomorrow's math class.)
• Watashi wa mainichi nihongo o benkyou suru koto ni shimashita. (I've decided
to study Japanese every day.)
Word Check
kimeru: to decide
kaimono ni iku: to go shopping
sensei: teacher (used as a title/name suffix to replace san, etc.)
suugaku: mathematics
jugyou: a class or lesson in a particular subject
junbi suru: to prepare
mainichi: every day
Lesson 33
Base 3 + made
This one is very easy. Made means "until," and is added after the plain form of a verb:
• Yukiko ga kuru made taberu koto wa dekimasen. (We can't eat until Yukiko
comes.)
• Bob ga denwa suru made matanakereba narimasen. (We have to wait until Bob
calls.)
• Shukudai ga owaru made terebi o misemasen. (I won't let you watch TV until
your homework is finished.)
As in English, made may be used with nouns which refer to times, periods, or seasons:
• Yuushoku made machinasai. (Wait until dinner.)
• Natsu yasumi made, ato ni shuu kan desu. (It's two weeks until summer
vacation.)
• Haru made matsu hou ga ii deshou. (It'll probably be best to wait until spring.)
Word Check
matsu: to wait
shukudai: homework
owaru: to end, be finished
miseru: to show; to let (someone) see, watch (something)
yuushoku: dinner
natsu yasumi: summer vacation
ato: after, in (as in "It'll be spring in 2 months.")
ni: two
shuu kan: a week; a week-long period
haru: spring
Lesson 34
Base 3 + na
This, you could say, is the counterpart to Lesson 10, where we created short positive
commands using Base 2 + nasai, like:
• Tabenasai! (Eat!)
• Suwarinasai! (Sit down!)
• Koko ni kinasai! (Come here!)
In this lesson we will make short negative commands — "don't do's" — by adding na to
plain (Base 3) verbs. First, let's make the above examples negative:
• Taberu na! (Don't eat!)
• Suwaru na! (Don't sit down!)
• Koko ni kuru na! (Don't come here! / Stay away from here! / Stay away from me!)
Now let's do a few more:
• Terebi o miru na! (Don't watch TV!)
• Sawaru na! (Don't touch!)
• Enki suru na! (Don't put it off!)
And here are two which are very useful to teachers in Japan:
• Shaberu na! (Don't talk!)
• Neru na! (Don't sleep!)
This is a command form with no politeness whatsoever connected to it. It usually
conveys displeasure or even anger. It is generally used as a "last resort" after more
polite requests are tried and ignored. However, as with English, it can be "softened" or
used jokingly with the right intonation and facial expression.
This is one that will probably not be used very often, but if you do, be careful how, and
to whom, you use it.
Word Check
taberu: to eat
miru: to look, watch
suwaru: to sit
sawaru: to touch 1
enki suru: to postpone, put off
kuru: to come
shaberu: to talk
neru: to sleep
Notes
1. Be careful with suwaru and sawaru! They are very similar and can be easily
mistaken. We have all heard (here in Japan) of the gaijin who got on the train and asked
the girl if he could sit next to her. He thought he had said, "Mind if I sit down?" when he
actually asked, "Mind if I touch?"
Lesson 35
Base 3 + nara
This is one of several ways to make conditional sentences — sentences with "if." We
have already covered negative conditionals in Lesson 20. Now let's use nara to make
some positive ones:
• Isogu nara, tsugi no densha ni noru koto ga dekiru yo. (If we hurry we'll be able
to make the next train.)
• Dekakeru nara, kasa o motte ikinasai. (If you go out, take an umbrella.)
• Ame ga furu nara, shiai o enki shinakereba naranai. (If it rains we'll have to put
off the game.)
• Tabako o suu nara, soto de suinasai. (If you're going to smoke, do it outside.)
• Kodomotachi wa ima sunakku o taberu nara, yuushoku o tabenai deshou. (If the
kids eat a snack now, they probably won't eat dinner.)
Sooner or later you will run into naraba, which is just a slight variation. They are used
the same way and mean the same thing, but nara is more common.
Word Check
isogu: to hurry
tsugi: next
densha: train
noru: to ride
dekakeru: to go out
kasa: umbrella
motte iku: to take (te form of motsu [to hold] + iku [to go])
shiai: (a sports) game, match
enki suru: to postpone, put off
tabako o suu: to smoke (tabako: cigarette, with suu: to suck, inhale) 1
soto: outside
ima: now
sunakku: snack (This is wasei eigo, Japanese English.)
yuushoku: dinner
Notes
1. The Japanese tabako naturally comes from "tobacco," but in Japanese it means
"cigarette." This is also wasei eigo.
Lesson 36
Base 3 + (any noun)
In English we have what are officially called relative pronouns: words that connect a
noun to an action. For a quick review, they are like which in "This is the dictionary which
I'll buy for my brother's birthday present," where in "Kobe is where she will take the
exam," and who in "There's the man who I saw in the station yesterday."
In Japanese, there are no "relative pronouns." (This is why teaching about these pesky
words and the grammar related to them is so difficult in Japan. And, to make matters
worse, the way English grammar books used in the schools here are written gives the
impression that mastering all aspects and usages of relative pronouns is the most
important thing one needs to learn about English. But, that's another story...) All you do
is simply add the noun in question to the plain form of the verb in question. Let's look at
these simple phrases:
• watashi ga noru densha (the train I'll take)
• kare ga iku tokoro (the place he'll go)
• kanojo no deru jikan (the time she'll leave)
• watashitachi ga au kyaku (the customer we'll meet)
Now, as I sit here and look at these four phrases, which are examples involving a thing,
a place, a time, and a person, respectively, I can see several things which need to be
explained — things I'd like to explain, but can't without going off on a tangent which
would require a completely new and lengthy page. For example, a new learner may well
ask: why ga after the subjects above, instead of the usual wa? Why no after kanojo
instead of ga? Well, to offer very general, but hopefully sufficient for the present,
explanations, we'll go off on just a tiny tangent here:
Wa indicates the main subject or topic of the whole sentence, and is handled by the
final verb. For example, the entire phrase watashi ga noru densha above could be the
subject in Watashi ga noru densha wa hachi ji ni demasu. (My train leaves at eight
o'clock.) In this sentence, densha (train) is the main subject, and deru (to leave) tells us
what it will do; watashi ga noru just gives us more information about the train — watashi
ga noru densha simply pinning it down as the "train I will take" or "my train."
Ga indicates a subject within a phrase, a "sub-subject," you might say, or a noun which
needs emphasis. Continuing with the above example, ga tells us who will take the train.
No is often used in place of ga, especially in informal spoken Japanese, which is why I
decided to leave it as it is in the example above. Ga or no could be used here, so I feel
that the learner may as well get used to both, since he or she will surely be hearing
both. Please remember that no also has another job as the indicator for possessives,
like our ['s], as in Sore wa Kimiko no kasa desu. (That is Kimiko's umbrella.) 1
Now, to get back to the lesson, let's translate one of the examples used at the beginning
of the lesson:
• Kore wa watashi no otouto no tanjoubi purezento ni kau jisho desu. (This is the
dictionary I'll buy for my little brother's birthday present.)
Since this is natural Japanese, the watashi (I) telling who will buy the dictionary is
obviously understood as the speaker, and therefore omitted. The watashi in the
sentence is actually a part of the possessive pronoun watashi no (my). If you can keep
these things straight now it will really be a big help later.
Now let's do another example:
• Kobe wa kanojo ga shiken o ukeru tokoro desu. (Kobe is where she'll take the
exam.)
In this one, the English "where," as a relative pronoun, automatically designates a
place, but since Japanese has no equivalent, a substitute noun must be used. Kobe is a
place, so tokoro is used after the verb. As you may have noticed, a truer English
translation would be, "Kobe is the place where she'll take the exam," but "the place" is
redundant and unnecessary in English, and so it would most likely be omitted. Tokoro
and where are roughly equivalent here in only a grammatical sense; they do not mean
the same thing.
As you can see, both English and Japanese have their own set of rules concerning what
and when something unnecessary can be omitted. The problem is that the rules are
totally different for each language. As a general, semi-accurate rule, English and
Japanese are on opposite ends from each other on the "language spectrum"; what
applies to one doesn't necessarily apply to the other, and vice versa; and when trying to
make sense of one, you must forget all the rules of the other.
Finally, here is one last example:
• Haru wa atarashii inochi o motarasu kisetsu desu. (Spring is the season that
brings new life.)
This one is pretty straightforward, and should not be too difficult.
I hope this lesson was clear enough. These "relative pronoun substitution" sentences
can be difficult, and are in the realm of mid- to high-intermediate Japanese. Please
come back regularly to review as necessary. Practice makes perfect!
Word Check
tokoro: a place
deru: to leave, depart
jikan: time
au: to meet
kyaku: customer, guest
otouto: younger brother
tanjoubi: birthday
purezento: a present 2
shiken: examination
ukeru: to receive; to take a test
haru: (the season of) spring
atarashii: new
inochi: life
motarasu: to bring about, produce; to cause to happen
kisetsu: season
Notes
2. Purezento is yet another example of wasei eigo: words borrowed from English.
Lesson 37
Base 3 + no desu
There are two ways to look at this ending: one is simply another way to create polite
sentences, and the other is a way to make emphatic ones.
We have already learned how to use Base 2 + masu to make polite sentences back in
Lessons 2 and 3. Here are the examples used in Lesson 2:
• Mama wa mise de banana o kaimasu. (Mom buys/will buy bananas at the store.)
• Jim wa manga o yomimasu. (Jim will read a comic book.)
• Ojii-san wa sugu kaerimasu. (Grandpa will return soon.)
Remember these? I hope so. If not, please review them. Now we will end these same
sentences by using Base 3 with no desu:
• Mama wa mise de banana o kau no desu. (Mom buys/will buy bananas at the
store.)
• Jim wa manga o yomu no desu. (Jim will read a comic book.)
• Ojii-san wa sugu kaeru no desu. (Grandpa will return soon.)
The meanings are the same as Base 2 + masu as long as they're said in a regular,
bland tone. However, if you want to emphasize something, especially something you're
sure of (or think you're sure of), you put stress on the verb before no desu, as in:
• Ashita watashi wa Kyoto ni IKU no desu! (I AM going to Kyoto tomorrow!)
• Anta wa kono sashimi o TABERU no desu! (You WILL eat this raw fish!)
• Bokutachi no chiimu wa KATSU no desu! (Our team WILL win!)
A variant of this is to leave out the no and instead attach an "n" sound onto the stressed
verb, like this:
• Watashi wa IKUN desu! (I AM going!)
• Ashita wa ame ga FURUN desu. (I tell you, it IS going to rain tomorrow.)
As in any other language, the level of emphasis can vary greatly depending on the
situation, need, or habits of the speaker, and may be fine-tuned by using certain voice
inflections and facial expressions, as well as supporting body language like hand
waving, fist pounding, stomping around, writhing, and etc.
Word Check
anta: very familiar form of "you" 1
sashimi: specially prepared raw fish
bokutachi: masculine familiar form meaning "we" or "us" (boku + tachi)
chiimu: team (wasei eigo)
katsu: to win
Notes
1. Care must be taken with anta because it is used when talking down to someone and
will be considered rude in most non-familiar situations.
Lesson 38
Base 3 + no ni
No ni is added to plain verb forms to mean "in order to" (do whatever). There is nothing
really tricky about it, except that instead of being found at the end of a sentence, it's
usually found somewhere near the middle, where it helps to establish certain conditions
concerning the verb in question. As usual, a look at some examples would probably be
the best way to see how it works:
• Kono tegami o okuru no ni ikura desu ka? (How much will it cost to send this
letter?)
• Tokyo yuki no densha ni noru no ni asu hayaku okinakereba narimasen. (We'll
have to get up early tomorrow in order to make the train for Tokyo.)
• Hitsuyou na kanji o subete oboeru no ni daibun jikan ga kakaru. (It takes quite a
long time to learn all of the necessary kanji.)
Please keep in mind that there is also a noni, meaning "in spite of," which we will cover
later on. These are easy to keep straight when used in context.
Word Check
kono: this
tegami: letter
okuru: to send
ikura: how much?
-yuki: bound for (This is added after the destination: Osaka-yuki, Takamatsu-yuki, etc.)
densha: train
noru: to ride; to board (a mode of transportation)
asu: tomorrow
hayaku: early (quickly)
okiru: to get up
hitsuyou (na): necessary, essential
kanji: Chinese characters; specifically, the characters which were adopted from the
Chinese then modified to be used in modern Japanese
subete: all
oboeru: to learn, remember
daibun (or daibu): quite, rather, considerably
jikan: time
kakaru: to take (time); to cost (money) 1
Notes
1. Kakaru actually has many meanings and uses. Please consult a dictionary for more.
Lesson 39
Base 3 + no wa
Do you remember koto, which was introduced back in Lesson 31? The no in no wa
plays the same role, and is the easiest way to make a noun out of a verb: yomu (to
read) + no (wa) (the thing of) = yomu no wa ([the thing of] reading [is]). Wa is the
subject indicator. Look at these examples:
• Yomu no wa tanoshii desu. (Reading is enjoyable.)
• Nihongo o hanasu no wa kantan desu. (Speaking Japanese is easy.)
• Hayaku okiru no wa tokidoki muzukashii desu. (Getting up early is sometimes
difficult.)
• Kasei ni sumu no wa mada fukanou desu. (Living on Mars is not yet possible.)
• Hawaii ni iku no wa saikou desu! (Going to Hawaii is great!)
Please remember that there are other no's, mainly the one used for possessives, like
our ['s], as in:
• Jim no jisho wa ao de, boku no wa aka desu. (Jim's dictionary is blue; mine is
red.)
and the one used with aru or nai to show the existence or non-existence of something,
as in:
• Hontou ni mondai no nai tabi deshita. (It really was a problem-free trip.)
Word Check
tanoshii: fun, enjoyable
hanasu: to speak, talk
kantan: easy
tokidoki: sometimes
muzukashii: hard, difficult
kasei: Mars
sumu: to live
mada: not yet; still not
fukanou: not possible, impossible
saikou: great; the greatest; the best
jisho: dictionary
ao: the color blue
aka: red
hontou (ni): real(ly)
mondai: problem, question
nai: to not be; to not exist
tabi: trip
Lesson 40
Base 3 + node
Back in Lesson 29 we met kara, which is used to show reasons or causes. In this
lesson we will take a look at node, which is used for pretty much the same thing in
pretty much the same way:
• Kyaku ga kuru node watashi wa ima deru koto ga dekimasen. (A guest is
coming so I can't go out now.)
• Ashita hayaku okiru node hayaku neru. (I have to get up early tomorrow so I'm
going to bed early.)
• Eiko wa eigo o hanasu koto ga dekiru node ii shigoto o mitsukeru deshou.
(Since Eiko can speak English, she'll probably find a good job.)
So, what's the difference between node and kara? Good question. Generally speaking,
node simply states a fact while kara emphasizes the reason. From native speakers I
have heard that node sounds "softer" and more polite, and is therefore preferred when
people are involved. For example, in the first example sentence above a person (the
guest) is concerned, and using node tells the listener(s) that there is respect and no
displeasure regarding the visit. If kara was used instead, it could imply that the speaker
would like to go out but can't because of an expected guest.
When talking about simple reasons for doing things, kara is usually used, as in:
• Jisho ga nai kara kaimasu. (I'm going to buy a dictionary because I don't have
one.)
• Ashita ame ga furu kara ikimasen. (It's going to rain tomorrow so I'm not going.)
However, please remember that there's nothing grammatically wrong with using node
here instead. It just depends on what you want to emphasize and the "feeling" you want
to convey.
Word Check
kyaku: guest; customer
ima: now
deru: go out; come out
ashita: tomorrow
neru: to go to bed; to sleep
hanasu: to speak
ii: good
shigoto: job
mitsukeru: to find
ame: rain
Lesson 41
Base 3 + noni
As promised in Lesson 38, here is a short lesson about noni, which is used to mean "in
spite of":
• "Yamenasai" to iu noni, kanojo wa kikimasen. (Despite my telling her to stop,
she won't listen.)
• Hayaku okita noni okureta. (I was late even though I got up early.)
Noni is also put at the end of sentences to express aggravation at an unexpected or
undesirable outcome:
• Annani doryoku shita noni! (After all my efforts!)
• Asoko ni "iku na" to itta noni! (And after I told him not to go there!)
Noni is used a lot. Keep an ear out for it and you'll catch it.
Word Check
yameru: to stop something; to quit a habit
iu: to say, tell (Itta used in the last example above is its Base 7 form, or "ta form," which
is used for the plain past.)
kiku: to listen; to follow rules or orders; to heed advice
okiru: to get up (Okita used in the example is its "ta form," for the plain past.)
okureru: to be late (The example sentence for this also uses the "ta form.")
annani: that much; so much
doryoku suru: to work hard at something; to make efforts (Shita is the "ta form" of suru.)
asoko: there; over there (usually for emphasizing distance)
Lesson 42
Base 3 + sou desu
Use sou desu after Base 3 for things you've heard, understand to be, rumors, etc. For
example:
• Hiru kara ame ga furu sou desu. (I hear it's going to rain in the afternoon.)
• Kayo wa raishuu kara resutoran de baito o hajimeru sou desu. (I heard that
Kayo's going to start working part-time at a restaurant next week.)
• Takada-san wa yameru sou desu. (I heard that Mr. Takada's quitting.)
Please remember that sou desu by itself has nothing to do with hearsay. It means
"that's right" and often follows hai, as in "Hai, sou desu." (Yes, that's right.)
Word Check
hiru kara: from noon; in the (early) afternoon
resutoran: restaurant (wasei eigo)
baito: a part-time job (This is wasei doitsugo, or Japanese German. The actual word is
arubaito, but is usually shortened to baito.) 1
hajimeru: to begin
yameru: to quit a job
Notes
1. An interesting "culture" exists in the use of work-related words in Japan. While most
English speakers who are asked what they did the day before will answer "I worked" if
they worked, the Japanese will rarely use the equivalent Japanese verb hataraita. They
use a noun geared to their type of job. A full-time employee will use shigoto, meaning
"my regular job as a bona fide company employee"; a student will say baito, meaning
"my part-time job I'm doing while going to school"; and a housewife will use paato
(Japanized part from part-time), which means "the job I do as a part-timer along with
being a housewife."
Lesson 43
Base 3 + tame ni
When you hear tame, it usually means "for the purpose of; in order to," and is often
followed by the optional ni. Take a look at these:
• Hiroko wa mensetsu o ukeru tame ni Osaka ni ikimasu. (Hiroko's going to
Osaka for an interview.)
• Nyuujouken o kau tame ni daibun machimashita. (I had to wait quite a while to
buy tickets.)
• Nihongo o benkyou suru tame ni atarashii jisho o kaimashita. (I bought a new
dictionary to study Japanese.)
Tame is a very handy word, and can also be used in various expressions with nouns.
Here are some popular ones:
• Kimi no tame ni shimashita yo! (I did it for you! [very familiar])
• Kore wa kimi no tame ni. (This is for you. [plain, very familiar])
• Kore wa okaa-san no tame desu. 1 (This is for you, Mom.)
• Hai, Hawaii ni iku tame no koukuuken desu. 2 (Okay, here are your air tickets to
Hawaii.)
• Kore wa nan no tame no kaigi? (What is the purpose of this meeting?)
• Nan no tame no dougu? (What's this tool for? [very plain])
Tame is used a lot. Good luck with it!
Word Check
mensetsu: an interview
ukeru: to get, receive; have (an interview); take (an exam)
nyuujouken: an addmission ticket
daibun: quite (a lot; a while)
koukuuken: an air ticket
nan/nani: what
kaigi: a meeting
dougu: a tool
Notes
1. Ni is always omitted when the polite ending desu is used after tame.
2. Use no when putting a noun/object after tame. That indicates the thing which has the
purpose of something intended. In this example, it points to the tickets which will be
used to go to Hawaii.
Lesson 44
Base 3 + to
There are four basic uses for to. (Remember, that's pronounced "toh.") It can mean
and, with, when, or if. After a plain (Base 3) verb it is roughly the same as when or if, or
even both:
• Massugu iku to Ritsurin Kouen ga miemasu. (If you go straight you'll see Ritsurin
Park.)
• Natsu ni naru to kodomotachi wa umi ni ikitakunarimasu. (When summer comes
the kids want to go to the beach.)
• Watashi wa soba o taberu to byouki ni naru. (I get sick whenever I eat
buckwheat noodles.)
For the curious, here are sample sentences with to as and and with:
• Kimiko to Bob wa tanjou paateii ni kimashita. (Kimiko and Bob came to the
birthday party.)
• Kimiko wa Bob to kimashita. (Kimiko came with Bob.)
Word Check
massugu: straight
mieru: to be able to see (something)
natsu: summer
naru: to become (something); to turn into (something)
kodomotachi: children
umi: the sea; the beach 1
ikitakunaru: to begin to feel like going (somewhere) 2
tanjou paateii: birthday party 3
Notes
1. Literally, umi is "the sea." There is a Japanese word for beach (sunahama), but it is
not generally used. When referring to "the beach" in Japanese, use umi.
2. Ikitakunaru belongs to the branch of Base 2 + tai/taku (to want) endings which were
covered in Lesson 8. Although not specifically covered, takunaru puts tai and naru
together, meaning "become to want; begin to want." Iki (Base 2 of iku, to go) + taku (tai,
to want to do, with the ku connector) + naru (to become) = ikitakunaru, or "to become to
want to go." It's as simple as that.
3. Paateii is wasei eigo for "party."
Lesson 45
Base 3 + to omoimasu
For better or worse, Japan is a country where being reserved is a good thing. It's okay
to have an opinion, but speaking as if you're dead sure about something is looked down
on, especially in the workplace. When promoting your own ideas or opinions, using to
omoimasu after plain verbs is one of the most socially acceptable, and expected,
things you can do. It means simply "I think," and shows that you admit that what you are
talking about isn't a fact (even though it might be).
Now that it has been explained, I think it can be applied very easily:
• Bob wa goji ni kaeru to omoimasu. (I think Bob will come back at five o'clock.)
• Eiko wa eigo o hanasu koto ga dekiru to omoimasu. (I think Eiko can speak
English.)
• Koji wa okureru to omoimasu. (I think Koji will be late.)
• Sasaki-san wa mou sugu kochira ni denwa suru to omou. (I think Ms. Sasaki
will call us soon.)
• Ashita wa ame ga furu to omou. (I think it'll rain tomorrow.)
As you can see from the last examples, omou can be used for plain speech,
omoimasu being simply its Base 2 form with polite masu added. Accordingly, the other
Base 2 endings also apply:
• Eiko wa eigo o hanasu koto ga dekiru to omoimasen. (I don't think Eiko can
speak English.)
• Koji wa okureru to omoimasen deshita. (I didn't think that Koji would be late.)
• Kyou ame ga furu to omoimashita. (I thought it would rain today [and it did.])
In a way, this ending is a lot like deshou, which was covered in Lesson 18. The major
difference is that deshou is usually used to show that you don't really know, don't really
care, or don't really have any control over something, while to omoimasu shows that
you do know (to a certain degree), care, or have some control. In the workplace you
would always want to use to omoimasu concerning things you are responsible for
because deshou would sound irresponsible.
To omoimasu can be used after some conjugated verbs, like:
• Kyou wa, densha de iku hou ga ii to omou. (I think it would be better to go by
train today.)
• Kodomotachi wa umi ni ikitai to omou. (I think the kids want to go to the beach.)
Again, in Japan being reserved is a respected characteristic. People will use to
omoimasu even when they know.
Word Check
omou: to think
goji: five o'clock (go [five] + ji [hour])
kaeru: to return (intransitive verb); to go back; to return home
hanasu: to speak
okureru: to be late
mou sugu: soon
kochira: here; towards me, us
Lesson 46
Base 3 + tsumori
Base 3 plus tsumori is used to express an intention:

• Watashi wa sanji made ni kaeru tsumori. (I plan to be back by three o'clock.)
• Steve wa Canada ni iku tsumori da to omou. (I think Steve plans to go to
Canada.)
• Keiko wa Kyoto Daigaku ni hairu tsumori desu. (Keiko intends to go to Kyoto
University.)
In case you're wondering, yes, technically speaking, tsumori is the Base 2 form of its
plain form tsumoru, but you will never hear tsumoru (to intend) used. You will, however,
hear the other verb tsumoru, which means "to accumulate, build up," used a lot,
especially in the winter when people talk about snow piling up: yuki ga tsumoru. While
sounding alike, their meanings are completely different, so please be careful not to
confuse them.
Word Check
sanji: three o'clock (san [three] + ji [hour])
made ni: by, when used to set a deadline, as in "to do (something) by (a certain time,
day, etc.)
daigaku: university 1
hairu: to go inside (a room, etc.); to enter or enroll in (a school); to join (a club, church,
etc.)
Notes
1. Unlike in the U. S. and other countries where the word college is used loosely, in
Japan it is never used when referring to a traditional four-year university. College
(karejji in romanized Japanese) is only used for junior colleges and vocational schools.
Always use daigaku for university.
Lesson 47
Base 3 + you desu
You desu after Base 3 verbs works like "seems to" in English:
• Mari wa ashita kuru you desu. (It seems that Mary will be coming tomorrow.)
• Sachiko wa Canada ni iku you desu. (It looks like Sachiko is going to Canada.)
• Ken wa piano o hiku koto ga dekiru you desu. (It looks like Ken can play the
piano.)
You desu and sou desu (Lesson 42) are similar and sometimes easy to confuse.
Simply put, sou desu means you heard, directly or indirectly, that something is or will
be, while you desu means you sensed something is or will be, as in:
• Ame ga furu sou desu. (It's going to rain [because the weatherman or someone
said so].)
• Ame ga furu you desu. (It's going to rain [because it suddenly got dark outside
and you can smell it coming].)
Actually, you desu is not really used that much in informal conversation. In its place you
will hear mitai a lot, which is a kind of "catch all" for you desu / sou desu statements.
Ame ga furu mitai would be heard often instead of either of the above examples,
meaning "it's going to rain" (either because someone said so or because there are signs
that it's going to).
I might as well mention here that mitai can also be put after nouns to mean "looks like."
If you watch TV or listen to young people talking you will often hear baka mitai, "you
look like an idiot."
Although not introduced in the Base 2 group, there is a Base 2 + sou ending which is
also very similar to Base 3 + you desu. This is usually used when something looks like it
is just about to happen:
• Ame ga furisou. (It looks like it's going to rain.)
• Ano hako ga ochisou. (That box looks like it's about to fall.)
This one is especially easy to confuse with Base 3 + sou desu, so please take care.
Word Check
hiku: to play (the piano or other stringed instrument)
dekiru: to be able to (do something)
mitai: (something) looks like...
baka: idiot, fool
hako: box
ochiru: to fall (objects, not precipitation)
Lesson 48
Base 4 + ba
After a long hike through many Base 3 verb forms, I think it's about time to start on Base
4. Remember that Bases 1 through 5 basically follow the Japanese vowels in their
alphabetical order :
1. AH, a as in father
2. EE, e as in see
3. OO, u as in mule
4. EH, e as in red
5. OH, o as in mode
and that the verb changes to end with the vowel sound of the "base" it's in before
anything is added to it. (There are some exceptions among the ichidan and irregular
verbs, however.) Think of Base 3 as the "root," or "dictionary form," since that's the form
you'll see when looking words up. Base 3 is the plain form of the verb; it's where you
start. You change it into the other "bases" and add the endings or other add-ons as
necessary.
Now, let's borrow the tables from Lesson 17 and add a Base 4 column. Notice how the
verbs change from their plain (Base 3) form. Also notice that this time the "bases" are in
numerical order, and that the last letter, or vowel sound, of each verb corresponds in
order with the vowels outlined above, except those pesky troublemakers in Bases 1 and
2 of the ichidans and Base 1 of the irregulars.
Yodan verbs:
Base 3 (plain
Base 1 Base 2 Base 4
form)
kawa kai kau kae
aruka aruki aruku aruke
isoga isogi isogu isoge
kasa kashi kasu kase
mata machi matsu mate
shina shini shinu shine
asoba asobi asobu asobe
yoma yomi yomu yome
kaera kaeri kaeru kaere
Ichidan verbs:
Base 3 (plain
form)
tabe tabe taberu tabere
oboe oboe oboeru oboere
kime kime kimeru kimere
de de deru dere
kari kari kariru karire
mi mi miru mire
Irregular verbs:
Base 3 (plain
form)
ko ki kuru kure
shi shi suru sure
Now that we know how to make Base 4, let's do a simple and useful conjugation. Do
you remember Base 3 + nara, covered in Lesson 35? Well, Base 4 + ba gives you
similar results while being shorter and simpler.
Here are example sentences from Lesson 35, converted to Base 4 + ba:
• Isogeba, tsugi no densha ni noru koto ga dekiru yo. (If we hurry we'll be able to
make the next train.)
• Ame ga fureba, shiai o enki shinakereba naranai. (If it rains we'll have to put off
the game.)
• Kodomotachi wa ima sunakku o tabereba, yuushoku o tabenai deshou. (If the
kids eat a snack now, they probably won't eat dinner.)
Very handy.
Another use for this is to suggest doing something. Here, it's the equivalent of "Why
don't you...?":
• Kyoto ni ikeba? (Why don't you go to Kyoto?)
• Shichiji han ni dereba? (Why don't you leave at 7:30?)
• A: Obaa-chan ni denwa shitai. (I want to call Grandma.)
B: Sureba? (Why don't you [go ahead and call her]?)
This form of suggestion does not include the speaker, however. If you wanted to say
"Why don't we go to Kyoto?" you would use mashou or something similar: Kyoto ni
ikimashou ka?
Lesson 49
Base 4 + ba ii
In this lesson we are going to cover three Base 4 endings: ba ii and its handy cousins
ba ii noni and ba yokatta. As we learned in the last lesson, Base 4 + ba gives you a
conditional "if" meaning. Ii is Japanese for "good," and adding it to the Base 4 ba is a
very easy way to convey the meaning "it would be good if..." as shown in these
examples:
• Soto de asobeba ii. (It would be good if you played outside.)
• Ima benkyou sureba ii. (Now would be a good time to study.)
• Watashitachi wa karui shokuji o tabereba ii to omou. (I think it would be good if
we ate a light meal.)
Adding noni (covered briefly in Lesson 41) adds "in spite of the fact that" to ba ii, and is
usually used to show that you're bugged by someone or something not doing what you
ask or wish, as in these example conversations:
• Mom: Tenki ga ii kara, soto de asobeba ii. (The weather's nice, so it would be
good to play outside.)
Kids: Terebi mitai. (We want to watch TV.)
Mom, in a slightly discouraged or angry voice: Soto de asobeba ii noni. (Even
though it would be nice to play outside. [I still wish you would play outside.])
• Naoko: Nanji ni kuru? (What time are you coming?)
John: Goji goro. (Around five.)
Naoko, slightly disappointed: Motto hayaku kureba ii noni. (It'd be nice if you
could come earlier.)
As you can see, ba ii is for making suggestions or giving advice. It's like Base 3 + hou
ga ii covered in Lesson 26, but not quite as strong. Adding noni shows your feelings
regarding someone else's decision, especially when there's little chance of the decision
being changed.
Adding yokatta to Base 4 + ba shows regret for a decision made after it's too late to
change it:
• Hachiji ni kureba yokatta. (We should have come at 8:00.)
• Kouen ni ikeba yokatta. (I wish we had gone to the park.)
• Suteeki o chuumon sureba yokatta. (I wish I had ordered the steak.)
For those who may be wondering about the adjectives ii and yoi: yes, they both mean
"good"; no, they are not completely interchangeable. Yoi can be used with ba instead of
ii: Ima benkyou sureba yoi is fine and sometimes used. However, yoi is not used with
noni. It's one of those things that feels okay in a grammatical sense but just isn't done.
While most adjectives in Japanese have a past tense, quirky ii does not. When showing
regret for mistakes, the past tense of yoi, yokatta, is used after ba — there is no such
Japanese as ikatta.
Please bear in mind that the above explanation applies to familiar settings, and would
not go over well when talking to superiors at work or anywhere where special respect is
due. In those situations different constructions would be used.
By this stage of Japanese study, I trust that you are familiar with the wonderful
convenience of being able to delete the subject when it is known. I have done this with
most of the examples on this page. In the actual situation the subject(s) would be
implied and known to all concerned, and therefore unnecessary in the sentence. This is
very handy when you get used to it.
Word Check
soto: outside
ima: now
karui: (adjective) light
shokuji: food, a meal
tenki: the weather (This is sometimes used with the honorific o-: o-tenki.)
terebi: TV
nanji: what time (nan [what] + ji [hour])
goro: around (used with times and periods)
motto: more
hayaku: early (adverbial form of hayai)
suteeki: beef steak (wasei eigo)
chuumon suru: to place an order
Lesson 50
Base 4 by itself: the Plain Imperative
If you want to give orders without a hint of kindness, just use Base 4. Actually, this is a
form you really don't want to use. If you do, you'll probably be thought of as someone
who has only limited and unconventional language ability. Or, if you look and act like
you know what you're saying, you will definitely become unpopular quickly, and maybe
even get into a fight.
You'll hear this form mostly when watching Japanese TV or movies, or maybe when
hearing a group of guys talking. You could call it "ruffian talk." It's simple: no subject or
object needed, just the Base 4 form of the verb yelled out:
• Damare! (Shut up!)
• Ike! (Go!)
• Yare! (Do it!)
One situation where this can be used without offense is when you are cheering for
someone at a sports event. There you will hear many yelling hashire! (Run!) or
gambare! (Hang in there! / Go for it!)
Finally, please remember that this one only applies to yodan verbs. You wouldn't say
sure for "do it" or mire for "look."
Word Check
damaru: to be quiet
yaru: to do (plain)
hashiru: to run
gambaru: to try hard; to not give up
Lesson 51
Base 4 + ru
We are now going to learn one of the handiest verb forms in the book: Base 4 + ru. I
remember when I first learned this one — it was like opening a new door. Simply put,
Base 4 + ru is like a super shortcut to Base 3 + koto ga dekiru, which was covered back
in Lesson 31. It shows the ability to do something. For example, instead of the long
Watashi wa iku koto ga dekiru ("I can go," using Base 3 + koto ga dekiru), you can use
Base 4 + ru and say the same thing with a much shorter expression: Watashi wa ikeru.
Now, let's take three examples from Lesson 31 and shorten them using Base 4 + ru:
• Watashi wa nihongo o yomeru. (I can read Japanese.)
• Keiko wa piano o hikeru. (Keiko can play the piano.)
• Ashita Jack wa Tokushima ni ikeru. (Jack can go to Tokushima tomorrow.)
Now, you know that these sentences would be more polite with the masu ending. No
problem. We can easily add masu to these and make them polite. Here we learn an
important point — so important that I'm going to underline it: Verbs in the Base 4 + ru
form can be treated the same as Base 3 (plain) ichidan verbs.
Take a good look: Base 4 + ru makes verbs end in eru, just like most ichidans. As such,
they can be treated like plain ichidans. Let's look at some possibilities using endings
already learned:
• Keiko wa piano o hikemasu. (Keiko can play the piano. [polite])
• Keiko wa baiorin o hikemasen. (Keiko can't play the violin.)
• Jack wa Tokushima ni ikemashita. (Jack was able to go to Tokushima.)
• Kare wa Osaka ni ikemasen deshita. (He wasn't able to go to Osaka.)
• Kare wa raigetsu ikeru kamo shiremasen. (He might be able to go next month.)
Have you got it? Great! You should be able to see how this form will make life in
Japanese easier. It's very, very useful. And most of the other Base 3 endings or
combinations which work with ichidans can be applied in the same way.
Please keep in mind that while grammar books state that this is only to be used with
yodan verbs, there are many exceptions among the ichidans. For example, you will hear
taberemasen for "I can't eat it," but you won't hear miremasen for "I can't see it." (There
is a "set verb" for "able to see": mieru, which was used in Lesson 44.) These you'll just
have to pick up as you go along. Please see Notes on Japanese Verbs for more.
Word Check
hiku: to play a stringed instrument
baiorin: violin (Yes, this is wasei eigo.)
raigetsu: next month
Lesson 52
Base 4 + nai
In the last lesson we saw how verbs in the Base 4 with ru "can do" plain form can be
treated the same as Base 3 ichidan verbs ending in eru. We looked at some examples
which use polite endings just as if they were ichidan verbs in the Base 2 form. In this
lesson we will use Base 4 + nai, the "cannot do" plain form. If it helps, you can pretend
that we are converting ichidan verbs to Base 1 and adding nai for the plain negative
ending, which was covered in Lesson 17. (As you remember, Bases 1 and 2 are the
same for ichidans.)
Please keep in mind that these are yodan verbs in Base 4 + nai. I only mention this
because they act just like ichidans in many ways, which makes the logic behind
converting them easier to most people. It made sense to me, and I hope it will make
sense to you. Let's take the same examples from the last lesson and change them to
plain negative:
• Watashi wa nihongo o yomenai. (I can't read Japanese.)
• Keiko wa piano o hikenai. (Keiko can't play the piano.)
• Ashita Jack wa Tokushima ni ikenai. (Jack can't go to Tokushima tomorrow.)
See how that works? As mentioned in the last lesson, this form is only meant for
yodans, but there are exceptions like taberenai (I can't eat it) and nerenai (I can't sleep).
As you may have guessed, there are other nai-related endings that will work here. Here
are two we've already covered:
• Jack wa korenai deshou. (Jack probably won't be able to come.)
• Jitensha ni norenakereba arukimashou. (If you can't ride a bicycle let's walk.)
Word Check
neru: to sleep
koreru: to be able to come (This is a specialized verb.)
noru: to ride
aruku: to walk
Lesson 53
Base 4 + reba
To be frank, at first I thought I wouldn't do this one because it's really not used that
often. But then I decided to do it because there just might be parts of Japan where it's
used more than in my neck of the woods. Base 4 +reba is used to express "if someone
can":
• Watashi wa nihongo o yomereba ii. (It would be nice if I could read Japanese.)
• Shichiji ni ikereba Mark ni aeru. (If you can go at seven o'clock you'll be able to
meet Mark.)
• Hachi jikan nerereba genki ni naru deshou. (If I can sleep eight hours I'll
probably feel better.)
This form is mainly for yodans, but there are exceptions like the last example above.
The negative companion to this is Base 4 + nakereba (if someone can't), an example of
which was included in the last lesson.
So, you may wonder, what do people use around here to express this? I usually hear
Base 4 + tara, as in: Iketara iku yo. (I'll go if I can.) I have yet to find grammatical
verification for this, but everyone uses it, so I do too.
Word Check
shichiji: seven o'clock
au: to meet; to see (someone)
jikan: hour(s); time
neru: to sleep
genki: healthy; energetic; (physically) well
...ni naru: to get or become (something [adjective or noun]) 1
Notes
1. ...ni naru means to become or change itself. You would never use it to "get" an
object, like a present, but to "get well" (genki ni naru), to "get good at (something [like
the piano])" (jouzu ni naru), etc.
Lesson 54
Base 5
I'm afraid there isn't much you can do with Base 5.

Looking over my list of Base 5 possibilities, I saw four
that I feel are somewhat useful. I think we'll cover
them all in this lesson.
First, let's get out the tables from Lesson 48 and add
Base 5:
Yodan verbs:
Base 1 Base 2 Base 3 Base 4 Base 5
kawa kai kau kae kaou
aruka aruki aruku aruke arukou
isoga isogi isogu isoge isogou
kasa kashi kasu kase kasou
mata machi matsu mate matou
shina shini shinu shine shinou
asoba asobi asobu asobe asobou
yoma yomi yomu yome yomou
kaera kaeri kaeru kaere kaerou
Ichidan verbs:
Base Base
1 2
tabe tabe taberu tabere tabeyou
oboe oboe oboeru oboere oboeyou
kime kime kimeru kimere kimeyou
de de deru dere deyou
kari kari kariru karire kariyou
mi mi miru mire miyou
Irregular verbs:
Base 1 Base 2 Base 3 Base 4 Base 5
ko ki kuru kure koyou
shi shi suru sure shiyou
As you can see, Base 5 obediently follows the "vowel
order rule" (Don't quote me, I just made that up...) by
changing to end in an "oh" sound, the fifth vowel in the
Japanese "alphabetical order": ah, ee, oo, eh, oh.
(see Lesson 48) Also, in Base 5 the "oh" is elongated,
so stretch it out a bit when you use it.
Base 5 Alone
The first handy thing you can do needs no
attachments. It'll give you the plain form for "let's do
(something)." The polite form is Base 2 + mashou,
which we already mastered back in Lesson 9. Use
Base 5 when you don't need to be polite:
• Ikou. (Let's go.)
• Tabeyou. (Let's eat.)
• Yasumou. (Let's take a break.)
Base 5 + ka
Adding question-forming ka (Lesson 12) quickly
changes these to suggestions:
• Ikou ka. (Shall we go?)
• Tabeyou ka. (Shall we eat?)
• Yasumou ka. (Do you want to take a break?)
Please note that question-forming no cannot be used
here.
Base 5 + ka na / ka naa
This gives you the equivalent of "I wonder if I
should...." Ka na usually means the mind is pretty
much made up; the drawn out ka naa means
someone is still not sure:
• Kaimono ni ikou ka na. (I think I'll go shopping.)
• Kaimono ni ikou ka naa. (I wonder if I should go
shopping.)
• Terebi o miyou ka na. (Maybe I'll watch TV.)
• Bob ni denwa shiyou ka naa. (I wonder if I
should call Bob.)
• Kyou wa tenki ga ii kara, arukou ka na. (I think
I'll walk today since the weather's nice.)
Base 5 + to suru
This one is to express "try to do (something)." Suru is
shown plain, but can be converted as necessary:
• John wa koyou to suru to omou. (I think John
will try to come.)
• Naoto wa hikouki o miyou to shimashita ga,
miemasen deshita. (Naoto tried to see the
airplane, but he couldn't.)
These are the more useful Base 5 forms. You
probably won't hear any others unless you watch
samurai dramas or talk with people who don't get out
very often. I'm sure you'll be able to get them
memorized quickly.
Word Check
denwa suru: to call (on the telephone)
tenki: the weather
hikouki: airplane
mieru: to be able to see (something)
Lesson 55
Te Form + kudasai
Since kudasai is one of the most useful Te Form endings, one that is indispensable for
polite and proper speech, I have decided to begin the Te Form with it. But first we need
to get a better look at this Te Form and see what it does to verbs.
As you have most likely guessed, the Te Form changes verbs so they end in te, but
there are also some that are "softened" to de instead. Ichidan verbs are a snap because
you just change the final ru to te, but the yodans can be tricky and may take some time
to memorize. Let's take a look at the following tables and see how verbs change into the
Te Form:
Yodan verbs:
Base 3 (plain form) Te Form
kau katte
aruku aruite
isogu isoide
kasu kashite
matsu matte
shinu shinde
asobu asonde
yomu yonde
kaeru kaette
Ichidan verbs:
taberu tabete
oboeru oboete
kimeru kimete
deru dete
kariru karite
miru mite
Irregular verbs:
kuru kite
suru shite
Those yodans look pretty scary, right? I still remember the headache I got trying to sort
them out. Let's take a closer look:
Yodan verbs that end in a vowel + u, like au (to meet), kau (to buy), nuu (to sew):
replace the final u with tte — atte, katte, nutte.
Yodan verbs that end in ku, like aruku (to walk), kiku (to listen; to ask), hataraku (to
work): replace the final ku with ite — aruite, kiite, hataraite. Please note this one
important exception: iku. It's important because it's used a lot. The Te Form of iku (to
go) is itte, not iite. We'll cover pronunciation a little later.
Yodan verbs that end in gu, like isogu (to hurry), tsunagu (to connect), nugu (to take off
[clothing or accessories]): replace the final gu with ide — isoide, tsunaide, nuide.
Yodan verbs that end in a vowel + su (not tsu), like kasu (to lend), kesu (to turn off; to
put out [a fire]), tasu (to add): replace the final su with shite — kashite, keshite, tashite.
Yodan verbs that end in tsu, like matsu (to wait), motsu (to hold), katsu (to win): replace
the final tsu with tte — matte, motte, katte.
The only yodan verb that ends in nu, shinu (to die): replace the final u with de — shinde.
Yodan verbs that end in bu, like asobu (to play), yobu (to call out), tobu (to fly): replace
the final bu with nde — asonde, yonde, tonde.
Yodan verbs that end in mu, like yomu (to read), momu (to massage), tsutsumu (to
wrap): replace the final mu with nde — yonde, monde, tsutsunde.
Yodan verbs that end in ru, like kaeru (to return), hairu (to enter), toru (to take): replace
the final ru with tte — kaette, haitte, totte. Please remember that while most verbs that
end in eru or iru are ichidans, there are some yodan exceptions like the two used here.
As already mentioned and shown, the ichidans are easy. And there are only the two
irregulars to memorize.
Now we'll add kudasai for a polite request:
• Douzo, tabete kudasai. (Go ahead, please eat.)
• Chotto matte kudasai. (Please wait a bit.)
• Rokuji ni kite kudasai. (Please come at six o'clock.)
Kudasai not only adds a "please"-like effect, it also puts the person you're talking to
above yourself. When you start learning kanji, you'll soon run into the very simple one
from which kudasai was hatched. It means "under," "to go down," "to lower
(something)," etc. So when you say chotto matte kudasai, technically you're saying
something like: "Please bring yourself down to wait a bit for lowly, humble me."
There are several handy variations of kudasai. Kudasai itself is actually a mild
command form used to ask or even tell someone to do something, depending on the
tone of voice used. It combines the elements of its plain form kudasaru and the order-
giving nasai, which was introduced back in Lesson 10. Adding masu or masen further
softens it and gives the listener room to reply. These examples should clearly illustrate
the possibilities:
• Rokuji ni kite kudasai. (Please come at six o'clock.)
• Rokuji ni kite kudasaru? (Will you please come at six o'clock? [plain])
• Rokuji ni kite kudasaimasu ka. (Will you please come at six o'clock? [polite])
• Rokuji ni kite kudasaimasen ka. (Won't you please come at six o'clock?)
I must add here that verbs in the Te Form can also be used without kudasai or anything
else for plain, mild commands in familiar settings:
• Rokuji ni kite. (Come at six o'clock.)
• Matte. (Wait.)
• Douzo, tabete. (Go ahead and eat.)
In English we thankfully don't have to give any attention to double vowels or
consonants, but in Japanese we do. The basic rule is simple: give each sound equal
time. For practice let's use kuru (to come), kiku (to listen), and kiru (to cut). Put these
three verbs into the Te Form and they become kite, kiite, and kitte:
• Koko ni kite. (Come here.)
• Kore o kiite. (Listen to this.)
• Kore o kitte. (Cut this.)
The pronunciation goes like this: kite (KEE-TEH), while making each syllable as short
as possible (some Japanese make them so short they're barely discernible); kiite (KEE-
EE-TEH), just like counting 1-2-3, giving each equal time while making them short; and
kitte (KEET-TEH), while holding the tongue silently for a half second in the "T position"
between syllables.
For negative requests with kudasai, add de to verbs in their plain negative form (Base 1
+ nai), then add kudasai:
• Terebi o minaide kudasai. (Please don't watch the TV.)
• Ikanaide kudasai. (Please don't go.)
As with positive requests, kudasai can also be omitted here to make simple mild
commands:
• Terebi o minaide. (Don't watch the TV.)
• Ikanaide. (Don't go.)
Please note that the Te Form is also sometimes called Base 6. I believe that I have
heard it referred to as the Te Form more often, so that's what I've decided to call it
throughout these lessons.
Word Check
douzo: go ahead (used as a polite gesture)
chotto: a little; a moment
rokuji: six o'clock (roku [six] + ji [hour])
Lesson 57
Te Form + goran / goran nasai
Goran literally means "to honorably take a look." You use it to ask someone to try
something, usually in short, mild command-like sentences. You never use it on yourself.
Adding nasai gives it a stronger command element, which is used to prove a point. As a
general rule, use goran by itself to ask someone to try something or look at something
when you're not certain about the outcome, and goran nasai when you need to make it
stronger or when proving you're right about something (or think you are):
• Bob ni kiite goran. (Ask Bob and see what he says.)
• Tabete goran. (Taste it and see if you like it.)
• Mite goran. (Take a look.)
• Sanae ni denwa shite goran. (Try calling Sanae.)
• Kare wa sanjuu hachi to kaite aru. Yonde goran nasai. (It says he's 38. Read it
for yourself.)
• Tana no ue ni shio ga aru yo. Mite goran nasai. (There is some salt on the shelf.
See for yourself.)
• Kouen no kouyou wa ima kirei yo. Itte goran nasai. (The autumn leaves in the
park are beautiful now. Go and see for yourself.)
That's how we use goran nasai.
Word Check
kiku: to ask
denwa suru: to call (on the phone)
sanjuu hachi: thirty-eight
kaite aru: is written (Te Form of kaku [to write] + aru [to be; to exist])
yomu: to read
tana: shelf
ue ni: on/above (the top of) something
shio: salt
yo: (This is added to the end of sentences for emphasis.)
kouen: a park
kouyou: autumn leaves; fall colors
ima: now
kirei: beautiful, pretty
Lesson 58
Te Form + iru
A verb's te form with iru is used to show present progressive tense. This is probably
the most used verb form of them all, and provides an important grammatical base from
which many other relevant forms can be made. Iru by itself is an ichidan verb meaning
"to be; to exist," and when connected to another verb using the Te Form means "to be
doing (something)." So, in a way, it works like English, but thankfully unlike English
doesn't change according to the subject. Look at these examples:
• Watashi wa koko ni iru. (I am here.)
• Watashi wa aruite iru. (I am walking.)
• Karera wa zasshi o yonde iru. (They are reading a magazine.)
• Watashitachi wa Takamatsu ni sunde iru. (We live in Takamatsu. [We are living
in Takamatsu.])
• Shizuko wa tabete iru. (Shizuko is eating.)
• Kanojo wa sushi o tabete iru. (She is eating sushi.)
• Bill wa nihongo o benkyou shite iru. (Bill is studying Japanese.)
These examples should help you get a good idea as to how this form works. Note how
Japanese is more "grammatically true" than English in some cases, like when using the
verb sumu (to live [somewhere]), as in the fourth example above. Even though living in
a place is present and progressive, we can get away with using just "live" in English.
Because of this, it is natural for foreigners to slip and directly translate that to sumu in
Japanese, when they really should use sunde iru.
Another easy slip for foreigners is the simple phrase "I know." When someone tries in
English to dazzle us with some bit of information we've already heard, we say "I know,"
but in Japanese we say shitte iru (literally, "I'm knowing [it]."), and not shiru. When you
stop making this mistake you'll know that you're starting to think in Japanese.
Since iru is a plain ichidan verb, it can be conjugated as such and some of the other
endings applied. Especially important are masu, mashita, masen, and masen deshita,
which were covered in the Base 2 endings. As you already know, these are polite
endings and should be used in all but familiar settings.
Let's review these through some Te Form examples:
• Watashi wa shimbun o yonde imasu. (I'm reading the newspaper.)
• Kinou nete imashita. (Yesterday I slept all day. [Yesterday I was sleeping all
day.])
• Kare wa furansugo o benkyou shite imasen. (He's not studying French.)
• Kyou terebi o mite imasen deshita. (I didn't watch TV today. [I wasn't watching
TV today.])
It should be mentioned here that the Japanese use the past progressive tense much
more than we use it in English. For example, in English we would normally ask a
person, "What did you do last night?" and not "What were you doing last night?" In
Japanese it's the opposite. It's common to use the past progressive tense: Sakuban
nani o shite imashita ka. (What were you doing last night?) Accordingly, the answer will
be in the same tense: Terebi o mite imashita. (I was watching TV.)
Another thing that needs to be mentioned about the Te Form + iru is that it is often
"slurred" together. For example, yonde iru (reading) will sound like yonderu. In fact, it is
even written this way — with the i in iru omitted — in comics and novels where the
writer wants to show characters using everyday conversational Japanese.
Finally, this form also plays a vital role in sentences where a relative pronoun would be
used in English:
• Tennis o shite iru ko wa Bob no imouto desu. (The kid [who is] playing tennis is
Bob's [younger] sister.)
• Sunahama de asonde iru inu wa boku no desu. (The dog [that's] playing on the
beach is mine.)
I know you're wondering, so I'll tell you: "to play; to do" (shite iru) should sound like
SHTEH-EERU or SHTERU; "to know" (shitte iru) should sound like SHEET-TEH-EERU
or SHEET-TERU. Listening carefully becomes the best teacher here.
We'll take a look at some useful negative forms of this in the next lesson.
Word Check
aruku: to walk
karera: they, them
zasshi: magazine
sumu: to live (somewhere)
shiru: to know
neru: to sleep
sakuban: last night
nani: what
suru: to play a sport or game; to do (something)
ko: kid, child 1
imouto: little (younger) sister 2
sunahama: beach
asobu: to play (without any particular purpose or object, as a small child or animal does)
inu: dog
boku: I (familiar form used by males)
Notes
1. Strangely, there is no single, simple word in Japanese for "girl" or "boy." The correct
way to say "girl" is onna no ko and "boy" is otoko no ko (literally, "woman-child" / "man-
child"). These can be shortened to ko in many situations, but, like "kid" in English, there
may be times when this will not be appreciated if used in front of the parents.
2. In Japanese, different words are used for older siblings than younger ones: ani for
older brother, ane for older sister, otouto for younger brother, and imouto for younger
sister.
Lesson 59
Te Form + inai
As mentioned in the last lesson, iru is an ichidan verb meaning "to be; to exist." As
such, it can be changed into a negative and take the various negative Base 1 endings
just like other verbs. While there are some negative endings that cannot be used when
it's combined with the Te Form, which makes them present or past progressive, there
are many that can. First let's do some plain negative examples, which are based on
those used in the last lesson:
• Sam wa koko ni inai. (Sam's not here.)
• Karera wa zasshi o yonde inai. (They aren't reading a magazine.)
• Watashitachi wa Okayama ni sunde inai. (We don't live in Okayama.)
• Bill wa nihongo o benkyou shite inai. (Bill isn't studying Japanese.)
• Tabete inai ko wa Shizuko desu. (The child who isn't eating is Shizuko.)
Remember to use masen for polite speech:
• Sam wa koko ni imasen. (Sam's not here.)
• Karera wa zasshi o yonde imasen. (They aren't reading a magazine.)
• Watashitachi wa Okayama ni sunde imasen. (We don't live in Okayama.)
We can easily apply nai deshou and nakereba, which were covered in the Base 1
endings:
• Kodomotachi wa benkyou shite inai deshou. (The kids probably aren't
studying.)
• Benkyou shite inakereba, nani o shite iru deshou ka. (If they're not studying,
what are they doing?)
Now please look at the following examples, carefully noting and confirming the
differences between plain and polite, present and past, infinitive and progressive:
• Watashi wa ringo o tabenakatta. (I didn't eat an apple. [plain])
• Watashi wa ringo o tabemasen deshita. (I didn't eat an apple. [polite])
• Watashi wa tabete inai. (I'm not eating [now]. [plain])
• Watashi wa tabete imasen. (I'm not eating [now]. [polite])
• Sono toki tabete inakatta. (I wasn't eating then. [plain])
• Sono toki tabete imasen deshita. (I wasn't eating then. [polite])
• Bob wa benkyou shite inakereba yakyuu o yaru koto ga dekiru deshou. (If Bob
wasn't studying we could play baseball.)
• Bob wa benkyou shite inakattara yakyuu o yaru koto ga dekita deshou. (If Bob
hadn't been studying we could have played baseball.)
Please remember that Japanese lets you leave out the subject when it's understood (or
thought to be), which can be convenient at times, though vague and troublesome at
others. The last two above are good examples of this. In either, "we could" could be "he
could," depending on the actual situation. To make the meaning perfectly clear, we
would have to add watashitachi wa or kare wa before yakyuu.
Dekita, which appears in the last example, is the Ta Form of dekiru (can; to be able).
We'll get into the Ta Form after covering the Te Form endings.
Another handy use for the Te Form + inai is to express "not yet," as in:
• Watashi wa mada tabete inai. (I haven't eaten yet.)
• Seiko wa mada kaimono ni itte inai. (Seiko hasn't gone shopping yet.)
• Yumi ni mada denwa shite inai no? 1 (Haven't you called Yumi yet?)
You'll notice mada used in these examples, which is normally used in negative
constructions to convey "not yet."
Word Check
toki: time (usually a specific time)
yakyuu: baseball
mada: yet (used with negatives for "not yet")
kaimono: shopping
Notes
1. No at the end of sentences plays the same role as ka. It's for asking questions, and
goes especially well with plain ones.
Lesson 60
Te Form + ita
Since ita is the Ta Form of iru, I first thought I'd wait until we got into the Ta Form before
introducing it. However, since it is not only a Te Form ending, but also an often used
element of conversational Japanese, I decided to go ahead and cover it here. Put
simply, ita is the plain past form of iru, and expresses the past progressive tense when
added to verbs in the Te Form:
• John wa terebi o mite ita. (John was watching TV.)
• Karera wa zasshi o yonde ita. (They were reading a magazine.)
• Bill wa benkyou shite ita. (Bill was studying.)
There were two points mentioned in Lesson 58 that we'll review here. They are
important because they are used constantly in daily conversation. The first is that in
Japanese the past progressive tense is used much more than it is in English. In fact,
there are cases where it would sound odd if translated directly into English in the same
tense and used that way. To illustrate this I have made up a short yet very natural
conversation. I include the usual English translation, but also add what the direct
translation from Japanese would be, which is underlined:
A: Kinou wa nani o shite ita? (What did you do yesterday? [What were you doing
yesterday?])
B: Kaimono o shite ita. Soshite terebi o mite ita. (I went shopping. And I watched TV. [I
was doing shopping. And I was watching TV.])
A: Hontou? Boku wa kuruma o aratte ita. (Really? I washed my car. [Really? I was
washing my car.])
Yes, that is how Japanese speak of past everyday events with friends and family: the
past progressive Te Form + ita is often used. Also, this would be two males speaking.
Males usually use boku in familiar settings, as well as ore and washi for "I." Females
usually use watashi or sometimes atashi.
The second point is that in actual conversation the verb and ita are often jammed
together. The above example conversation looks all proper when written, but no real
friends or family members — at least those who are at a familiar enough level to use
plain endings in the first place — are going to speak so grammatically correct. Just for
the fun of it, here is the same conversation as it would actually sound:
A: Kinou nani shiteta? (Whadja do yesterday?)
B: Kaimono shiteta. Soshite terebi miteta. (I went shopping. And watched TV.)
A: Hontou? Boku kuruma aratteta. (Really? I washed my car.)
Now that's real Japanese.
As I'm sure you know by now, in settings where polite speech is called for, upgrade ita
to imashita.
Word Check
soshite: also; besides; and
hontou: really
kuruma: car
arau: to wash
Lesson 61
Te Form + itadaku / morau
Please forget that itadaku is shown in its plain form in the title of this lesson. Because
itadaku is a very polite word, meaning something like "I humbly partake," it will almost
always be used with one of the masu endings. The Te Form + itadaku ending can be
used like Te Form + kudasai to ask favors, as covered in Lesson 55, and it can also be
used to show appreciation for favors received. Itadakimasu! by itself is the standard
salutation used in Japan before eating a meal, and can be used when receiving or
taking something from someone.
When asking for something in the workplace or other "non-familiar" settings, itadaku is
often converted to Base 4 and masu ka added. (Please review Lesson 51 if necessary.)
This creates a very nice "may I humbly partake of your doing (something) for me"
request. Here are some examples. The literal "humbly partake" nonsense will be
replaced with a more natural English translation:
• Johnson-san ni denwa shite itadakemasu ka. (Would you please call Mr.
Johnson?)
• O-namae o oshiete itadakemasu ka. (May I please have your name?)
• Niji ni kite itadakemasu ka. (Would you please come at two o'clock?)
And here are a few more variations that are often used:
• Ashita watashi ni denwa shite itadakemasen ka. (Won't you please call me
tomorrow?)
• Kono shorui o kinyuu shite itadakemasen deshou ka. (Could I possibly get you
to fill out these forms?)
• Murai-san ni senshuu ginkou ni itte itadakimashita. Oboete imasen ka. (I had
you [Murai-san] go to the bank for me last week. Don't you remember?)
(Concerning name use and suffixes, please see About You and Name Suffixes.)
As in English, the rule of thumb is to make the request more polite as its level of
difficulty or ridiculousness increases.
I have always considered itadaku to be a "true Japanese" word, one that conveys
certain traditional cultural points. While "I humbly partake" serves as a general
translation and starting point, it's not easy to define the full "essence" of itadaku in
English. It can, however, be gradually understood by osmosis as one gets accustomed
to the culture of Japan, particularly giving and receiving and the levels occupied by giver
and receiver.
While kudasai and itadakimasu and their various forms are often interchangeable, the
important difference has to do with subject emphasis. With kudasai, you automatically
becomes the understood subject and you're asking "please give down to me." With
itadakimasu, I automatically becomes the understood subject and you're saying "I
humbly receive from you."
When there's no need to be very polite, use morau instead of itadaku. Make no mistake:
morau is not impolite, it's just plain. As usual, adding a masu ending makes it polite, but
not quite as polite — not as "respectful" — as itadakimasu. Also, morau is the one to
use when talking about a third party. However, itadakimasu is always used with food,
even when the giver is not present. Morau is okay when referring to other things.
I realize that all of this sounds complicated, and it can be at times. Actually being
present in a situation where this stuff is being used helps a lot, but since we can't do
that here, we'll look at some more examples:
Mom: Kimiko ni mise ni itte moraitai. (I want you [Kimiko] to
go to the store for me.)
Kimiko: Ima shukudai o shite iru. Ken ni itte moratte. (I'm doing
homework now. Get Ken to go.)
As you can see, this is a family situation, so all the plain forms are perfectly normal. No
particular reservations are needed here. Let's look at a slightly different conversation:
Mom: Kimiko ni mise ni itte moraitai. (I want you [Kimiko] to
go to the store for me.)
Kimiko: Ima shukudai o shite iru. Ojii-chan ni itte
moraimashou ka. (I'm doing homework now. Shall I
get Grandpa to go?)
Mom: (not wanting to bother Grandpa) Ken ni itte moraou ka
naa. (I wonder if I should get Ken to go.)
Kimiko: (thinking that Grandpa needs to get out more) Ken wa
ima inai. Ojii-chan ni itte moraimasu. (Ken's not here
now. I'll get Grandpa to go.)
This is the same family, but note how verbs connected with Grandpa are made polite
with masu. Traditionally, if Grandpa deserves respect and is in earshot, this would be
the best way to go.
Mom: Gohan yo! Tabemashou! (Dinner's ready! Let's eat!)
Everyone: Itadakimasu! (Let's eat! [Literally, I/we humbly receive
this.])
Itadakimasu is always used with food, even if all you're taking is a potato chip.
Suzuki-san: Ginkou ni ikimashou ka. (Shall I go to the bank?)
Tanaka-san: Murai-san ni itte moraimashita. (I had Ms. Murai go.)
This is at the office, and these two are being courteous. They probably don't see each
other every day, or they may be in an area where customers or clients are and want to
make a good impression with their polite speech. If they belonged to a close-knit group
that worked together every day by themselves they would probably use plain forms.
Suzuki-san: O-namae o oshiete itadakemasu ka. (May I please
have your name?)
Customer: Hai. (Sure.)
Customers are always treated like royalty and get the most polite forms.
Here's another good example situation: Kimiko and her grandfather are at a shopping
center where they are handing out free pens. The salesclerks would say agemasu as
they give the pens out (and up) to their customers. As the customers take the pens they
might say arigatou (thank you) or itadakimasu (I humbly receive).
If Grandpa wants to ask Kimiko if she got one, he'd probably use moratta ka (Did you
get one?) or maybe moraimashita ka, which would be more polite. Kimiko, being in the
same situation as her grandfather as a receiver, would naturally use the same verb and
say hai, moratta or moraimashita (Yes, I got one).
Now, if a different salesclerk offers another pen to Kimiko and she wanted to say that
she already got one, she would say itadakimashita (I already received one), which
would be the most polite and adult thing to say since the salesclerk represents the giver
(the store) here. To say moratta could sound rude or juvenile.
It would be impossible to cover all the subtle language possibilities and nuances here
regarding giving and receiving in Japan. The words and wording will change according
to your position as giver or receiver, your age and relationship with the other(s), and
other variables. However, this should cover the main questions and suffice as a guide.
Keep in mind that, just like anywhere else, each home, office, company, and region will
have its own "atmosphere" and certain unwritten rules pertaining to language use.
Word Check
o-namae: name (The honorific o- prefix is used with strangers, customers, etc.)
oshieru: to teach, tell
shorui: forms, documents, paperwork
kinyuu suru: to fill out (forms)
senshuu: last week
ginkou: bank
oboeru: remember
mise: store
shukudai: homework
ima: now
Lesson 62
Te Form + kara
This one's a snap. Simple and useful, the Te Form + kara means "after (doing
something)...," as in:
• Tabete kara kaimono ni iku. (After I eat I'm going shopping.)
• John wa shukudai o shite kara kuru. (John's coming over after he does his
homework.)
• Naomi ga kaette kara tabemashou. (Let's eat after Naomi comes back.)
Please keep in mind that this one only works after verbs in the Te Form. You can't use it
directly after nouns such as summer to mean "after summer." There are other ways to
do that. With nouns that require the active participation of the subject, such as those two
common ones work and school, you just make them the subject/object with ga, then add
the Te Form of owaru, which means "to finish":
• Gakkou ga owatte kara yakyuu o yarou. (Let's play baseball after school.)
• Shigoto ga owatte kara eiga o mi ni ikimashou. (Let's go see a movie after
work.)
Please remember that there's another kara that means "because" which is used with
Base 3 (Lesson 29) and the Ta Form (Lesson 73).
Word Check
kaeru: to return; to come home
owaru: to end; to be finished
gakkou: school
yakyuu: baseball
yaru: to do (plain form of suru); to play games or sports
shigoto: work (noun); a job
eiga: movie
mi ni iku: to go (and) see (This is the Base 2 form of miru [to see] with the directional
indicator ni and iku [to go]. See Lesson 13.)
Lesson 63
Te Form + kureru
In Lesson 55 we did kudasai, the polite "please" used for favors requested. Kureru is
used in generally the same way, and it's used constantly in familiar daily conversation
when rank or "greatness" doesn't need to be worried about. Let's plug kureru into some
example sentences:
• Rokuji ni kite kureru? (Will you please come at six?)
• Jitensha o kashite kureru? (Would you please loan me your bicycle?)
You'll hear plain kureru after the Te Form a lot. This is the simplest way to ask a favor,
but I wouldn't use it on my boss or the emperor when he's in town. It's good for family
members and close friends. Some people add the question-forming no on the end. This
is also often used as a way to confirm something which appears to be obvious but
wasn't expected. For example, if someone appears to be getting ready to pay for your
lunch (and you don't mind), you might say Ah, ogotte kureru no?, which literally means
"Oh, are you going to (kindly) pay for mine?" When using kureru without no for a sincere
request, it's customary to say kureru with a rising "pretty please" kind of intonation.
A masu ending always makes verbs sound nicer, and works great when talking to
colleagues or about others:
• Denwa bangou o oshiete kuremasu ka. (Will you please tell me your phone
number?)
• Ritsuko wa heya o souji shite kuremashita. (Ritsuko kindly cleaned the room.)
Use plain negative nai for an urgent, repeated request, especially one that's already
been turned down:
• Kyuukei sasete kurenai ka. (Won't you please let me take a break?)
• Watashitachi to issho ni kite kurenai no. (Won't you please come with us?)
(Kurenai no is softer than kurenai ka.)
And finally, there is the "kure command":
• Kite kure. (Please come here.)
• Matte kure. (Please wait.)
I recommend avoiding this one until you get a feel for its various nuances according to
intonation used. Again, this is the "command" form of kureru, and it could be offensive in
some cases. (You might say that it takes all the "please" out of kureru.) There may not
be a big difference between kudasaimashita and kuremashita, but there is a huge
difference between kudasai and kure. In fact, a verb in Te Form with nothing after it can
sound nicer than with kure, depending on intonation. After watching enough Japanese
TV or movies, you'll see what I mean.
Word Check
kasu: to lend
ogoru: to treat (someone) to a meal
denwa bangou: telephone number
oshieru: to tell; to teach
heya: a room
souji suru: to clean
kyuukei suru: to take a break
issho ni: together; with
Lesson 64
Te Form + kuru / iku
As you already know, kuru and iku mean "to come" and "to go," but when used after
the Te Form they take on a whole new dimension which may have nothing to do with
physical movement. Just as kuru and iku mean to come to or leave a given place, after
the Te Form they can also mean to come up to or start from a given time. Notice how
kuru comes up to a point and iku takes off or continues from one:
• Ron wa sukoshi zutsu nihongo ga wakatte kimashita. (Little by little Ron came
to understand Japanese.)
• Doitsu no rekishi o benkyou shite kimashita. (I have been studying German
history.)
• PC wa yasuku natte iku deshou. (PCs will most likely get less and less
expensive.)
• Sono tame, PC no shiyousha ga fuete iku to omou. (Because of that, I think that
the number of PC users will increase.)
As can be seen, the Te Form + kuru points to results or events leading up to the
present or another point in time, while iku takes off from the present or another point in
time, expresses future plans, dreams, assumptions, etc.
One very good example of this form being used to express a physical going and coming
is itte kuru, the Te Form of "to go" followed by "to come." Usually upgraded with masu,
Itte kimasu! is the traditional expression one uses when going out, and means exactly
what it's supposed to: "I'm going out and coming back." (If you say just ikimasu, the
literal equivalent of "I'm going," it's considered unlucky because it will be interpreted as
"going away and not coming back," so avoid saying that unless you really mean it.)
Accordingly, people will sometimes use this to ask others where they went: Doko e itte
kita? (Where did you go [and come back from]?)
Other simple examples of this are:
• Tabete kita. (I ate before coming over.)
• Shirabete kuru. (I'll go check it [then come back].)
Please be careful not to confuse these with Base 2 + ni kuru / ni iku, which were
covered in Lesson 13. Please review if necessary.
Word Check
sukoshi zutsu: little by little
wakaru: to understand
doitsu: Germany
rekishi: history
yasuku naru: to become less expensive (yasui [adj.]: cheap, inexpensive; combined with
naru: to become; to grow)
sono tame: due to that
shiyousha: user (shiyou suru: to use, combined with sha: person)
fueru: to increase
omou: to think (used after to to mean "[I] think that...." See Lesson 45.)
shiraberu: to check (something); to examine; to look up (as in a dictionary or telephone
book)
Lesson 65
Te Form + miru
As you know, miru means "to see," which makes this one easy to remember. In English
we sometimes say "I'll see if I can...," meaning that we'll give something a try. Well, you
can do the same thing in Japanese by putting the verb you want to try in the Te Form
and adding miru, which can also be converted to suit the needs of the occasion:
• Kono kanji o yonde miru. (I'll try to read these kanji.)
• Kono atarashii PC o tsukatte miyou. (Let's give this new PC a try.)
• Sushi o tabete minai no? (Won't you try some sushi?)
• John ni hanashite mimasu. (I'll try to talk to John.)
• Kare ni denwa shite mimashita ga, rusu deshita. (I tried calling him, but he
wasn't in.)
Word Check
kanji: Chinese characters adapted for use in writing Japanese
yomu: to read
atarashii: new
tsukau: to use
taberu: to eat
hanasu: to talk; to speak to (someone)
rusu: to be out 1
Notes
1. Rusu looks like a verb, but it's not. In Japanese grammar, it acts like a "quasi
adjective," but technically it's not one of those either. It's one of those words that sit on
the pile of irregulars, with its own set phrases. For example, you can use it as a verb if
you add ni suru after it, as in Bob wa ima rusu ni shite imasu. Or you can use it like an
adjective by adding something from the desu group after it: Bob wa ima rusu desu.
Either way, the meaning is the same: "Bob's not in now."
Lesson 66
Te Form + mo ii
This one is used to ask or give permission. We have already looked at ii in other verb
forms and combinations (Lessons 26 and 49), so you should be a little familiar with it.
It's an adjective which means "good," "fine," "okay," etc. The mo after a verb in its Te
Form means something like "if (someone) were to...." Accordingly, adding the ii makes
it "if (someone) were to (do something) it would be okay," "it's okay if (someone does
something)," etc. Let's do a few examples:
• Boku no PC o tsukatte mo ii yo. (You can use my PC.)
• Gohan o tabete kara terebi o mite mo ii. (You can watch TV after you've eaten
your dinner.)
• Jisho o karite mo ii? (Can I borrow your dictionary?)
There are a couple of things the grammar books won't tell you. The ones I have
checked give you the impression that desu is used after ii to make it polite. Yes, that is
the way it works grammatically, as with all adjectives, but I have never heard desu by
itself used after ii for a polite, positive response. There is usually something else added
on, like yo: ii desu yo (Sure you can...); or ka: ii desu ka (May I...?).
In the workplace, ii is often upgraded to the more formal yoroshii, a word you'll hear a lot
if you watch the samurai dramas:
• Raishuu no getsuyoubi o yasunde mo yoroshii desu ka. (May I take off next
Monday?)
• Kyou, hayaku kaette mo yoroshii. (You may go home early today.)
You may sound like you're talking down to people if you use this to give permission, so
I'd advise avoiding it unless you're a big boss or want to pretend you're one. As with
most Japanese, however, the right intonation with desu yo after it can soften it for more
informal use.
Another handy thing to know is that it's perfectly okay to omit the mo in familiar
conversation:
• Watashi no jisho o tsukatte ii yo. (Sure, you can use my dictionary.)
• Hai, terebi mite ii yo. (Yeah, you can watch TV.)
(Yes, you can also get away with omitting particles, like the object indicator o, in familiar
situations as in the last example above. As I've already mentioned, Japanese is much
more forgiving and "grammatically unfussy" than English, a fact that makes it easy to
work with at times.)
Now, I just mentioned that I've never heard desu used by itself after ii for a polite,
positive reply. It is used a lot, however, for conveying a different and negative meaning.
If you hear people arguing, you may hear an ii desu! yelled out by one of the arguers,
with the ii strongly emphasized, said much louder than the desu. Sometimes you may
hear a long mou before the ii: mou ii desu. (It sounds like mou-EEEEE-dess!) Either
way, it's equivalent to our "Enough already! Just forget it!"
Word Check
boku: I (used only by males in familiar settings)
tsukau: to use
yo: You bet I mean that... (...or something like that. It's added to the end of sentences
for overall emphasis.)
gohan: food 1
kariru: to borrow
raishuu: next week
getsuyoubi: Monday
yasumu: to rest; to take a break; to have time off from work (of a short or long duration)
hayaku: quickly
kaeru: to go home; to return
Notes
1. Gohan actually means "cooked rice," but is often used to loosely mean "food,"
especially "a meal" in general. When the time of day can be guessed, gohan will usually
be used instead of the words for "breakfast," "lunch," or "dinner": Bokutachi wa shichiji
ni kaette, gohan o tabeta. (We got back at seven, then had a meal [=dinner]).
Lesson 67
Te Form + oku
By itself, oku means "to put," but after a verb in the Te Form it means "will certainly do
(that verb)," or "will go ahead and do (that verb)." There isn't a whole lot of difference
between shite oku and plain old suru to express "will do," but shite oku, or any verb in
the Te Form with oku, expresses the fact that someone will definitely do that something
right away or in the very near future. It has a "will go ahead and do" kind of feeling to it.
This Te Form with oku is also normally used for things which can be done in a relatively
short amount of time. It can even be used in the past tense to state that you went ahead
and did something. It isn't used in the negative; we don't use it to say that we won't or
didn't do something. As usual, remember to convert oku to Base 2 with a masu ending
to make it polite.
All right. With all that explaining out of the way, it's time to make some sentences:
• Ron ni denwa shite oku. (I'll call Ron.)
• Mado o akete oku. (I'll open the window.)
• Kasa o katte okimasu. (I'm going to buy an umbrella.)
• Kanojo ni ki o tsukeru you ni itte okimasu. (I'll tell her to be careful.)
• Shukudai o shite okimashita. (I [went ahead and] did my homework.)
Again, when not following a verb in the Te Form, oku means "to put," as in: Hon wa
tsukue no ue ni oite kudasai (Please put the books on the desk), so please be careful
not to confuse them.
I should mention here that verbs in the Te Form with oku can sometimes be very difficult
to catch. That's because very few native speakers speak as neatly as the examples
written above. The te + oku is usually compressed into something that sounds like
"toku." For example, most native speakers would say the last example above so that it
sounds like: Shukudai shtokimashita. That's what you would actually hear.
Word Check
oku: to put
mado: window
akeru: to open
ki o tsukeru: to be careful; to take care 1
iu: to say; to tell
shukudai: homework
hon: book(s)
tsukue: desk
ue: the top (of something)
you ni: in order to; in order that; for (a certain purpose or result); so (something will take
effect or happen)
Notes
1. Ki is a noun with many meanings, like "heart," "mind," and "energy." In this idiom it
means "attention." Tsukeru means "to attach" or "apply," so the overall meaning
becomes clear: to pay attention; to be careful. It's used often
Lesson 68
Te Form + shimau
Shimau alone means "to finish" or "put away (something)," and it retains the same
general meaning when combined with a verb in the Te Form, pointing towards the
completion of a task. Since shimau is a standard verb, you can also conjugate it in a
dozen different ways. A few examples are:
• Shukudai o shite shimaimashou. (Let's finish up our homework.)
• Choushoku o tabete shimaimashita. (I've finished eating breakfast.)
• Heya o souji shite shimau hou ga ii yo. (You should finish cleaning up your
room.)
One other role that this Te Form + shimau plays is to express the doing of something
which was hard to decide to do, doing something unexpected, or the happening of
something unexpected:
• Kuruma o katte shimaimashita. (I bought a car.)
• Bob wa ude no hone o orete shimaimashita. (Bob broke his arm.) 1
• Kanojo wa Osaka ni itte shimaimashita. (She [up and] went to Osaka.)
And that's not all. Shimau is also used for expressing concern about the possibility of
something negative happening and/or the dismay at finding out that something negative
happened:
• Watashi no fuku ga yogorete shimau! (My clothes'll get dirty!)
• Ah! Fuku ga yogorete shimaimashita. (Oh, no! My clothes got dirty.)
• Densha ni noriokurete shimau yo! (We'll miss the train!)
• Ah! Kippu o nakushite shimaimashita! (Oh, no! I lost my ticket!)
Finally, I guess I'll mention that in everyday, familiar settings a "slang" form of shimau is
often used. At first I decided to leave this point out because I felt that it would just
complicate things, but then one of my readers mentioned it, which made me think it over
again. And, since it is used a lot, I've decided to go ahead with it. It's "chau," and,
borrowing two examples from above, it sounds like this:
• Densha ni noriokurechau yo! (We'll miss the train!)
• Ah! Kippu o nakuschaimashita! (Oh, no! I lost my ticket!)
Yes, this slang form takes the hite out of shite and really compresses things: shite +
chau = schau. The others are: -te + chau = -tchau and -nde + chau = -njau. Again, I
realize that this complicates things, which is why I advise not even thinking about it until
you've been learning Japanese for a while and feel comfortable with the old standard
shimau and its uses. You will hear these contracted forms quite often in daily
conversation, however, so having this basic knowledge of them may be useful.
Also, I should mention that the last example above is a bit unnatural — grammatically
fine (in a slangy kind of way), just unnatural — because you've got the slang with a
polite masu ending. The way to make this natural would be to put it in the plain past Ta
Form: nakuschatta! We'll be getting into the Ta Form soon.
Word Check
shimau: to put away; to finish
choushoku: breakfast
heya: a room
kuruma: car
ude: arm
hone: bone 1
oreru: to break 1
fuku: clothes
yogoreru: to get dirty
densha: train
noriokureru: to miss (a mode of scheduled transportation. This is a compound from the
verbs noru [to ride] and okureru [to be late].)
kippu: ticket (usually a small ticket for a train, bus, or ferry)
nakusu: to lose (something)
Notes
1. Here we must give English the nod for being smart. If you break a bone in Japanese,
you have to include the word hone (bone) in the expression. You can't just say "I broke
my arm"; you have to say "I broke my arm's bone."
Lesson 69
Te Form + wa ikaga / dou desu ka
These are a couple of simple ways to suggest things, to ask, "How about (doing
something)?":
• Ima chuushoku o tabete wa ikaga desu ka. (How about having lunch now?)
• Ashita Ritsurin Kouen ni itte wa ikaga desu ka. (What do you think about going
to Ritsurin Park tomorrow?)
• Atarashii terebi o katte wa dou desu ka. (What do you say we buy a new TV?)
These are, of course, polite. You can omit the desu ka for plain, familiar talk. If you do,
do not add the plain, question-forming no — these don't use it. Instead, at the very end
make the intonation fall a little then return. You can say dou ka, but not ikaga ka. (Well,
you can say it, but I doubt that you'll ever hear it.) Actually, dou ka is not really used that
often after -te wa, but usually alone, meaning "What do you think?" or "How is it going?"
However, if you're going to use it in this way, put in the desu: Ikaga desu ka or Dou
desu ka sound so much better.
Word Check
ima: now
chuushoku: lunch
taberu: to eat
ashita: tomorrow
iku: to go
atarashii: new
terebi: TV (wasei eigo created from "television")
kau: to buy
Lesson 70
Te Form + wa ikemasen
Polite ikemasen or plain ikenai are used alone to mean "Don't do that!", "You mustn't do
that!", "Naughty!", etc. Just go to a shopping center where mothers and kids are
together and you're bound to hear either of these, especially ikenai. When placed after
the Te Form with wa, ikemasen or ikenai point to what's forbidden:
• Shashin o totte wa ikemasen. (You can't take pictures.)
• Okurete wa ikemasen yo. (Don't be late.)
• Boku no PC o sawatte wa ikenai! (Don't touch my PC!)
Since statements like these are mainly used in familiar situations, plain ikenai will be
heard more often than ikemasen. Also, the -te wa element is often "crushed" into a
colloquial form that sounds like "-tcha": Boku no PC o sawatcha ikenai! Also, to make it
even more colorful, ikenai will often be put into a dialectal form, like ikan (Takamatsu),
iken (Okayama), akan (Osaka), etc. So, if you move to a new area or make a new friend
from one, chances are good that you'll have the opportunity to learn a new way to say
this.
Ikenai! by itself is also handy for expressing your aggravation at realizing that something
has been forgotten:
• Ikenai! Joushaken o wasurete shimaimashita! (Oh, no! I forgot my ticket!)
• Ikenai! Kimiko wa kasa o motte iku no o wasuremashita! (Oh, no! Kimiko forgot to
take her umbrella!)
Getting back to -te wa ikenai / ikemasen, there are other ways to say the same thing
that you may hear. A very popular substitute for -te wa ikenai in familiar settings is -te
wa dame (-tcha dame), and a more formal one is -te wa naranai / narimasen. In fact,
"Thou shalt not..." in the Japanese version of the Ten Commandments in the Old
Testament is translated "...(verb) -te wa naranai."
Word Check
shashin: a photograph
toru: to take 1
okureru: to be late
boku no: my (male familiar)
sawaru: to touch
joushaken: a train ticket
wasureru: to forget
kasa: umbrella
motte iku: to take (something away with you or for someone else to do so); to carry
away (This is a combination of motsu [to hold] and iku [to go].)
Notes
1. The verb toru has many different usages, many of which parallel its English
counterpart: to take something from a place or person; to take a picture with a camera;
to take (steal) something from someone. However, the kanji used for each meaning are
different, so keep that in mind when you start studying kanji. (Because of this it is often
just written in hiragana these days.) Another important point is that there are also many
actions that use take in English that do not use toru in Japanese, like "take a bath," for
example. So please don't assume that toru can be used universally for take. (In
Japanese you get into the bath: ofuro ni hairu.)
Be careful not to elongate the o in toru when pronouncing it, which is easy to do,
because tooru is a totally different verb, meaning "to pass (by/over something)."
Lesson 71
Te Form for Continuing Statements
Let's wrap up the Te Form with one of its basic and very convenient uses: talking about
multiple or further actions. First, some simple ones. Let's combine three actions into one
statement:
• Shizu ni denwa shite, heya o katazukete, kaimono ni ikanakereba naranai. (I've
got to call Shizu, straighten up the room, and go shopping.)
• Kesa watashi wa shichiji ni okite, gohan o tabete, hachiji ni ie o demashita. (This
morning I got up at seven o'clock, ate breakfast, and left home at eight.)
As you can see, when a certain conjugation applies to all verbs in a construction, only
the final verb is conjugated to give the intended meaning; the ones preceding it in the
Te Form will automatically assume the same conjugation. To end a particular
conjugation (intended meaning) and continue with a different one, just put that
conjugation in the Te Form and continue:
• Kinou watashi wa inu ni soto de asobasete, esa o ataete, jibun no yuushoku o
tsukurimashita. (Yesterday I let the dog play outside, fed him, and then made my
own dinner.)
Please keep in mind that not all conjugations have or use the Te Form. When you're not
sure, just start a new sentence. You don't want to get into the habit of making run-on
sentences, which can happen in Japanese as easily as it can in English.
Incidentally, Base 2 can also be used to end a phrase and continue, as outlined here.
Word Check
heya: a room
katazukeru: to clean up; to straighten up; to put in order
kaimono: shopping
kesa: this morning
okiru: to get up
gohan: a meal
ie: home; a house
deru: to leave; to go/come out
kinou: yesterday
inu: dog
soto: outside
esa: pet food; bait
ataeru: to give
jibun: self
yuushoku: dinner
tsukuru: to make
Lesson 72
Ta Form: The Plain Past
We finally arrive at the Ta Form, whose major purpose is to make things plain, past, and
simple. Let's first make sure we can convert all the verb types into the Ta Form. It will be
easy if you have mastered converting into the Te Form, because the Ta Form is the
same except that the final e is instead an a. Just for a quick check, let's drag out the
tables used to introduce the Te Form and convert them to show the Ta Form:
Yodan verbs:
Base 3 (plain form) Ta Form
kau katta
aruku aruita
isogu isoida
kasu kashita
matsu matta
shinu shinda
asobu asonda
yomu yonda
kaeru kaetta
Ichidan verbs:
taberu tabeta
oboeru oboeta
kimeru kimeta
deru deta
kariru karita
miru mita
Irregular verbs:
kuru kita
suru shita
As with the Te Form, there are a few weird ones among the yodans that will take some
getting used to. Also, iku (to go) remains an oddball: it becomes itta.
Once again, the Ta Form's major role is to make things plain and to put them in the past
tense. This is what you use when you don't need the politeness of Base 2 with mashita.
Let's do some real basic everyday phrases — ones so familiar that the particles are left
out:
• Watashi shita. (I did it.)
• Kami kitta. (I got a haircut.)
• O-hiru tabeta. (I ate lunch.)
• Terebi mita. (I watched TV.)
• Hon yonda. (I read a book.)
• Boku no kingyo shinda. (My goldfish died.)
Let me say here that even though certain particles have been omitted in the above
examples, there are limits. There are cases where particles would never be cut, even by
the fastest-talking Japanese. Please be sure to learn the particles and get comfortable
using them, and only omit them when everyone else does. In the long run, you will
impress far more Japanese friends and associates by speaking proper Japanese than
by using shortcuts and slang.
The Ta Form is also used as a noun modifier. For example, hon yonda means "I (or
someone else) read a book." If we switch these around to yonda hon, yonda modifies
hon like an adjective, hon becomes the subject, and the meaning becomes "the book I
(or someone) read." Very handy, right? Let's make some more of these:
• Watashi ga karita kasa wa Kimiko no. (The umbrella I borrowed is Kimiko's.)
• Shinda kingyo wa, roku nen kan katta. (The goldfish that died I had six years.)
• Joy ga yaita keeki wa oishikatta. (The cake Joy made was delicious.)
• Boku ga katta PC wa, juu hachi man en deshita. (The PC I bought was one
hundred eighty thousand yen.)
• Bob ga benkyou shita koto wa totemo yakudatta. (The things Bob studied were
very helpful.)
Just as the Te Form is sometimes called Base 6, the Ta Form is sometimes called Base
7. But since I hear it called the Ta Form more often, that's what I'll be calling it
throughout these lessons.
Word Check
kami: the hair on one's head 1
kiru: to cut 2
o-hiru: lunch (This is "midday" with the honorific o prefix, and is less formal than
chuushoku.) 3
kingyo: goldfish
nen: year(s)
yaku: to cook; to bake; to burn 4
keeki: cake (wasei eigo)
oishikatta: was delicious (This is the adjective oishii [delicious] combined with its past
tense forming conjugation -katta.)
juu hachi: eighteen (juu [ten] + hachi [eight])
man: (a unit of) ten thousand
en: Japanese yen 5
koto: thing(s), usually intangible ones
totemo: very
yakudatsu: to be helpful or useful
Notes
1. Kami no ke is the literally correct and complete way to refer to the hair on your head.
Ke alone is hair — any hair, anywhere, even on a caterpillar. (Caterpillar in Japanese is
kemushi, literally "hairbug.") To refer to your hairstyle or the hair on your head as a
whole, use kami.
2. Kami kitta is always a puzzler to students of Japanese. Although it literally means "I
cut my hair," it actually means the passive "I got a haircut; I had someone cut my hair."
There are a few of these which are commonly used, where it is acceptable to say you
did something that you actually had someone else do. You could call it an understood
and accepted inaccuracy. Another one you will often hear is ie o tatete iru for "I'm
having a house built."
Incidentally, there is another kiru which means "to wear."
3. Interestingly, the words asa, hiru, and yoru (morning, noon, night) are also used to
mean the meals associated with those times, especially in casual speech. The strange
thing is that only hiru gets the "honorific o" prefix: asa: breakfast; o-hiru: lunch; yoru:
dinner.
4. Yaku is a multi-purpose verb, and has to do with fire, whether it's cooking or burning
something. Even "sunburn" uses it: hiyake. If something has been baked in an oven,
yaku is the verb usually used with that object.
5. Although Japanese currency is known to everyone in the west as "yen," in Japanese
there is no "y" sound at the beginning. It is just en.
Lesson 73
Ta Form + Combinations Shared With Base 3
Now that we've seen how the Ta Form works, the rest really isn't too difficult. There are
a few "ta form only" combinations, but there are many more that we have already
become familiar with back in the Base 3 section.
I trust you remember that Base 3 is the plain, root form of Japanese verbs. (If
necessary, please see Lesson 1 for a quick review.) You could think of the Ta Form as
a very close relative, the major difference being that while it expresses the plain past,
Base 3 is used for the plain present or future. Due to this, these two share many add-
ons and endings. Since we have already covered these, I feel that separate lessons just
to show them in the past tense are unnecessary. Instead, I've decided to cover some of
them here along with corresponding Base 3 plain future constructions, which will serve
as a nice review.
Again, these are not all of the verb add-ons and endings shared by Base 3 and the Ta
Form. They are some of the more useful ones which have already been introduced in
the Base 3 lessons. Each one will have an example of a Base 3 form for the plain future
tense, and the same form converted to the Ta Form for plain past. Carefully note the
similarities and differences. For a more detailed review, please click the lesson links.
» deshou (Lesson 24):
• Yumiko wa Kyoto ni iku deshou. (Yumiko will probably go to Kyoto.)
• Yumiko wa Kyoto ni itta deshou. (Yumiko probably went to Kyoto.)
» hazu (Lesson 25):
• Kare wa rokuji ni kuru hazu. (He's supposed to come at six.)
• Kare wa rokuji ni kita hazu. (He was supposed to come at six.)
We already know that desu can be added to various structures to make them polite, and
one of the examples in Lesson 25 included it. And, because deshita is the past form of
desu, it is easy to make the mistake of adding it to past tense sentences although it is
unnecessary. Where the action verb is changed to the Ta Form to make the structure
past tense, as in the last example above, use desu to make it polite, not deshita. One
past tense element is enough.
» hou ga ii (Lesson 26):
• Kyou densha de iku hou ga ii. (It would be better to go by train today.)
• Kyou densha de itta hou ga ii. (It would be better to go by train today.)
That's right, whether you use present or past with hou ga ii, the meaning — the tense of
the meaning — is the same. Please take careful note of this. The bottom example
above might be mistaken for expressing regret: "It would have been better if..." Please
don't make this mistake. To express regret, use Base 4 + ba yokatta: Kyou densha de
ikeba yokatta. (I should have taken the train today.)
Please also note that the past (Ta Form) with hou ga ii is used more often in daily
conversation than the present (Base 3).
» ka dou ka (Lesson 27):
• Kare wa dekiru ka dou ka kikimashou. (I'll ask him whether or not he can do it.)
• Kare wa dekita ka dou ka kikimashou. (I'll ask him whether or not he was able to
do it.)
» kamo shirenai / shiremasen (Lesson 28):
• Konban, Jun wa The Lord of the Rings o miru kamo shirenai. (Jun might see
The Lord of the Rings tonight.)
• Kinou no ban, Jun wa The Lord of the Rings o mita kamo shirenai. (Maybe Jun
saw The Lord of the Rings last night.)
» kara (Lesson 29):
• Beth wa itsumo okureru kara sensei ga okoru. (The teacher gets angry because
Beth is always late.)
• Beth wa okureta kara sensei ga okotta. (The teacher was angry because Beth
was late.)
» noni (Lesson 41):
• Hayaku okiru noni mainichi okureru. (Even though I get up early, I'm late every
day.)
• Hayaku okita noni okureta. (Even though I got up early, I was late.)
» sou desu (Lesson 42):
• Takada-san wa yameta sou desu. (I heard that Mr. Takada quit.)
Please remember that this sense of sou is not used without desu.
» to omoimasu (Lesson 45):
• Bob wa goji ni kaeru to omoimasu. (I think Bob will come back at five o'clock.)
• Bob wa goji ni kaetta to omoimasu. (I think Bob came back at five o'clock.)
» mitai (you desu) (Lesson 47):
• Ame ga furu mitai. (It looks like it's going to rain.)
• Ame ga futta mitai. (It looks like it rained.)
Word Check
kyou: today
dekiru: can; to be able to (do something)
konban: this evening (kon [now, the present] + ban [evening])
itsumo: always
sensei: teacher
okureru: to be late
okoru: to get angry
hayaku: (adverb) quickly; early
okiru: to get up
mainichi: every day (mai [every] + nichi [day]; mai is used with units of time, not with
people or objects.)
yameru: to quit a job; to quit or end a task
furu: to fall as precipitation (rain, snow, etc.)
Lesson 74
Ta Form + bakari
To express "someone (did something) just now," put bakari after a verb in its ta form:
• Okaa-chan wa kaetta bakari. (Mom just got back.)
• Watashi wa tabeta bakari. (I just ate.)
• John wa deta bakari. (John just left.)
• Kono heya o souji shita bakari. (I just cleaned this room.)
• Sono kasa o katta bakari. (I just bought that umbrella.)
In fact, now that I think of it, it's more common in Japanese to use katta bakari to say
that something is new than to use atarashii, the adjective for "new." In other words, if
you wanted to say "that's a new umbrella," sono kasa o katta bakari would be the
natural way to say it, while the direct translation sore wa atarashii kasa desu sounds
awkward, like something memorized from a grammar book.
There is another flavor of bakari that I'll introduce here, since this seems to be the best
place to do so. It's a colloquial expression that means "all (someone) ever does is...,"
usually as a complaint. This is used after the Te Form, like this:
• Tabete bakari. (All you ever do is eat.)
• Ano ko wa terebi geemu o yatte bakari. (All that kid does is play computer
games.)
• Shizuka wa eigo o benkyou shite bakari. (All Shizuka ever does is study English.)
As you can see, the meaning of -ta bakari is quite different than -te bakari. Once you get
these sorted and memorized, you'll find them very useful.
Word Check
okaa-chan: Mom, mother (familiar)
deru: to leave; to go/come out
heya: a room
ano: that (thing over there); that (subject we're talking about)
ko: child, kid (familiar)
terebi geemu: computer game(s) (wasei eigo for "TV games")
yaru: to play (games or sports); to do (familiar, not as polite as suru)
Lesson 75
Ta Form + koto ga aru
To talk about things you or others have experienced, use koto ga aru after a ta form
verb. First, let's look at a couple of sample conversations where the plain, most common
form is used:
A: Nihonshoku o tabeta koto ga aru? (Have you ever eaten Japanese food?)
B: Hai, sushi to sukiyaki o tabeta koto ga aru. (Yes, I've eaten sushi and sukiyaki.)
A: Tako wa tabeta koto ga aru? (Have you ever eaten octopus?)
B: Iie, tabeta koto ga nai ga, tabete mitai. (No, I haven't, but I'd like to try it.)
And here is one using polite arimasu:
A: Okinawa ni itta koto ga arimasu ka. (Have you ever been to Okinawa?)
B: Hai, arimasu. Nikai ikimashita. (Yes, I have. I've been twice.)
There are two things about this conversation that I would especially like to point out.
The first is that when you ask "have you been to (a place)" in Japanese, you use the
past tense of the verb iku (to go) and literally ask "have you gone to...," which, to me,
makes more sense than our English use of the past participle been. The second is that
in using this form, you're admitting having experienced something at least once. If you
want to mention how many times you've done that something, you do not use this form,
but regular past tense. As in B's reply above, in Japanese you don't say "I've been
twice," but "I went twice."
Another point to remember about this conjugation is that the ga is often omitted:
A: Kono hon yonda koto aru? (Have you read this book?)
B: Iie, mada yonde inai. (No, not yet. [No, I haven't read it yet.])
(The mada + Te Form + inai conjugation for "not yet" was mentioned at the end of
Lesson 59.)
Word Check
nihonshoku: Japanese food (This is a simple compound: nihon [Japan] + shoku [food])
tako: octopus
-te mitai: want to try (Base 2 + tai form of the Te Form + miru. See Lessons 8 and 65.)
nikai: twice (This is a compound of ni [two] + kai [times])
mada: (not) yet
Lesson 76
Ta Form + ra
Simply said, the Ta Form + ra does the same thing as Base 3 + nara (Lesson 35) or
Base 4 + ba (Lesson 48): it provides the "if" element for conditionals, but is used more
frequently in familiar settings than the other two.
Let's make some examples showing each of these three conditional structures. First,
let's review Base 3 + nara:
• Dekakeru nara, kouto ga hitsuyou ni naru deshou. (If you're going out, you'll
probably need a coat.)
• Denwa suru nara, kare wa kuru deshou. (If you telephone him, he'll probably
come.)
• Ima kodomotachi wa sunakku o taberu nara, o-hiru o tabenai deshou. (If the kids
eat a snack now, they probably won't eat lunch.)
Next, we'll convert these to Base 4 + ba:
• Dekakereba, kouto ga hitsuyou ni naru deshou. (If you're going out, you'll
• Denwa sureba, kare wa kuru deshou. (If you telephone him, he'll probably come.)
• Ima kodomotachi wa sunakku o tabereba, o-hiru o tabenai deshou. (If the kids
And here's what they look like using the Ta Form + ra:
• Dekaketara, kouto ga hitsuyou ni naru deshou. (If you're going out, you'll
• Denwa shitara, kare wa kuru deshou. (If you telephone him, he'll probably
come.)
• Ima kodomotachi wa sunakku o tabetara, o-hiru o tabenai deshou. (If the kids
Again, this one seems to be preferred in everyday, familiar conversation. I think you'll
notice it being used a lot, making it easy to master.
I must add here that not all three conditional forms used in the examples above can be
used in all conditional senses. There are always exceptions. Because there are so
many possible nuances and contexts, it would be impossible to cover them all in this
lesson. There are cases where just one of these will be natural and correct in a given
situation. However, the -tara form does appear to be the most preferred in daily
conversation.
Incidentally, -tara dame is used a lot for "Don't (do something)" instead of -te wa ikenai
(Lesson 70). For example, Ima tabetara dame would be used for "Don't eat now."
Word Check
dekakeru: to go out
hitsuyou ni naru: to be/become necessary
sunakku: a snack (wasei eigo)
o-hiru: lunch
Lesson 77
Ta Form + rashii
Just as mitai is often used colloquially as the informal substitute for you desu (Lesson
47), rashii is often used as the informal substitute for sou desu (Lesson 42), meaning "It
seems that...," "I hear that...," etc. Rashii was not introduced in the Base 3 group, but it
does essentially the same thing as Base 3 + sou desu:
• Tanaka-san wa yameru rashii. (I heard that Mr. Takada's quitting.)
Desu is usually used after sou, making it more formal than rashii. Yes, you can make it
plain by using da instead of desu, but most native speakers will just use rashii if they
want to be informal. According to the books, desu can added after rashii to make it
polite, but I personally have never heard it.
Now that all the explaining is out of the way, let's get back to the Ta Form and make
some plain past examples:
• Sachiko wa Canada ni itta rashii. (I hear that Sachiko went to Canada.)
• Bob wa daibun futotta rashii. (I hear that Bob has gained a lot of weight.)
• Ken wa atarashii PC o katta rashii. (I hear that Ken bought a new PC.)
That's all there is to it.
Word Check
daibun: considerably; to a great degree
futoru: to gain weight
atarashii: new
Lesson 78
Ta Form + ri
Add ri to verbs in the Ta Form to mention various actions where accuracy or detail isn't
necessary. Structures which use two or more verbs are most common. Be sure to add a
form of suru after the last one:
• Kinou no ban watashi wa terebi o mitari, ongaku o kiitari, shukudai o shitari
shite imashita. (Last night I watched TV, listened to some music, and did some
homework.)
This form is used to give the listener a general idea of actions done without particularly
emphasizing the order of things done, and also implies that other things were done that
don't need to be mentioned. If you want, you can use just one action verb for a quick
answer:
• Watashi wa terebi o mitari shite ita. (I watched TV and stuff.)
• Watashi wa manga o yondari shite, yuushoku o tabeta. (I read comics and stuff,
then ate dinner.)
Now, just because the Ta Form is mainly used to convey the past tense, please don't
think that this conjugation can only refer to the past. It can also be used for present or
future happenings. Above I mentioned to be sure to add a form of suru, right? This is
where you control the tense:
• Jim wa furui mono o kattari uttari suru. (Jim buys and sells old things.)
• Ashita watashi wa benkyou shitari, souji shitari, terebi o mitari suru deshou.
(Tomorrow I'll probably do some studying, some cleaning, and watch TV.)
If you need to add more detail or emphasize the order of actions, use the Te Form for
multiple statements as covered in Lesson 71):
• Kinou no ban watashi wa yuushoku o tabete kara terebi o mite, ni jikan gurai
ongaku o kiite, ichi ji made shukudai o shimashita. (Last night after dinner I
watched TV, listened to music for about two hours, then did homework until one
o'clock.)
How about a complex combination to wrap this up? I think you're ready:
• Kyou Sachiko wa heya o souji shitari kaimono ni ittari shite, chuushoku o tabete,
hiru kara yuujin no ie ni ittari piano o renshuu shitari shite, sore kara yuushoku o
tsukutte kureta. (Today Sachiko cleaned her room and did some shopping, ate
lunch, then in the afternoon went to a friend's house, practiced the piano and
things, then she made dinner.)
I realize that this is a run-on sentence, but it just so happens that they happily survive in
great numbers in the Japanese language.
Word Check
ongaku: music
shukudai: homework
manga: a comic book
furui: old
mono: thing(s) (usually physical, tangible things)
kau: to buy
uru: to sell
-te kara: after (doing something) (Lesson 62)
gurai: about, approximately
yuujin: friend
ie: house
renshuu suru: to practice
tsukuru: to make
Lesson 79
Ta Form + to shitara
For suppositional statements, use the Ta Form with to shitara:
• Ashita Bob ga kita to shitara, watashi wa hontou ni komaru. (If Bob were to
come tomorrow, I'd really be at a loss.)
• Gogo kara ame ga futta to shitara, dou shimashou ka. (Supposing it rains this
afternoon; what shall we do?)
• Ima oyogi ni itta to shitara, tabun koukai suru deshou. (If you were to go
swimming now, you'd probably regret it.)
To sureba and to suru to are also suppositional and are often used in place of to shitara.
Word Check
hontou ni: really; without doubt
komaru: to be confused, perplexed
gogo: afternoon
ame: rain
furu: to fall naturally from the sky (rain, snow, etc.)
ima: now
oyogu: to swim
tabun: probably
koukai suru: to regret
Lesson 80
Ta Form + to shite mo
This combination is closely related to the Ta Form + to shitara covered in the last lesson, but it
adds a light warning or something extra to consider to the supposed idea. In English it would
probably go something like "even IF (something were to happen), you must remember that
(something else)...." Let's look at some examples to help make it clear:
• Ashita Bob ga kita to shite mo, watashi wa asatte made au koto ga
dekimasen. (Even if Bob were to come tomorrow, I wouldn't be able to see
him until the day after tomorrow.)
• Anata wa supeingo o benkyou shita to shite mo, shigoto de tsukaenai
deshou. (Even if you studied Spanish, you probably wouldn't be able to use it
in your work.)
• Kenkou shokuhin o takusan tabeta to shite mo, undou shinakereba imi ga
nai deshou. (Even if you were to eat lots of health food, it would be
meaningless if you didn't exercise.)
As you can see, this combination is created by adding mo to suru in the Te Form. In fact, mo can
be added to any verb in the Te Form for that "although" meaning:
• Setsumeisho o yonde mo, kono sofuto ga wakarinikui. (Even if you read the
manual, this software is hard to understand.)
• Kare wa ikura tabete mo, ippai ni naranai. (No matter how much he eats, he
never gets full.)
Word Check
asatte: the day after tomorrow 1
made: until
au: to meet; to see (someone for an appointment)
supeingo: the Spanish language (supein [Spain] + go [language])
shigoto: a job; one's work
tsukau: to use
kenkou: health
shokuhin: food items; groceries
takusan: many, much; a lot
undou suru: to (get) exercise
imi: a meaning
setsumeisho: an instruction book; a manual (setsumei [explanation] + sho [handbook, document])
sofuto: software (wasei eigo)
wakaru: to understand
-nikui: difficult to (do something) 2
ikura: how much/many
ippai: full
-ni naru: to become (something [noun] or some condition [adjective])
Notes
1. Yes, the Japanese have one convenient word for "the day after tomorrow," just as they have
one for "the day before yesterday," ototoi.
2. See Lesson 14.
Lesson 81
Ta Form + toki
There are several ways to translate time into Japanese, but toki is used when talking
about the time that certain events occurred. After the Ta Form, it is equivalent to "when"
in "When you came over last week...." Here are some examples:
• Watashi wa sore o yonda toki, totemo odorokimashita. (When I read that, I was
very surprised.)
• Sore o kiita toki waratta. (I laughed when I heard that.)
• John wa koketa toki zubon ga yabureta. (John's pants tore when he fell.)
Word Check
totemo: very
odoroku: to be surprised
warau: to laugh
kokeru: to stumble and fall; to trip and fall
zubon: pants
yabureru: to tear (intransitive); to be torn
Lesson 82
Ta Form + tokoro
This is a simple add-on that states that you (or someone else) have done something
just now. One similar to this, the Ta Form + bakari, was already covered in Lesson 74.
The major difference between these two is that bakari has a kind of "relatively speaking"
sense to it, while tokoro really means just now. For example, sono kasa o katta bakari
(I just bought that umbrella) could be used even if the umbrella was bought a week ago
because, relatively speaking, it's still brand-new. However, if tokoro were used in this
sentence instead of bakari, it would mean that the person had just bought the umbrella
a moment ago; or, in the least recent sense, that the person had just arrived home from
buying it.
Here are some examples where tokoro is used frequently. Ima (now) is often placed
before the verb to emphasize the freshness of the event:
• Watashi wa ima kaetta tokoro. (I just got back now.)
• Kodomotachi wa ima tabeta tokoro. (The kids just finished eating.)
• Kono heya o souji shita tokoro desu. (I just cleaned this room.)
As usual, add desu to make a statement polite.
There is another handy use for tokoro, and that is with plain (Base 3) verbs with datta
(plain) or deshita (polite) added on. It's used to convey "was just about to....":
• Ima Sachiko ni denwa suru tokoro datta. (I was just about to call Sachiko.)
• Watashi no saifu o wasureru tokoro datta. (I almost forgot my wallet.)
Word Check
kasa: umbrella
kau: to buy
ima: now
kaeru: to return; to go/come back
kodomotachi: children (kodomo [child] + tachi [plural maker for people-related nouns])
heya: a room
saifu: wallet
wasureru: to forget
Notes on Japanese Verbs
In any language there are always certain little things that are nice to know which are not
mentioned in grammar books or dictionaries, things which can only be figured out by
living among native speakers and carefully listening to them for years. Japanese is no
exception. You could go "by the book" and choose structures and verb forms which will
convert your English into Japanese in order to make yourself understood well enough,
even though the words you choose are not what native Japanese speakers would use.
What makes it worse is the fact that very, very rarely will they correct you, even when
you make it clear that you'd appreciate it.
The purpose of this page is to introduce certain patterns and exceptions among the
verbs which will hopefully help to streamline the memorization process and shorten the
road leading to correct usage. This is not a complete list. This only represents the tip of
the iceberg, but it should help you get a better idea of what the whole iceberg is like.
So that there is no misunderstanding, the verbs listed in bold type are in their plain
(Base 3) form. They are not conjugations. They are "specialized verbs" with "set
suffixes" added to the root kanji. Accordingly, they are already divided into
transitive/intransitive, active/passive forms.
-aru / -eru
In these pairs, one is a yodan verb ending in -aru, which is intransitive (has no direct
object); and the other is an ichidan ending in -eru, which is transitive (acting on a direct
object):
agaru: to rise; to go/come up
ageru: to raise up; to give
• Agatte kudasai. (Please come in.)
• Hai, ageru. (Here, I'll give you this.)
These two, agaru and ageru, have close ties with Japanese culture. Because Japanese
houses have a genkan (the space just inside the door which "shares dirt" with the
outside) where you take off your shoes before stepping up into the house, agaru is used
for "come inside." When exchanging gifts, you always receive downwardly and give
upwardly (see Lessons 55 and 56).
atsumaru: to get/come together
atsumeru: to bring together; to collect
• Shichiji han ni atsumarimashou. (Let's all meet at seven thirty.)
• Wendy wa furui kitte o atsumete iru. (Wendy collects old stamps.)
kimaru: to be decided
kimeru: to decide
• Sore wa ashita no kaigi de kimaru deshou. (That will probably be decided at
tomorrow's meeting.)
• Hayaku kimete kudasai. (Please make up your mind quickly.)
mitsukaru: to be found
mitsukeru: to find
• Boku no jisho ga mitsukatta! (I found my dictionary!)
• Nikibi mitsuketa. (I found a pimple.)
These two can cause a lot of stumbling. Strangely, when you find something that was
lost, in Japanese you use mitsukaru, as if it just found itself. Use mitsukeru for things
that you find unintentionally. Also, even though it seems natural to use mitsuketai for "I'd
like to find...," it's not. Use sagashite iru (sagasu: to look for).
tasukaru: to be of help; to be rescued
tasukeru: to rescue; to help
• Arigatou. Hontou ni tasukarimashita. (Thank you. You were really a great help.)
• Dareka tasukete! (Someone help me!)
Deciding where tasukeru is suitable can sometimes be tricky. It's usually used in life-or-
death matters and when helping people in real trouble or who are really busy. For
routine helping, like helping in the kitchen, use tetsudau.
-eru / -u
There are other pairs like the ones above where the intransitive ends in something else:
todokeru: to send; to deliver (something to someone)
todoku: to be delivered; to arrive (a package, etc., not a person)
• Jim no tokoro ni kore o todokete kureru? (Would you take this over to Jim's
place?)
• Boku no imouto kara tegami ga todoita! (I got a letter from my sister!)
tsuzukeru: to continue (doing something)
tsuzuku: to continue (seemingly on its own)
• Sagashi tsuzukete kudasai. (Please continue looking for it.)
• Kono bangumi wa itsu made tsuzuku no? (How long is this program going to
run?)
Note: Here's a handy verb form for you to add to your list of extra goodies: Base 2 +
tsuzukeru; to continue doing (whatever the Base 2 verb is).
-su / -u
And there are pairs where the one ending in su is transitive and the other one is
intransitive:
dasu: to send out; to force out
deru: to come/go out
• Inu o dashinasai. (Let the dog out.)
• Ojii-chan wa soto e deta. (Grandpa went outside.)
herasu: to decrease; to lessen (something)
heru: to decrease (on its own)
• Shuppi o herashite kudasai. (Please cut down on your spending.)
• Kouen no hato ga daibun herimashita. (The number of pigeons in the park has
greatly decreased.)
Please note that heru is one good example of a yodan verb that ends in eru.
kaesu: to return (something to someone)
kaeru: to return (home or where you belong)
• Raishuu kaeshite mo ii? (Is it okay if I return it next week?)
• Juuji made ni kaette ne. (Be back by ten o'clock, okay?)
kowasu: to break
kowareru: to be broken
• Dare ga boku no jitensha o kowashita? (Who broke my bicycle?)
• Kopiiki ga kowareta. (The copier is broken.)
nokosu: to leave (something) behind
nokoru: to stay behind
• Zenbu tabete. Nokosanaide kudasai. (Eat all this. Please don't leave anything.)
• Kaigi ga owattara, chotto nokotte kudasaimasu ka. (Would you please stay a little
after the meeting?)
Don't use nokosu for something you accidentally left behind, use okiwasureru (oku: to
put; to place + wasureru: to forget):
• Ah! Honya ni kasa o okiwasurete shimatta! (Oh, no! I left my umbrella at the
bookstore!)
orosu: to lower; to put down
oriru: to go/come down; to get off or get out of a vehicle
• Koko ni oroshite. (Put it down here.)
• Takamatsu eki de orite kudasai. (Please get off at Takamatsu Station.)
ugokasu: to move something or cause something to be moved
ugoku: to move (on its own)
• Sono kikai o ugokashite wa ikenai. (Don't move that machine.)
• Kemushi ga ugoita. (The caterpillar moved.)
yogosu: to make dirty
yogoreru: to get dirty
• Atarashii kutsu o yogosanaide ne. (Don't get your new shoes dirty, okay?)
• Boku no boushi ga yogoreta. (My hat got dirty.)
Of course there are others, but these should give you a good start.
For most standard verbs, where there is no special intransitive or passive form,
conversion can be done by:
• yodan verbs: Base 1 + reru
• ichidan verbs: Base 1 + rareru
• suru verbs: change suru to sareru
and then conjugate accordingly, as in:
• Sono megane o kaketara, warawareru deshou. (If you wear those glasses, you'll
probably be laughed at.)
• Kono keeki wa taberarenai deshou. (This cake probably won't be eaten.)
• Shuuri sareta PC wa dochira desu ka. (Which PC is the one that was repaired?)
One area where Japanese is much more complicated than English is in the "wear
verbs." The verb used depends on where and how something is worn. Here they are:
• kiru: to wear around one's body, like a shirt, jacket, dress, kimono, etc.
• haku: to wear on or around one's lower body or feet, like pants, a skirt, socks,
shoes, etc.
• kaburu: to wear (literally "cover") on one's head, like a hat or cap
• kakeru: to wear (literally "hang") on one's face, like glasses
• shimeru: to wear (literally "tie around") around one's waist or neck, like a belt,
necktie, obi, etc.
• hameru: to wear on a finger, like a ring
• tsukeru: to wear (literally "attach") on one's clothes, like a name tag or pin
Besides these, suru is often used instead of the bottom four, and especially when
talking about accessories.
This completes Japanese Verbs. Thank you for making it a part of your Japanese
studies.
My best wishes and gambatte kudasai!

Japanese VERBS

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Japanese VERBS

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Lesson 1

The Plain Form

Ka dou ka is the Japanese equivalent of the English "whether or not." It's

Base 3 plus tsumori is used to express an intention:

I'm afraid there isn't much you can do with Base 5.

Notes on Japanese Verbs

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