The ます (masu) Form Part 2

We learned how to conjugate a verb from its dictionary form to its ます form, and now we'll learn a little more about how to make it past tense and negative.

Remember, conjugating a verb from its dictionary form to its ます form is simple. Just drop る for る-verbs, or replace the -u ending with -i for う-verbs, and then add ます. However, this only conjugates it into the affirmative, present tense.

To conjugate verbs from their dictionary form to negative, present tense ます form:
It's the same as conjugating to ます form, but instead of ます you use ません (masen).
たべる (taberu = to eat) becomes たべません (tabemasen = to not eat)
のむ (nomu = to drink) becomes のみません (nomimasen = to no drink)

To conjugate verbs from their dictionary form to positive, past tense ます form:
It's the same as conjugating to ます form, but instead of ます you use ました (mashita).

たべる (taberu = to eat) becomes たべました (tabemashita = to have eaten)
のむ (nomu = to drink) becomes のみました (nomimashita = to have drank)


To conjugate verbs from their dictionary form to negative, past tense ます form:
It's the same as conjugating to ません (present, negative), but you just add でした (deshita) at the end. でした is past tense version of です (desu).

たべる (taberu = to eat) becomes たべませんでした (tabemasen deshita = to have not eaten)
のむ (nomu = to drink) becomes のみませんでした (nomimasen deshita = to have not drank)

The ます form is pretty simple, and foreigners often learn about the ます form before the dictionary (short) form of verbs. For now until you begin learning how to use short forms, use ます and です so you'll become comfortable with polite speech.

The ます (masu) Form Part 1

Japanese verbs have all sorts of conjugations, but the first conjugation we'll learn is the ます (masu) form. What is the ます form? Japanese has different levels of honorific speech. Also known as the long form, the ます form is the polite way of speaking when describing actions of yourself and others. Along with ます, polite language also includes the usage of です (desu).

So, let's recall that there are two different kinds of verbs (well kinda, there's three):

る- verbs: verbs ending in る (i.e. たべる taberu = to eat)
う-verbs: verbs ending in う (i.e. のむ nomu = to drink)
Irregular verbs: verbs having irregular conjugation (する suru = to do, くる kuru = to come)

When we conjugate these verbs to the ますform, we use a certain method for each verb (for the irregular verbs, they have their own unique conjugation).

For る- verbs: drop る, and add ます.
For example, たべる becomes たべます.

For う-verbs: drop the -u ending, and add います. *
For example, のむ becomes のみます.

As for irregular verbs, する becomes します, and くる becomes きます. **

*The -u ending to the う-verb is replaced with -i, and then -masu is added to it. In the example used, のむ (nomu), you remove the -u, giving you noM. You replace it with -i, making it noMI. You then add -masu, making it noMImasu. The character changes from む (MU) to み (MI) because you replaced -u with -i, thus changing the sound. Other examples of う-verb endings look like this:

く becomes き, such as きく (kiKU = to listen) conjugating to ききます (kiKImasu).
る becomes り, such as かえる (kaeRU = to return) conjugating to かえります (kaeRImasu).

**These are really the only two irregular verbs, so just remember them as they are.

Keep in mind though that what we've just learned is the PRESENT AFFIRMATIVE tense for the ます form. In the next lessons, we'll learn about the present negative, past affirmative, and past negative.

Asking and Telling Time Part 2

Previously, we learned how to tell time specifically by hour. To say that the time is at 30 minutes (7:30, for example) you use はん, "han" (半). 半 means "half." It is placed after じ (時), the hour.

今は午前四時半です。
いまはごぜんよおじはんです。 (ima wa gozen yoji han desu)
It is 4:30 AM right now.

To say a specific minute, such as 9:03, you have to use a counter for minutes. The counter for minutes is ~ぷん, "~pun" (分). However, take note of the ones pronounced differently.

1 minute                     いっぷん                     (ippun)                           一分      
2 minutes                   にふん                         (nifun)                            二分
3 minutes                   さんぷん                      (sanpun)                         三分
4 minutes                   よんぷん                      (yonpun)                       四分
5 minutes                   ごふん                          (gofun)                          五分
6 minutes                   ろっぷん                       (roppun)                       六分
7 minutes                   ななふん                       (nanafun)                      七分
8 minutes                   はっぷん, はちふん     (happun, hachifun)         八分
9 minutes                   きゅうふん                    (kyuufun)                      九分
10 minutes                 じゅっぷん                    (jyuppun)                      十分
30 minutes                 さんじゅっぷん             (sanjyuppun)               三十分

The kanji 分 is pronounced "pun" but sometimes it is read as "fun." For 2, 5, 7, and 9 minutes, 分 is pronounced "fun." For 8, both はっぷん (happun), and はちふん (hachifun) is accepted. Also, we learned that 30 minutes is はん (半). さんじゅっぷん (sanjyuppun) is also used.

Be sure to remember that 2, 5, 7, and 9 is pronounced differently from the rest!

Asking and Telling Time Part 1

To ask what the time is in Japanese, you simply say:

今何時ですか。

いまなんじですか。 (ima nanji desu ka)

What time is it now?

In this sentence, いま (今) means "now," なん (何) means "what," and じ(時) means "hour." Literally, you're asking what hour it is.

To answer this question, you simply say what hour it is, followed by じ. If it is 5 o'clock, you say 五時です (ごじです = goji desu). To specify if it is AM (ごぜん = gozen) or PM (ごご = gogo), you just place it before the time.

ごぜんろくじです。 (gozen rokuji desu)

It is 6 o'clock AM.

ごごななじです。 (gogo nanaji desu)

It is 7 o'clock PM.

How about if you want to say 7:30 or a specific minute? Well, it gets a little more complicated, so I'll explain it in the next lesson.

Numbers Part 4

In the last part of our lesson on numbers, so we'll cover big numbers.

1,000                      せん                        (sen)                              千

2,000                      にせん                    (nisen)                          二千

3,000                      さんぜん                 (sanzen)                       三千

4,000                     よんせん                (yonsen)                       四千   

5,000                     ごせん                    (gosen)                         五千

6,000                     ろせん                    (rokusen)                      六千   

7,000                      ななせん               (nanasen)                     七千         

8,000                      はっせん               (hassen)                       八千

9,000                      きゅうせん           (kyuusen)                     九千               

10,000                     いちまん               (ichiman)                      一万
Million                      ひゃくまん            (hyakuman)                  百万
10 Million                 せんまん              (senman)                      千万
100 Million               おく                       (oku)                             億
1 Billion                  じゅうおく             (jyuuoku)                   十億

Note that 3,000 and 8,000 are pronounced "sanZEN" and "haSSEN," respectively. As for higher numbers such as 10,000, you can see that the kanji is using 一 for 1 and 万 for 10,000. 20,000 would be 二万. One million is literally 100 10000's (100 x 10,000 = 1,000,000), hence the kanji for that is 百万. 億 (oku) means 100 million, so 10 of those (十億) would equal 1 billion.

Numbers Part 3

Previously, we covered single and double digits. Now we'll cover triple digits. Take note of the special ones, as you'll have to remember they are pronounced a little differently from the others.

100                 ひゃく                       (hyaku)                              百

200                 にひゃく                      (nihyaku)                          二百

300                 さんびゃく                   (sanbyaku)                       三百

400                よんひゃく                (yonhyaku)                       四百   

500                ごひゃく                    (gohyaku)                         五百

600                ろっぴゃく                (roppyaku)                       六百   

700                ななひゃく                (nanahyaku)                     七百         

800                はっぴゃく                (happyaku)                      八百

900                きゅうひゃく            (kyuuhyaku)                     九百               

1000              せん                             (sen)                                 千

Also, note that 400, 700, and 900 use よん, なな, and きゅう, respectively. As for 300, 600, and 800, you'll have to memorize how they are pronounced as they aren't pronounced "hyaku" like the others.

Numbers Part 2

Here are more numbers in Japanese, along with their kanji.

11                じゅういち                                (jyuuichi)                              十一

12                じゅうに                                    (jyuuni)                                十二

13                じゅうさん                                (jyuusan)                              十三

14                じゅうよん, じゅうし            (jyuuyon, jyuushi)                 十四   

15                じゅうご                                    (jyuugo)                               十五

16                じゅうろく                                (jyuuroku)                            十六   

17                じゅうなな, じゅうしち        (jyuunana, jyuushichi)           十七         

18                じゅうはち                                (jyuuhachi)                           十八

19                じゅうきゅう, じゅうく        (jyuukyuu, jyuuku)               十九               

20                 にじゅう                                   (nijyuu)                                二十

21                 にじゅういち                           (nijyuuichi)                           二十一    
30                 さんじゅう                (sanjyuu)                             三十
40                 よんじゅう               (yonjyuu)                              四十
50                 ごじゅう                 (gojyuu)                                五十
60                 ろくじゅう                (rokujyuu)                             六十
70                 ななじゅう               (nanajyuu)                             七十
80                 はちじゅう               (hachijyuu)                           八十
90                 きゅうじゅう              (kyuujyuu)                            九十
100               ひゃく                   (hyaku)                                 百

Note that 14 can be じゅうよん or じゅうし, but 40 has to use よん (よんじゅう).
Note that 17 can be じゅうなな or じゅうしち, but 70 has to use なな (ななじゅう).
Note that 19 can be じゅうきゅう or じゅうく, but 90 has to use きゅう (きゅうじゅう).

Numbers Part 1

Like the rest of the world, Japan uses numbers that you will recognize (1, 2, 3, etc.) but it's also important to recognize the Japanese kanji characters for numbers. These should be the first kanji you learn since they are pretty easy to work with and memorize.

0                 ゼロ, れい   (zero, rei)               零

1                 いち            (ichi)                       一

2                 に                (ni)                         二

3                 さん            (san)                       三

4                 し, よん      (shi, yon)                四

5                 ご                (go)                        五

6                 ろく            (roku)                     六

7                 しち, なな   (shichi, nana)         七

8                 はち            (hachi)                    八

9                 きゅう, く   (kyuu, ku)              九

10               じゅう        (jyuu)                     十

For 0, ゼロ and れい are both equally used.

For 4, よん is more commonly used. In some cases, it will be only よ (よにん = 4 people). Also, in some cases only し is used for certain things (しがつ = April).

For 7, なな is more commonly used. In some cases, only しち is used for certain things (しちじ = 7 o’clock).

For 9, きゅう is more commonly used. In some cases, only く is used for certain things (くじ = 9 o’clock).

X is NOT Y! (~じゃありません)

We learned how to say "X is Y" by using "X は Y です" but what if we wanted to say that X isn't Y? It's simple. You simply replace です with じゃありません (jya arimasen)

わたしはがくせいです。 (watashi wa gakusei desu)
I am a student.

わたしはがくせいじゃありません。 (watashi wa gakusei jya arimasen)
I am not a student.

For now, keep in mind that じゃありません is used for nouns, so Y has to be a noun. In the case that Y is an adjective (such as 'X is fast'), we will learn about this later. Remember, there are い-adjectives and な-adjectives and they are different in conjugation. じゃありません is used for な-adjectives, but I don't want to start confusing you so don't worry about it until later.

~よ (I Tell You)

Like ね (ne), you can add よ (yo) to the end of a statement, but よ makes your statement sound assuring. It gives your statement a sense of authority. You can think of よ roughly meaning "I tell you" or something along those lines.

わたしのせんもんはにほんごですよ。 (watashi no senmon wa nihongo desu yo)
My major is Japanese (I tell you).

ほんださんのねこはちいさいですよ。 (Honda-san no neko wa chiisai desu yo)
(I assure you) Honda-san's cat is small.

That's all there is to ~よ. かんたんですよ。(It's easy, I tell you!)

~ね (Right?)

At the end of a statement, you can add ね (ne) to make it sound as if you are asking for confirmation, or are suggesting agreement. Its translation is something along the meaning of "right?" or "isn't it?".

いいおてんきですね。 (ii otenki desu ne)
It's good weather, isn't it?

これはさかなですね。 (kore wa sakana desu ne)
This is fish, right?

And that's all there is to this lesson. かんたんですね。 (Easy, right?)

The Particle も (mo) and Another Function of は

To understand the function of the particle も (mo), let's first take a look at these two sentences.

あきとさんはにねんせいです。(akito-san wa ni nensei desu)
Akito-san is a second year (student).

さくらさんもにねんせいです。 (sakura-san mo ni nensei desu)
Sakura-san is also a second year (student).

The first sentence establishes にねんせい (second year) as a characteristic or property. Now, if you were to use "X も Y です," it relates back to the previously established characteristic. The particle も comes after a noun and replaces は  to give the meaning of "Noun is also..." instead of simply restating "Noun is..." (this is what は does).

However! Take a look at these three sentences:


あきとさんはにねんせいです。(akito-san wa ni nensei desu)
Akito-san is a second year (student).

さくらさんもにねんせいです。 (sakura-san mo ni nensei desu)
Sakura-san is also a second year (student).

ゆかりさんはさんねんせいです。 (Yukari-san wa san nensei desu)
Yukari-san is a third year (student).

There is another function to the particle は, and that is to show contrast. The first two sentences is establishing にねんせい (second year) as a characteristic, but the third sentence changes it to さんねんせい (third year). In this case, the は in "X は Y です" isn't necessarily the topic marker, but one that indicates a contrast to the the previous sentence.

That's pretty much it to the particle も. Hopefully, all of these particles aren't confusing yet.

"This Noun" and "That Noun" (この, その, あの, どの)

The last set of ko-so-a-do words are この (kono), その (sono), あの (ano), and どの (dono). These words also mean "this" and "that," like これ, それ, あれ, and どれ. However, これ, それ, あれ, and どれ refers to an object as "this thing" and "that thing" whereas この, その, あの, and どのare followed by a noun to mean "this (noun)" and "that (noun)." Just remember: the -れ words are always by themselves and the -の words always have a noun.

これはえんぴつです。 (kore wa enpitsu desu)
This is a pencil.

このえんぴつは。。。 (kono enpitsu wa)
This pencil is...

This is the difference between これ and この. この is followed by a noun to make it specific (this pencil), and これ by itself refers to an object (this object near me).

So following the ko-so-a-do pattern we've learned before, here are the definitions of この, その, あの, and どの:

この + NOUN = this NOUN (NOUN is near the speaker)

その + NOUN = that NOUN (NOUN is near the listener)

あの + NOUN = that NOUN (NOUN far from both speaker and listener)

どの + NOUN = which NOUN (question word)

Like どれ, どの also means "which," the difference being that どの needs a noun after it. Also, どの + NOUN cannot have the particle は after it and must use が.

どのえんぴつがやすいですか。 (dono enpitsu ga takai desu ka)
Which pencil is cheap?

どれがやすいですか。 (dore ga yasui desu ka)
Which one is cheap?

And with this, we are done with our ko-so-a-do words!

Here and There (ここ, そこ, あそこ, どこ)

 Here are another set of ko-so-a-do words. Like これ, それ, あれ, and どれ, which corresponds to objects of relative distances, these words correspond to relative locations.

ここ (koko) = here (near me, the speaker)

そこ (soko) = there (near you, the person being spoken to)

あそこ (asoko) = over there (far from both the speaker and listener)

どこ (doko) = where (question word)

As you can see, these words are very similar to the other ones because of ko-so-a-do. The good thing though is that the overall meaning hasn't really changed, and you probably noticed that.

こ: close to you
そ: close to listener
あ: far from both speaker and listener
ど: question word

I hope things are beginning to make sense with ko-so-a-do. It's very simple once it's understood.

This and That (これ, それ, あれ)

これ (kore) means "this." It refers to an object that is close to the speaker. If you're the speaker talking about an object near you, you would use これ.

それ (sore) means "that," but you use it when the object is close to the person you are talking to. Imagine if you were buying something and the object was behind the counter near the cashier. If you were to point out something that you wanted that was near the cashier, you would use それ (and they would use これ because it is near them).

あれ (are) refers to an object that is far from you and the person you are talking to. So if you pointed to something out at night in the sky and told someone to look at it, you would use あれ. If the person you were talking to is speaking about that same thing, they would use あれ also.

Another word that can be related to these words is どれ (dore), meaning "which." It is a question word. You use どれ to specify an object. Some question words like どれ and なに cannot be followed by the particle は, and must use the particle が (ga). We'll learn more about that later.

どれがやすいですか。 (dore ga yasui desu ka?)
Which one is cheap?

Together, these set of words are called "ko-so-a-do." Take the first characters of これ, それ, あれ, and どれ, and you get こそあど (ko-so-a-do). There are more words similar to these that are in the set of ko-so-a-do, and we'll learn them next.

Asking a Question

Asking questions in Japanese is not difficult at all. You simply add か (ka) to the end of a sentence. Take for example the X は Y です format.

せんせいはきびしいです。(sensei wa kibishii desu)

The teach is strict.

Add か to the end of the sentence and you get:

せんせいはきびしいですか。(sensei wa kibishii desu ka)

Is the teacher strict?

That's pretty much all there is to it. Here are a few question words:

なに, なん (nani, nan) = what

どこ (doko) = where

いつ (itsu) = when

どうして (doushite) = why

There are two forms of "what," なに and なん. You use なに when it comes before a particle, and you use なん when it comes before a counter*, or です.

なに

なにがおかしいですか。 (nani ga okashii desu ka)

What is (so) funny?

なん

せんせいはなんさいですか。 (sensei wa nansai desu ka)

How old is (the) teacher?

なっとうはなんですか。 (nattou wa nan desu ka)

What is nattō?

*counters are used for when numbering things. The counter for age is -さい

That's all there really is to なに and なん. Make sure that when you ask a question in Japanese, you pronounce か with a rising tone, otherwise you'll sound monotone.