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).