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JAPANESE NEGATIVE FORM
Up until now, we have studied the basic sentence structures. But we also need to understand the basic negations of a sentence to use in simple conversations.
Today, we will study negation in Japanese.
JAPANESE NEGATIVE FORM OF です
です(desu)
This is the most commonly used negation of the Japanese language.
The negation of the です sentence structure is also used for sentences with na adjectives (adjectives ending with な).
| HIRAGANA | ROMAJI | NEGATION | ROMAJI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present / Future Tense | です | desu | ではありません | dewa arimasen |
| Past Tense | でした | deshita | ではありませんでした | dewa arimasen deshita |
Here is an example of ONE sentence in different forms:
| japanese | romaji | english | tense |
|---|---|---|---|
| わたしはがくせいです。 | watashi wa gakusei desu. | I am a student. | Present |
| わたしはがくせいではありません。 | watashi wa gakusei dewa arimasen. | I am not a student. | Present negative |
| わたしはがくせいでした。 | watashi wa gakusei deshita. | I was a student. | Past |
| わたしはがくせいではありませんでした。 | watashi wa gakusei dewa arimasen deshita. | I was not a student. | Past negative |
JAPANESE NEGATIVE FORM OF ある
ある (aru)
If you’ve been studying Japanese for a bit, you must have gotten used to the verb ある.
The ある ending is used for existence of non-living things.
Here are different forms of ある verb:
| HIRAGANA | ROMAJI | NEGATION | ROMAJI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present / Future Tense | あります | arimasu | ありません | arimasen |
| Past Tense | ありました | arimashita | ありませんでした | arimasen deshita |
Here is an example in all forms:
| japanese | romaji | english | tense |
|---|---|---|---|
| そこにしんぶんがあります。 | shinbun ga arimasu. | There is a newspaper. | Present |
| そこにしんぶんがありません。 | shinbun ga arimasen. | A newspaper is not there. | Present negative |
| そこにしんぶんがありました。 | shinbun ga arimashita. | There was a newspaper. | Past |
| そこにしんぶんがありませんでした。 | shinbun ga arimasen deshita. | A newspaper was not there. | Past negative |
JAPANESE NEGATIVE FORM OF いる
いる (iru)
The いる ending is used for living things.
This ending is also used for present continuous tense. How?
We will see more of this ending when we learn about the て (Te) form. For now, let’s see some basic negations for いる verbs.
| HIRAGANA | ROMAJI | NEGATION | ROMAJI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present / Future Tense | います | imasu | いません | imasen |
| Past Tense | いました | imashita | いませんでした | Imasen deshita |
Here is an example:
| japanese | romaji | english | tense |
|---|---|---|---|
| そこにねこがいます。 | neko ga imasu. | There is a cat. | Present |
| そこにねこがいません。 | neko ga imasen. | A cat is not there. | Present negative |
| そこにねこがいました。 | soko ni neko ga imashita. | There was a cat. | Past |
| そこにねこがいませんでした。 | soko ni neko ga imasen deshita. | A cat was not there. | Past negative |
JAPANESE NEGATION OF い ADJECTIVES
There are special negations used for ii adjectives (adjectives ending with い).
These are also used in in daily conversations where sentences with です or ます endings are not used, with friends and family for instance.
| HIRAGANA | ROMAJI | NEGATIVE IN HIRAGANA | NEGATIVE IN ROMAJI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present / Future Tense | ～い | ～ii | ～くない | ～kunai |
| Past Tense | ～かった | ～katta | ～くなかった | ～kunakatta |
Here is an example:
| japanese | ROMAJI | english | tense |
|---|---|---|---|
| おいしいすし。 | oishii sushi. | Delicious sushi. | Present |
| おいしくないすし。 | oishikunai sushi. | The sushi is not delicious. | Present negative |
| おいしかったすし。 | oishikatta sushi. | That sushi was delicious. | Past |
| おいしくなかったすし。 | oishi kunakatta sushi. | That sushi was not delicious. | Past negative |
JAPANESE NEGATION OF VERBS
You will use various verbs in daily conversations. The below table will help you form sentences in the past, present and future tense.
| HIRAGANA | ROMAJI | NEGATION | ROMAJI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present / Future Tense | ～ます | ～masu | ～ません | ～masen |
| Past Tense | ～ました | ～mashita | ～ませんでした | ～masen deshita |
| japanese | romaji | english | tense |
|---|---|---|---|
| ほんをよみます。 | hon wo yomimasu. | I read a book. | Present |
| ほんをよみません。 | hon wo yomimasen. | I do not read a book. | Present negative |
| ほんをよみました。 | hon wo yomimashita. | I read a book. | Past |
| ほんをよみませんでした。 | hon wo yomimasen deshita. | I did not read a book. | Past negative |
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FAQs
How to negate a Japanese verb?
To use the Japanese negation form you have to look at what verb is included in your sentence, as the negation form will depend on it.
For example:
The present/future negation of the verb です (desu), is ではありません (dewa arimasen). This form is the most common.
Let’s take the verb ある (aru). Its present/future tense is あります (arimasu), and its present negation form is ありません (arimasen).
To negate most verbs in present and future tense, you’ll need ～ません (masen). The past tense is ～ませんでした (masen deshita).
Check out our full article for examples and more negation sentence structures.
How to negate a Japanese adjective?
The negation of the です sentence structure is also used for sentences with na adjectives (adjectives ending with な).
The present/future negation of the verb です (desu), is ではありません (dewa arimasen). The past tense negation form is ではありませんでした (dewa arimasen deshita).
There are special negations used for ii adjectives (adjectives ending with い).
The present/future negation of い adjectives is ～くない (～kunai). The past tense negation form is ～くなかった (～kunakatta).
Check out our full article for examples of use.
What is the Japanese negation form?
The most common Japanese negation form is the one with the verb です.
The present/future negation of the verb です (desu), is ではありません (dewa arimasen).
The past tense negation form is ではありませんでした (dewa arimasen deshita).
How to create a sentence with a verb ?
In Japanese, the SOV structure is used:
Subject + Object + Verb.
Remember, all the sentences in Japanese end with a verb.
—
Learn more about verbs in Japanese here.
What is the most basic sentence structure?
The most basic Japanese sentence structure is:
Subject + は + Object + です.
This sentence structure is used for generalised things or stating facts.
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