JAPANESE PAST TENSE

Conjugating verbs into the past tense in Japanese can be quite a beast to get your head around when you first start learning the language.

Today, we’ll be breaking down how to do this so you can chat to your friends about things you’ve done.

GROUP 1 VERBS (うU VERBS)

INFORMAL

When it comes to forming the past tense for うu verbs in Japanese, there’s a specific pattern for each verb ending.

Here’s a breakdown of how the non-past endings change into their respective past forms:

Verbs ending in すsu:

For verbs ending in すsu, such as 話す hanasu to speak:

• change す su to した shita
• resulting in 話した hanashita spoke.

Verbs ending in くku:

For verbs ending in くku and ぐgu, like 書く kaku to write and 泳ぐ oyogu to swim:

• replace く ku with いた ita and ぐ gu with いだ ida
• resulting in 書いた kaita wrote and 泳いだ oyoida swam.

Verbs ending in むmu:

Verbs ending in む mu, ぶ bu, and ぬ nu, such as 飲む nomu to drink, 遊ぶ asobu to play, and 死ぬ shinu to die:

• undergo a transformation where むmu, ぶ bu, and ぬ nu become んだ nda, giving you 飲んだ nonda drank, 遊んだ asonda played, and 死んだ shinda died, respectively.

For verbs ending in るru:

For verbs ending in る ru, うu, and つ tsu, like 切る kiru to cut, 買う kau to buy, and 持つ motsu to hold:

• change る ru,うu , and つ tsu to った tta,
• resulting in 切った kitta cut, 買った katta bought, and 持った motta held.

Exceptions:

There are a couple of irregular verbs in Japanese that do not follow the standard rules.

• For the verb する suru to do, the past tense form is した shita did.

• For the verb くる kuru to come, the past tense is きた kita came.

• Additionally, the verb 行く iku to go has an irregular past tense form, which is 行った itta went.

FORMAL

For the formal (ますmasu) version of the past tense, you need to take the polite form and change ますmasu to ました mashita.

REFRESHER || For group 1 verbs, you change the ending syllable to the い i equivalent and add ますmasu to make the polite form.

For example: 切るkiru → 切りkiri (theい i equivalent of るru) → 切ります kirimasu.

GROUP 2 (る RU VERBS)

These ones are much simpler. You just have to take off the る ru ending and add たta.

To make the formal version of these verbs, just add ますmasu instead of るru.

Then change the ますmasu to ました mashita to make the past tense.

NEGATIVE FORM

The rules for forming the past-negative tense are consistent across all verbs.

You simply begin with the negative form of the verb, eliminate the いi from the ないnai ending, and substitute it with かったkatta.

To make the formal negative tense, you would change the ます masu form of the verb to ませんでした masen deshita.

SUMMARY

• The informal form of verbs end in た ta in the past tense.

• Group 1 and group 2 verbs have different conjugation in the past tense.

• To make the informal past tense, you add なかった nakatta in place of ない nai.

• To make the formal past tense, you change ます masu form of the verb to ませんでした masen deshita.

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