JAPANESE PRESENT TENSE

The present tense is the bread and butter of any language. Even the most basic sentences require a present tense verb.

Today, let’s take a look at this fundamental tense in Japanese.

THE DICTIONARY FORM

The dictionary forms of verbs do exactly what they say on the tin. They’re the form you’ll find if you look for words in a dictionary or translation app.

Unfortunately, there’s not much to be said about the dictionary forms, other than you have to just learn them.

Here are some super common ones:

You can use the dictionary forms in daily conversation as they are casual in tone. You wouldn’t use this form for many situations other than talking to close friends.

ます FORM

Play ます masu

You might be aware that the Japanese language has many levels of politeness.

Today, we’ll look at 丁寧語 teineigo, polite language. This form of verbs is what you should use when you’re speaking to anyone but a friend. If you’re in the office, or at a restaurant, or at the post office, you might choose to use this form.

丁寧語 teineigo polite language is easily identifiable by the ます masu ending.

When learning how to convert the dictionary forms to the ますmasu form, you need to know what type of verb you’re dealing with.

Japanese verbs are divided into:

• 一段 ichidan
• 五段 godan
• irregular verbs.

一段 verbs

一段 ichidan verbs end in える eru or いるiru.

For example, 食べるtaberu to eat ends in an eru sound, and 見るmiru to see ends in an iru sound.

To make the ますmasu form of these verbs:

• take off the るru at the end
• put a ますmasu in its place

五段 verbs

五段 godan verbs all end in うu sounds.

For example, 行くiku to go ends in ku, which is an うu sound. These verbs can end in くku、ぐgu、むmu、ぬnu、うu、つtsu、すsu、ぶbu、るru (not to be confused with 一段ichidan verbs).

To make the ますmasu form:

• change the last syllable for an いi sound
• and throw on ますmasu.

For example: 行くiku → 行きiki → 行きますikimasu.

NOTE || Be careful with the following:
つ tsu changes to ち chi
す su changes to し shi
う u changes to い i

Irregular verbs

There are also some irregular verbs.

• する suru to do changes to しますshimasu.

• 来る kuru to come changes to 来ます kimasu.

Let’s take a look at the verbs from before, this time with their ますmasu form too:

USES OF THE JAPANESE PRESENT TENSE

If you’ve learned a language before, you might be aware that very often verb tenses don’t exactly line up in every language.

So, it’s important to learn what each tense is used for. The Japanese present tense is used to express:

• Present actions
• Habitual actions
• Future actions
• Generalisations

NEGATIVE FORM OF PRESENT TENSE

If you want to form the negative sentences, you would follow the rules below:

• Casual 一段 verbs – Take off the るand replace it with ない.
• Polite 一段 verbs – Take off the ますand replace it with ません.
• Casual 一 五段 verbs – Change the last syllable with its あ equivalent and add ない.
  • E.g., 書くto write → 書か→ 書かない don’t write.
• Polite 一 五段 verbs – Take off the ます and replace it with ません.
• Irregular – 来るbecomes 来ない. する becomesしない.

SUMMARY

• The casual form of verbs needs to be remembered and end in an うu sound.

• The casual form should only be used between friends.

• The polite form of verbs ends in ますmasu, and their construction depends on whether they’re a 一段ichidan, 五段godan, or irregular verb.

• The polite form should be used in almost every situation when you are talking to someone who isn’t a close friend.

• The present tense in Japanese can be used for a variety of purposes, including talking about the present, future, or generalizations.

• The negative present tense of verbs ends in ないnai or ませんmasen.

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FAQs

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