FORMING VERB TENSES
JAPANESE WRITING
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Conjugation Rules For 'Past Tense Informal Verbs' Japanese
Common to both English and Japanese sentences are a subject, verb, and an object.In Japanese, however, the order of these is different than an English sentence. In English, the order is:
subject, verb, object,
whereas in Japanese, it is:
subject, object verb.
In Japanese, the verb is written at the end of the sentence.
Look at this example simple sentence.
English - I drink wine.
Japanese - I wine drink - wastashi wa wain o nomu
Meaning: wastashi wa -I, wain - wine, nomu - drink
o is particle wo, usually just written as o.
Although it appears odd, this is how a sentence is written in Japanese; with the subject at the beginning and the verb at the end.
Also in Japanese writing, the verbs can be informal or formal. Informal is used when speaking with someone you know, whereas, formal is
used in a formal setting, like when meeting someone for the first time.
When conjugating verbs, there are both informal and formal verb tenses. Additionally, there are more than a dozen different verb tenses in Japanese writing. For this verb lesson, we will learn about conjugating verbs to 'past tense informal'. As well, we will learn about particles in Japanese sentences, as they are important to verbs, and to the sentence topic/subject.
Changing Present Tense Verbs To Past Tense:
To change them to past tense informal: Change the ending letter or letters as shown;
ku-becomes ita,
ru, u, tsu becomes-tta,
mu, nu, bu becomes-nda,
su becomes-shita,
gu becomes-ida.
iru or eru (remove the ru) becomes - ta
To make a present tense verb into a past tense verb you simply change the verb ending.
JAPANESE VERBS with EXAMPLE SENTENCES
Present Tense to Past Tense InformalVerb: to walk
Present tense aruku Past tense informal: aruita
Example Sentence with verb aruku in Japanese:
English Present Tense: I walk,
Japanese Present Tense: Watashi wa aruku,
Japanese Past Tense Informal: I walked yesteday - Watashi wa kino o aruita.
As you can see from our examples, verbs are written at the end of the sentence in Japanese. As well, the subject of the sentence is followed by a 'particle' like 'wa'. Wa is used to identify the 'topic/subject' in a sentence. For our sentences; I (watashi) is the subject.
Also, the object of the verb is followed by a particle like 'wo', pronounced and usually written as 'o'.
In this past tense example: watashi wa kino o aruita, the word kino (yesterday) is the direct object of the verb 'walk'; therefore, the particle 'o' is placed after it.
In this present tense example, watashi wa aruku, the particle 'o', is not needed because, the word I(watashi), is both the subject/topic of the sentence and the object of the verb. In a Japanese sentence, you do not put put 'wa', next to 'o'. Particles like 'wa', 'o', must follow a word, not another particle. To Learn About Japanese particles
Verb: to write
Present tense kaku Past tense informal: kaita
Example Sentence with verb kaku in Japanese:
English Present Tense: I write,
Japanese Present Tense: Watashi wa kaku,
Japanese Past Tense Informal: I wrote yesterday - Watashi wa kino o kaita.
Verb: to go
Present tense iku (pronounced eku)Past tense informal: iita (pronounced eeta)
Example Sentence with verb iku in Japanese:
English Present Tense: I'm going shopping,
Japanese Present Tense: Watashi wa kai o iku,
Japanese Past Tense Informal: I went shopping - Watashi wa kai o iita.
Verb: to sleep
Present tense neru Past tense informal: neta
Example Sentence with verb neru in Japanese:
English Present Tense: I sleep,
Japanese Present Tense: Watashi wa neru,
Japanese Past Tense Informal: I slept yesterday - Watashi wa kino o neta.
Verb: to read
Present tense yomu Past tense informal: yonda
Example Sentence with verb yomu in Japanese:
English Present Tense: I read,
Japanese Present Tense: Watashi wa yomu,
Japanese Past Tense Informal: I read yesterday - Watashi wa kino o yonda.
Verb: to teach
Present tense oshieru Past tense informal: oshieta
Example Sentence with verb oshieru in Japanese:
English Present Tense: I teach,
Japanese Present Tense: Watashi wa oshieru,
Japanese Past Tense Informal: I taught yesterday - Watashi wa kino o oshieta.
Verb: to laugh
Present tense warau Past tense informal: waratta
Example Sentence with verb warau in Japanese:
English Present Tense: She laughs,
Japanese Present Tense: Kanojo wa warau,
Japanese Past Tense Informal: She laughed yesterday - Kanojo wa kino o waratta.
Pronouns like I, She, He, They, Them, are used in Japanese sentences. The verb does not change form if the pronoun changes from single form- like I, to plural form- like They or Them.
In Japanese, I is watashi, she/her is 'kanojo', he/him, is 'kare', they/them is kanojora.
Verb: to leave
Present tense deru Past tense informal: deta
Example Sentence with verb deru in Japanese:
English Present Tense: I'm leaving,
Japanese Present Tense: Watashi wa deru,
Japanese Past Tense Informal: She left yesterday - Kanojo wa kino o deta.
Verb: to understand
Present tense wakaru Past tense informal: wakatta
Example Sentence with verb wakaru in Japanese:
English Present Tense: They understand,
Japanese Present Tense: Kanojora wa wakaru,
Japanese Past Tense Informal: They understood yesterday - Kanojora wa kino o wakatta.
ALSO READ: How To Conjugate Verbs to Negative Form
For additional reading on 'Understanding Japanese Speaking and Writing' read our article -
How To Understand Japanese Writing
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