Before we begin, please forigve the extended absence; I can assure you that this blog is still alive. School, however, has made it quite difficult these days to find the time to update. I’ve just recently finished my VCE examinations and from my last post until now it’s been nothing but torture trying to study for them. So now that it is over I can once again add more posts to this blog.
Dictionary form of verbs in the past tense and having a positive meaning:
This form is also described as "Plain, past, Positive" form (or PpP form); it is sometimes also referred to as "~た form"
Past ~ます form to ~た form:
Regular I and Regular II Verbs
To convert verbs in past ~ます form, change the verb into present ~ます form first, then refer to the entry titled "~て form chart" and convert this verb into its appropriate ~て form. Then replace the て (or で) of this ~て form verb with た (or だ). Let’s go over this process in detail:
Consider the past tense ~ます verb 行きました ("went"), the present ~ます form of this verb is 行きます. According to the ~て form chart, the ~て form of 行きます is 行って. Now, just change the て to た and 行った is the PpP form of 行きました.
This process may seem a bit tedious at first if you find yourself constantly referring to the ~て form chart, but once you no longer need to refer to the chart it doesn’t take very long to convert the verbs at all.
Some other examples:
食べました –> 食べます –> 食べて –> 食べた
急ぎました –> 急ぎます –> 急いで –> 急いだ
eventually, you should be able to convert these verbs as quickly as follows:
立ちました –> 立った
書きました –> 書いた
飲みました –> 飲んだ
できました –> できた
ありました –> あった
Irregular Verbs
Below are the ~た forms of the irregular verbs, these must be memorised rather than following a rule. It can also be used to convert ~た form to past ~ます form as well as past ~ます form to ~た form.
しました <—> した
来ました <—> 来た (read as "きた")
~た form to past ~ます form:
Regular I and Regular II Verbs
This proces can be a little tricky, especially if you are constantly referring to the ~て form chart. However, once you have mastered converting ~ます verbs to ~て form and vice versa, this process does not take much time at all.
To convert, first change the た (or だ) character to て (or で), revealing the verb’s ~て form. Next, refer to the ~て form chart and convert backwards by selecting the appropriate variable character for the verb stem in the "character directly before ます" column (this will depend on the context of the sentence and the translation of the verb in English as to which character you will choose, explained more clearly later). The result of this conversion will form the verb stem of the verb. Finally, add "ました" to the verb stem to reveal the past ~ます form verb. Let’s do an example in detail:
Consider the verb あそんだ ("played"). First change the だ to で, thus revealing the verb’s ~て form "あそんで". Next, refer to the ~て form chart and convert backwards to determine the verb stem. In order to do this, look at the "form of ~て to be used" column and find the one that matches to this verb, delete the ~て form part on the verb, choose a variable character from the "character directly before ます" column that is appropriate, then add this variable character to the remainder of the verb (in this case "あそ") to form the verb stem. In this case, the verb stem is あそび (if you’re wondering why I already knew which variable character to select, it’s because I already knew what this verb meant in English and knew what the verb is in ~ます form, an example where one does not know what the verb means in English will be discussed next). Now, add "ました" to the verb stem to from the past ~ます form of this verb, which will be "あそびました".
Now let us assume we do not know what あそんだ means in English. To convert, find the ~て form of this verb as stated above. So it will be あそんで. Next, refer to the ~て form chart and convert backwards to determine the verb stem. Because you do knot know what あそんで means either, you would proceed to form various verb stems by using the applicable variable characters in the "character directly before ます" column of the ~て form chart. In this case, the possible verb stems you could form are: あそび, あそみ, and あそに. You would then proceed to convert these verb stems to PPP dictionary verbs (see previous entry) and then use a dictionary to determine what these verbs mean (if they exist) and if they are relevant to the particular context. Once you have selected the most appropriate verb, go back to the verb stem and then add "ました" to reveal the past ~ます verb. Obviously in this case, the correct verb stem will be あそび and hence the past ~ます form will be あそびました as above.
*Note: You would not have this problem if the verb in question was a regular II verb. This is because group II verb stems can be observed no matter what form the verb is in (for example, the verb stem "食べ" can still be observed in 食べます, 食べる, 食べて, 食べた, etc.).
*Also, regular I verbs having ~て forms of いて, いで, and て would pose no problem since there is only one variable character listed for these in the ~て form chart.
Below are some more examples:
しんだ –> しんで –> しに –> しにました
聞いた –> 聞いて –> 聞き –> 聞きました
Once you have mastered ~て form and you know what the verb means in English (and/or you know it’s ~ます form), you should be able to convert the verbs as quickly as in the following examples:
見た –> 見ました
こんだ –> こみました
まよった –> まよいました
できた –> できました
止めた –> 止めました
The PpP form of です
The PpP form of です is だった.
Dictionary form of verbs in the present tense and having a negative meaning:
This form is also known as "Plain, Positive, Negative" form (or PPN form); it is sometimes also referred to as "~ない form"
Negative ~ます form to ~ない form:
Regular I Verbs
To convert these verbs, first remove the "ません" part of the verb, revealing the verb stem. Next, convert the variable character (which currently has an "i" sound) to its "a" sound equivalent, then add "ない to form the PPN verb. Let’s go over this process in detail with an example:
Consider the verb 書きません ("don’t write"). First delete the "ません" part of the verb, having the verb stem 書き remaining; the variable character in this case is き. Now conisder, from the Japanese character list, which group of characters does き lie? It lies in the group: か, き, く, け, こ. The only character in this group to make an "a" sound is か. Therefore, the verb becomes 書か. Next add "ない" to this modified verb to obtain the PPN form verb, 書かない.
There is a single exception to this rule, and it only applies to regular I verbs in which the verb stem has a variable character of い (for example: 言います, 会います, etc.). With negative ~ます forms of these verbs, first delete the "ません" part of the verb as stated above, revealing the verb stem. Next, also delete the variable character "い". Now add the character "わ" to what remains of the verb stem, and then finally add "ない". Let’s go over this special case in detail as well:
Consider the verb 買いません ("don’t buy"). First delete the "ません" part of this verb as done in the previous example. Thus, the verb stem 買い remains. Next, also delete the character "い" from the verb stem, with the kanji 買 only remaining. Now add the character "わ" to the remaining part of the verb stem, with the verb now becoming "買わ". Next add "ない" to this modified verb, resulting in the PPN verb 買わない.
Some more examples:
売りません –> 売らない
なりません –> ならない
学びません –> 学ばない
しにません –> しなない (note the double なs here, a lot of students get this one wrong)
ならいません –> ならわない
まよいません –> まよわない
言いません –> 言わない
Regular II Verbs
To convert, simply delete the "ません" part of the verb – which leaves us with the verb stem – and then add "ない".
Examples:
食べません –> 食べない
つとめません –> つとめない
ねません –> ねない
見ません –> 見ない
できません –> できない
Irregular Verbs
Below are the ~ない forms of the two irregular verbs. Again, these must be memorised instead of using the rule. This section may also be used to convert verbs in ~ない form to negative ~ます form.
しません <—> しない
来ません <—> 来ない (read as "こない")
~ない form to negative ~ます form:
Regular I Verbs
With these verbs, first delete the "ない" part of the verb. Then change the "a" sounding character at the end of the modified verb to its "i" sound equivalent, thus revealing the verb stem. Finally, add "ません" to the verb stem to obtain the negative ~ます verb. Let’s look at one example in detail:
Consider the verb すわらない ("don’t sit down"). First, delete the "ない" part of the verb, having すわら remaining. Next, observe the final character ら. Where in the Japanese character list does ら lie? It lies in this group: ら, り, る, れ, ろ. Out of these five characters, the only one to make an "i" sound is り. Therefore すわら becomes すわり (the verb stem). Then, just add "ません" to the verb stem to obtain the negative ~ ます form verb, すわりません.
Now we will consider the exception case where the original verb stem of the ~ます verb had a variable character of "い". To convert, first delete the "ない" part of the verb as stated previously. Next, replace the "わ" character with "い" (since we know this special case only applies to variable characters of い. We don’t need to consider what the equivalent "a" sound would be, etc. as in the previous example) revealing the verb stem. Lastly, add "ません" to the verb stem to obtain the verb in negative ~ます form. Below is a detailed example:
Consider the verb ちがわない ("to not be wrong"). Delete the "ない" part as before, thus ちがわ remains. In addition, delete the "わ" character and replace it with "い". Hence, ちがわ becomes ちがい (the verb stem). Lastly, add "ません" to the verb stem to obtain the negative ~ます form verb, ちがいません.
Below are some more examples of both cases:
くりかえさない –> くりかえしません
いただかない –> いただきません
出さない –> 出しません
もらわない –> もらいません
すれちがわない –> すれちがいません
たたかわない –> たたかいません
Regular II Verbs
To convert these verbs, delete the "ない" part of the verb, revealing the verb stem. Then, add "ません" to obtain the verb in negative ~ます form.
Examples:
出ない –> 出ません
おぼえない –> おぼえません
わすれない –> わすれません
できない –> できません
The PPN form of ありません:
The PPN form of ありません can take two different forms. However, one is commonly more used than the other. Using the rule for regular I verbs, ありません can be written in PPN form as あらない. However, this is not often observed in most Japanese textbooks, websites, newspapers, etc. The most common PPN form of ありません is the other form mentioned, which is ない. This does not follow the rules already explained and thus must be memorised. Students in VCE must only use ない, not あらない, in written compositions and oral presentations (including the oral examination). Teachers, oral examiners, and listening tasks will never mention "あらない", so you don’t need to know about this form for now. For each case where you wish to use the PPN form of ありません, use ない.
I will try to investigate the two different verbs further and add more information about the uses of these two PPN verbs in this section soon (I only recently discovered the existence of あらない myself. I was always taught that the PPN form of ありません is ない and there was no other).
The PPN form of ではありません:
The PPN form of ではありません can be any of the following three (listed in decsending order of politeness): じゃありません, ではない, and じゃない
Dictionary form of verbs in the past tense and having a negative meaning:
This form is also described as "Plain, past, Negative" form (PpN form).
Past negative ~ます form to PpN form:
Regular I Verbs
To convert, follow precisely the same rules as "Negative ~ます form to ~ない form" (for both normal cases and the exception), deleting "ませんでした" in this case rather than "ません". After you have done this, delete the "い" from the ~ない ending and add "かった".
For example, consider the verb 書きませんでした ("didn’t write). Follow the "Negative ~ます form to ~ない form" rules to obtain the verb in its ~ない form. However, instead of deleting "ません" like it says, delete "ませんでした". Next, after obtaining the ~ない form, which is 書かない in this case, drop the "い" from the ~な ending and add "かった" to obtain the PpN form verb. In this case it wil be 書かなかった. Follow this same principle for the regular I exception case as well.
Examples:
立ちませんでした –> 立たなかった
知りませんでした –> 知らなかった
分かりませんでした –> 分からなかった
言いませんでした –> 言わなかった
Regular II Verbs
Again, follow the rules for regular II verbs in "Negative ~ます form to ~ない form" (deleting "ませんでした" rather than "ません" when stated to do so) and simply drop the "い" from the ~ない ending and add "かった" to obtain the PpN form verb.
Examples:
食べませんでした –> 食べなかった
上げませんでした –> あげなかった
かりませんでした –> かりなかった (this example comes from かりる – "to borrow" – a regular II homonym exception verb)
できませんでした –> できなかった
Irregular Verbs
The two irregular verb cases must be memorised rather than following a rule. This particular section can also be used to convert PpN form verbs to past negative ~ます verbs as well.
しませんでした <—> しなかった
来ませんでした <—> 来なかった (read as "こなかった")
PpN Form to past negative ~ます form:
Regular I Verbs
Follow the rules under the regular I verb section of "~ない form to negative ~ます form". However, instead of deleting "ない" as instructed, delete ”なかった” and instead of adding "ません", add "ませんでした". This will work for both the normal and exception cases.
Examples:
行かなかった –> 行きませんでした
話さなかった –> 話しませんでした
入らなかった –> 入りませんでした
まよわなかった –> まよいませんでした
ちがわなかった –> ちがいませんでした
会わなかった –> 会いませんでした
Regular II Verbs
Follow the rules under the regular II verb section of "~ない form to negative ~ます form". However, instead of deleting "ない" as instructed, delete ”なかった” and instead of adding "ません", add "ませんでした".
Examples:
見なかった –> 見ませんでした
かんがえなかった –> かんがえませんでした
見せなかった –> 見せませんでした
できなかった –> できませんでした
The PpN form of ありませんでした:
The PpN form of ありませんでした can be either あらなかった or なかった. However, as stated earlier for ない, なかった is more frequently observed in publications than あらなかった. In addition, VCE students should only use the なかった option.
The PpN form of ではありませんでした:
The PpN of ではありませんでした can be any of the following three phrases (listed in order of decsending politeness): じゃありませんでした, ではなかった, and じゃなかった.
That concludes this entry. The next entry will be another verb conjugation topic: potential form of verbs. I would also like to take this chance to wish good luck to everyone taking the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test on December 3rd. I will be sitting the test too for the first time.
Although I am above this level, I’ve decided to take the Level 4 test…. Yes, I can already hear the gasps from people as well curses and abuse from others (you know who you are… :P). There are various reasons why I wish to take the easiest of the four examinations (none that are worth mentioning on this entry). Regardless, mina-san, gambarimashou!!!!!!!!!!!
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