Polite
The polite form. This is quite possibly the most important– and most common– form in Japanese. It is particularly important to those first learning the language. Due to the nature of Japanese culture, the polite form is very commonplace. It is used in such situations as: 1) addressing an elder relative, 2) addressing a stranger, 3) addressing a superior in workplace/educational environments and many more.
We will use two basic verbs today, as well as two basic adjectives, as verbs and adjectives are affected by conjugations of forms and tenses.
With each of these transformations, the stem of the verb/adjective will remain the same, while the ending will show the conjugation.
Verbs:
たべます— to eat
いきます— to go
Adjectives:
おおきい— big
しずか（な）– quiet
Plain Form
The plain form. While not normally as commonplace in Japanese as the polite form, understanding the plain form is vital to speaking and reading Japanese. The plain form has two general purposes: 1) casual speech, and 2) specific grammatical rules. When addressing those with which you have a close relationship, the plain form is used. Additionally, some Japanese grammatical situations call for use of the plain form.
Verbs:
たべる— to eat
いく— to go
Adjectives:
おおきい— big
しずか（な）– quiet
*root adjectives are the same in both plain and polite forms
Polite: Past Tense
The past tense in Japanese works the same way it does in English: it is used to speak or write about things that occurred in the past.
Verbs:
たべました— ate
いきました— went
Adjectives:
おおきいでした— was big
しずかでした— was quiet
Plain: Past Tense
The past tense in Japanese works the same way it does in English: it is used to speak or write about things that occurred in the past.
Verbs:
たべた— ate
いった— went
Adjectives:
おおきかった— was big
しずかだった— was quiet
Polite: Present Tense
The “present tense” is something rather unique to Japanese. It is used both when speaking about the present, and the future. The exact time being referred to can be found through context.
Verbs:
たべます— to eat
いきます— to go
Adjectives:
おおきい— big
しずか（な)– quiet
Plain: Present Tense
The “present tense” is something rather unique to Japanese. It is used both when speaking about the present, and the future. The exact time being referred to can be found through context.
Verbs:
たべる— to eat
いく— to go
Adjectives:
おおきい— big
しずか（な）– quiet
Polite: Past-Negative
Now that we have covered past and present tense, we will look into negative and positive forms. The negative form shows an action that was not taken/an opposite quality.
Verbs:
たべませんでした— did not eat
いきませんでした— did not go
Adjectives:
おおきくありませんでした— was not big
しずかじゃありませんでした— was not quiet
Plain: Past-Negative
Now that we have covered past and present tense, we will look into negative and positive forms. The negative form shows an action that was not taken/an opposite quality.
Verbs:
たべなかった— did not eat
いかなかった— did not go
Adjectives:
おおきくなかった— was not big
しずかじゃなかった— was not quiet
*Note: One easy way to remember the なかった form is to realize it is actually the past tense of the ない form, or negative form.
Polite: Past-Affirmative
Now that we have covered past and present tense, we will look into negative and positive forms. The positive form shows that an action was taken/describes an object.
Verbs:
たべました— did eat
いきました— did go
Adjectives:
おおきました— was big
しずかでした— was quiet
Plain: Past-Affirmative
Now that we have covered past and present tense, we will look into negative and positive forms. The positive form shows that an action was taken/describes an object.
Verbs:
たべた— did eat
いった— did go
Adjectives:
おおきかった— was big
しずかだった— was quiet
Polite: Present-Negative
Now that we have covered past and present tense, we will look into negative and positive forms. The negative form shows an action that was not taken/an opposite quality.
Verbs:
たべません— not eat
いきません— not go
Adjectives:
おおきくありません— not big
しずかじゃありません— not quiet
Plain: Present-Negative
Now that we have covered past and present tense, we will look into negative and positive forms. The negative form shows an action that was not taken/an opposite quality.
Verbs:
たべない— not eat
いかない— not go
Adjectives:
おおきくない— not big
しずかじゃない— not quiet
Polite: Present-Affirmative
Now that we have covered past and present tense, we will look into negative and positive forms. The affirmative form shows an action that is taken/describes an object.
Verbs:
たべます— eat
いきます— go
Adjectives:
おおきい— big
しずか（な)— quiet
Plain: Present-Affirmative
Now that we have covered past and present tense, we will look into negative and positive forms. The affirmative form shows an action that is taken/describes an object.
Verbs:
たべる— eat
いく— go
Adjectives:
おおきい— big
しずか（な)– quiet
Volitional Form: Polite
The volitional form is a special form used with verbs to imply the intention of doing something. Think of it like “I will go and do BLANK”
たべましょう— I will eat
いきましょう— I will go
Volitional Form: Plain
The volitional form is a special form used with verbs to imply the intention of doing something. Think of it like “I will go and do BLANK”
たべよう— I will eat
いこう— I will go
*Note: the conjugation is based on whether the verb is a る or う verb.
る verb: replace the ending る with よう
う verb: replace the ending with–oう
Potential Form: Polite
The potential form is a special verb form used to show the ability to do something. Think of saying “I can do BLANK”
たべられます— I can eat
いけます— I can go
*Note: the conjugation for the potential form is dependant on whether the verb is a る or う verb.
る verbs: replace the ending –ます with –られます
う verbs: replace the ending –ます with –eます
Potential Form: Plain
The potential form is a special verb form used to show the ability to do something. Think of saying “I can do BLANK”
たべられる— I can eat
いける— I can go
*Note: the conjugation for the potential form is dependant on whether the verb is a る or う verb.
る verbs: replace the ending –る with –られる
う verbs: replace the ending with –eる
ーて Form
The ーて is a special form unique to Japanese, without a true English counterpart. In Japanese, there is no word to connect multiple phrases within a sentence like “and” does in English. Instead, the ending verb of that phrase is changed to the ーて form, which signals an additional phrase. Verbs and adjectives in the ーて form have no tense, and so can connect phrases in present or past tenses. With adjectives, the ーて form is used when multiple words are used to describe a single object.
Verbs:
たべって— eat AND
いって— go AND
Adjectives:
おおきくて— big AND
しずかで— quiet AND
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