Archive for 'Grammar'
Forming the Past Tense Posted by Ginny on Oct 19, 2009
The affirmative past tense in Japanese is formed by adding ました to the root stem of the verb. The best way to form the past tense is by remembering the formation of the present tense of the verb, leave off the ending, and add ました. For example, the present tense affirmative of かえる (to return) is…
で Particle Posted by Ginny on Oct 16, 2009
The で particle indicates where the action takes place. Take a look at this example: きっさてん で コーヒー を のみます. (きっさてん = cafe. で = location marking particle ‘de’. コーヒー = coffee. を = direct object marking particle ‘wo’. のみます = polite present tense verb ‘drink’.) In English, this sentence would mean, ‘[I] drink coffee at a cafe.’ The…
The を Particle Posted by Ginny on Oct 13, 2009
The を particle is the direct object particle. The を particle is used to indicate that the word is the direct object of the verb. For instance, おちゃ を のみます shows that おちゃ is the direct object of the verb のみます. (おちゃ = ocha. を = o. のみます = nomimas.) (おちゃ = tea. を = direct object…
Present Negative Posted by Ginny on Oct 10, 2009
Now that we’ve gone over the present affirmative tense of both RU and U verbs, lets try conjugating these verbs in the negative present tense. Dictionary form: okiru (おきる)(起きる) to get up Present Affirmative: okimasu (おきます) Present Negative: okimasen (おきません) Dictionary form: akeru (あける) (開ける) to open Present Affirmative: akemasu (あけます) Present Negative: akemasen (あけません)…
RU Verbs Versus U Verbs Posted by Ginny on Sep 15, 2009
In the previous post, you’ve seen that just because a verb ends in ru (る) doesn’t mean it’s necessarily an u (う) verb. Here’s a tip to help you separate the true ru verbs versus the false ones. When the verb has an iru (いる) or eru (える) ending, it is truely a ru verb. For example…
U Verbs In the Present Indicative Tense Posted by Ginny on Sep 12, 2009
Depending on the person, u verbs can be called godan (ごだん) verbs or class 1/group 1 verbs. Below is a list of verbs that may belong to this group: verbs that end in su in the infinitive: hanasu (はなす) to talk Present indicate tense: hanashimas (はなします)(話します) verbs that end in ku: kiku (きく) to hear…
RU Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense Posted by Ginny on Sep 9, 2009
You may have heard of RU verbs as class two/type two verbs or as ichidan (いちだん) verbs. All these labels are used to describe Japanese verbs that end in ru (る). I’m going to provide some examples of a couple of verbs that end in ru that are not considered a part of this group. For…