BondLingo Learn Japanese

By now, you should be able to use verbs in the present and future tense in Japanese. Today, we’re going to learn how to conjugate verbs and create sentences in the past tense. In this lesson, we will focus only on the plain past form for casual situations.

Japanese Verb Review

Before we begin with the past tense, let’s review some common verbs. In Japanese, there are three kinds of verbs: u–verbs, ru–verbs, and irregular verbs.

U–verbs are verbs that end in an “u” (as in “oo”) sound. Here are some examples of u–verbs.

U-VERBS

Ru-verbs are verbs that end with the hiragana character る (ru). However, keep in mind that sometimes verbs ending in る can be considered u–verbs (like ある above). Here are a few examples of ru–verbs.

RU-VERBS

And, finally, these are the irregular verbs.

IRREGULAR VERBS

Now that we’ve gone over some common verbs, let’s create a few sentences using the plain form!

私は来週から仕事の為に東京まで通う。
Watashi wa raishuu kara shigoto no tame ni Toukyou made kayou.
I will commute to Tokyo for work starting next week.

彼は占いの話を信じる。
Kare wa uranai no hanashi wo shinjiru.
He believes what the fortune-teller says.

彼女は博物館に来る。

Kanojo wa hakubutsukan ni kuru.

She will come to the museum.

Conjugating Verbs into the –Te Form

In order to conjugate verbs into the past plain form, you must first conjugate them into the –te form. Conjugating verbs into the -te form depends on the type of verb you are using.

With u-verbs, you remove the last hiragana character of the word and replace it with the characters according to the chart below. 

GUIDE TO CONVERTING U-VERBS INTO THE -TE FORM

Now, let’s take the u-verbs from earlier and conjugate them into their –te forms!

U-VERBS (-TE FORM)

With ru-verbs, you remove the final hiragana character る and replace it with て (te).

RU-VERBS (-TE FORM)

And, finally, here are the irregular verbs.

IRREGULAR VERBS (-TE FORM)

Conjugating Verbs into the Past Plain Form (-Ta Form)

Now that we have conjugated the verbs into their -te form, it’s time to conjugate them into the past plain form—or the -ta form. Conjugating verbs from the -te form into the -ta form, is simple. If it ends with て, you replace it with た (ta). If it ends with で (de) you replace it with だ (da). 

Let’s take a few of the verbs from above and conjugate them into the past plain form.

PAST PLAIN FORM (-TA FORM)

How to Use the Past Plain Form

The plain form is used in casual situations. 

When expressing the mere existence of something or someone in the past tense using the plain form, use either あった or いた. あった is used for non-living things, and いた is used for living things.

Examples:

テレビがあった。
Terbi ga atta.
There was a TV.

宴会でボブがいた。
Enkai de Bobu ga ita.
Bob was at the banquet.

In casual situations, in order to express that an action took place or has taken place, you use the verb in its plain -ta form.

Examples:

昨日家で魚を焼いた。
Kinou ie de sakana wo yaita.
I grilled fish at home yesterday.

先週健太さんは鏡を壊した。
Senshuu Kenta-san wa kagami wo kowashita.
Kenta broke a mirror last week.

２週間前あの店でDVDを借りた。
Ni-shuukan mae ano mise de DVD wo karita.
I rented a DVD at that store two weeks ago.

１時間前母は洗濯をした。
Ichi-jikan mae haha wa sentaku wo shita.
My mom did the laundry an hour ago.

In Summary

The past plain form is used for casual situations when talking about things that took place or have taken place in the past. 

In order to conjugate the verb into the past plain form, you must first conjugate it into the -te form. After that, you change it into the -ta form, which is simple. If it ends in a て, you replace it with a た. If it ends in a で, you replace it with a だ.

Now that you know how to use the past plain form, it’s time to get out there and practice with your Japanese speaking partner! You will be using the past plain form a lot, so don’t take this one lightly! 

Learn Japanese Verbs with BondLingo?

Recommend