Negative And Positive Verbs in Japanese

:Negative And Positive Verbs in Japanese :Konnichiwa, and welcome to a new Bondlingo Japanese lesson! Today we’re going to learn how to express positive and negative states of being and actions by conjugating common verbs. This lesson is geared toward beginner learners, or it can be used as a review for those taking the next step in their studies.

Here we go!

A Positive State of Being

There are two words in Japanese that mean “is,” “am,” or “are.” Those two words are ある (aru) and いる (iru). 

ある is used for non-living things and inanimate objects, such as a chair or tree.

いる is used for living things, such as people, animals, or bugs.

Let’s create some sentences below using ある and いる to express positive states of being.

Examples:

椅子はあそこにある。
Isu wa asoko ni aru.
The chair is over there.　

木は森にある。
Ki wa mori ni aru.
Trees are in the forest.

私は家にいる。
Watashi wa ie ni iru.
I am in my house.

猿は動物園にいる。
Saru wa dōbutsuen ni iru.
The monkey is in the zoo.

The verbs ある and いる in their plain form are used in casual speech among friends and close acquaintances. In polite speech (spoken among authority figures, bosses, superiors and those you aren’t well-acquainted with) you have to change the verbs into their polite form, also called the –masu form. 

In their –masu form, ある becomes あります (arimasu) and いる becomes います (imasu).

Let’s take a few of the examples above and make them sound more polite.

Examples:

椅子はあそこにあります。
Isu wa asoko ni arimasu.
The chair is over there. (Polite)

私は家にいます。
Watashi wa ie ni imasu.
I am in my house. (Polite)

VERBS MEANING “IS,” “AM,” OR “ARE”

–	Casual	Formal
Non-living thing(s)	ある (aru)	あります (arimasu)
Living thing(s)	いる (iru)	います (imasu)

A Negative State of Being

When expressing a negative state of being (“is not,” “am not,” “are not”), you have to conjugate ある and いる into their negative form.

ある in its negative form becomes ない (nai).

いる in its negative form becomes いない (inai).

Examples:

お湯はない。
O-yu wa nai.
There is no hot water.

本はあそこにはない。
Hon wa asoko ni wa nai.
The book isn’t over there.

猫はいない。
Neko wa inai.
There is no cat.

彼は職場にいない。
Kare wa shokuba ni inai.
He isn’t at his workplace.

As with the positive form, the negative form also has its plain and formal forms. ない and いない are the plain form used in casual speech. In their formal forms, ない becomes ありません and いない becomes いません.

Let’s turn a few of the examples above into their polite forms.

Examples:

お湯はありません。
O-yu wa arimasen.　
There is no hot water. (Polite)

猫はいません。
Neko wa imasen.
There is no cat. (Polite)

VERBS MEANING “IS NOT,” “AM NOT,” OR “ARE NOT”

–	Casual	Formal
Non-living thing(s)	ない (nai)	ありません (arimasen)
Living thing(s)	いない (inai)	いません (imasen)

Positive Verbs

Now that we know how to express positive and negative states of being, let’s now address verbs that express actions. In Japanese, there are three kinds of verbs: u–verbs, ru–verbs, and irregular verbs.

U–verbs are verbs that end in “u” (as in “oo”) sounds. Here are a few examples of u–verbs.

U-VERBS

Japanese	Romaji	English
歌う	utau	to sing
取る	toru	to take (a picture)
飲む	nomu	to drink
歩く	aruku	to walk
話す	hanasu	to talk

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 取る above). Here are a few examples of ru–verbs.

RU-VERBS

Japanese	Romaji	English
寝る	neru	to sleep
起きる	okiru	to wake up

And, lastly, these are the irregular verbs.

IRREGULAR VERBS

Japanese	Romaji	English
する	suru	to do
来る	kuru	to come

Now that we know some common verbs, let’s create a few sentences using positive verbs to express actions.

Examples:

私はカラオケを歌う。
Watashi wa karaoke wo utau.
I sing karaoke.

彼はビールを飲む。
Kare wa bīru wo nomu.
He drinks beer.

ボブは寝る。
Bobu wa neru.
Bob will sleep.

彼達は勉強する。
Kare-tachi wa benkyō suru.
They will study.

When changing verbs from their plain form into their polite form, we have to use the –masu form. 

In order to change u-verbs into their –masu form, you take the final hiragana character ending in an “u” sound and change it into the corresponding hiragana character that makes an “i” (as in “ee”) sound. After that, you attach ます(-masu) to the end.

U-VERBS (-MASU FORM)

Japanese	Romaji
歌う  ➝  歌います	utau  ➝  utaimasu
取る  ➝  取ります	toru  ➝  torimasu
飲む  ➝  飲みます	nomu  ➝  nomimasu
歩く  ➝ 歩きます	aruku  ➝  arukimasu
話す  ➝  話します	hanasu  ➝  hanashimasu

With ru-verbs, you remove the final hiragana character る and replace it with ます.

RU-VERBS (-MASU FORM)

Japanese	Romaji
寝る  ➝  寝ます	neru  ➝  nemasu
起きる  ➝  起きます	okiru  ➝  okimasu

And, finally, here are the irregular verbs.

IRREGULAR VERBS (-MASU FORM)

Japanese	Romaji
する  ➝  します	suru  ➝  shimasu
来る  ➝  来ます	kuru  ➝  kimasu

Now, let’s take some of the above examples and make them sound more polite.

Examples:

私はカラオケを歌います。
Watashi wa karaoke wo utaimasu.
I sing karaoke. (Polite)

ボブは寝ます。
Bobu wa nemasu.
Bob will sleep. (Polite)

彼達は勉強します。
Kare-tachi wa benkyō shimasu.
They will study. (Polite)

Negative Verbs

When expressing an action that someone or something is NOT doing, you have to conjugate the verb into its negative ない form. 

With u-verbs, you take the final hiragana character ending in an “u” sound and change it into the corresponding hiragana character that makes an “a” sound. After that, you attach ない to the end. One exception to this is that if the verb ends in the う (u) character—as in “歌う”—you don’t change it to あ (a). Instead, you change it to わ and then add ない.

U-VERBS (-NAI FORM)

Japanese	Romaji
歌う  ➝  歌わない	utau  ➝  utawanai
取る  ➝  取らない	toru  ➝  toranai
飲む  ➝  飲まない	nomu  ➝  nomanai
歩く  ➝ 歩かない	aruku  ➝  arukanai
話す  ➝  話さない	hanasu  ➝  hanasanai

With ru-verbs, you remove the final hiragana character る and replace it with ない.

RU-VERBS (-NAI FORM)

Japanese	Romaji
寝る  ➝  寝ない	neru  ➝  nenai
起きる  ➝  起きない	okiru  ➝  okinai

And, finally, here are the irregular verbs. Note that 来る doesn’t become “kinai,” it becomes “konai.”

IRREGULAR VERBS (-NAI FORM)

Japanese	Romaji
する  ➝  しない	suru  ➝  shinai
来る  ➝  来ない	kuru  ➝  konai

Examples:

この携帯は写真を取らない。
Kono keitai wa shashin wo toranai.
This cell phone doesn’t take pictures.

彼女は話さない。
Kanojo wa hanasanai.
She won’t speak.

息子は起きない。
Musuko wa okinai.
My son won’t wake up.

ボブはパーティーに来ない。
Bobu wa pātī ni konai.
Bob won’t come to the party.

And, finally, when using the polite form with negative verbs, you have to conjugate them into the negative -masu form. 

With u-verbs, like with the positive –masu form, you take the final hiragana character ending in an “u” sound and change it into the corresponding hiragana character that makes an “i” sound. After that, instead of attaching ます to the end, you attach ません.

U-VERBS (NEGATIVE -MASU FORM)

Japanese	Romaji
歌う  ➝  歌いません	utau  ➝  utaimasen
取る  ➝  取りません	toru  ➝  torimasen
飲む  ➝  飲みません	nomu  ➝  nomimaseni
歩く  ➝ 歩きません	aruku  ➝  arukimasen
話す  ➝  話しません	hanasu  ➝  hanashimasen

With ru-verbs, you remove the final hiragana character る and replace it with ません.

RU-VERBS (NEGATIVE -MASU FORM)

Japanese	Romaji
寝る  ➝  寝ません	neru  ➝  nemasen
起きる  ➝  起きません	okiru  ➝  okimasen

And, finally, here are the irregular verbs. 

IRREGULAR VERBS (NEGATIVE -MASU FORM)

Japanese	Romaji
する  ➝  しません	suru  ➝  shimasen
来る  ➝  来ません	kuru  ➝  kimasen

Now, let’s take a few of the examples above and make them sound more polite.

Examples:

この携帯は写真を取りません。
Kono keitai wa shashin wo torimasen.
This cell phone doesn’t take pictures. (Polite)

ボブはパーティーに来ません。
Bobu wa pātī ni kimasen.
Bob won’t come to the party. (Polite)

In Summary

Now that you know how to conjugate verbs into their positive and negative forms, it’s time to get out there and practice with your speaking partner! Remember, when learning a new language, it’s important to practice everyday so that it sticks into your head so firmly that you can’t possibly forget it! So, get out there and practice, practice, practice! 

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