• Verb tenses asides from the present tense in Japanese.
• conjugation shorthand all starts from the base singular form of the word

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Verb stem

Tae Kim - Verb Stem

• ru verb stem - v1~ru.
  • [ta]beru -> [ta]be.
• u verb stem - v5c~u-i.
  • [i]ku -> [i]ki
• exceptional stems
  • suru -> shi
  • kuru -> ki
• Verb stems can also be a target for another verb, typically a motion verb go, come. by attaching the ni to the verb stem
  • 昼[hiru] go [han] wo [ta]be ni iku go to eat lunch.
  • [watashi] ni [ka]i ni [ku]ru come to meet me.
  • 友達[tomodachi] to [eiga] wo [mi] ni [i]ku go to watch movie with friends.

Present tense

• v5cu can be -su; ku; gu; mu, bu, nu; ru, tsu

Existence verbs - express whether someone or something exists and where

• iru ru verb v1 - to exist for animate, like human or animals
  • [jikan] ha aru is there time -> do you have time?
  • 鍵[kagi] ha, TE_BURU no 上[ue] ni aru key exists above of table -> key is above table.
  • 銀行[ginkou] ha, 郵便局[yuubinkyoku] no 隣[tonari] ni aru bank exists next of post office -> bank is next to post office.
• aru u verb v5 - to exist for inanimate objects or abstract concepts, like time
  • ARISUchan ha, doko ni iru at what place does Alice-chan exist -> where is Alice-chan?
  • ARISU ha, [gaqkou] no 後[ushi]ro ni iru exists behind of school -> behind the school.

Plain negative present tense

• ru verbs v1~ru-nai.
  • [ta]beru -> benai
  • [mi]ru -> nai
  • 寝[ne]ru -> nai
  • 起[o]kiru -> kinai to wake, to occur
  • 考[kanga]eru -> enai to think
  • 教[oshi]eru -> enai
  • 出[de]ru -> nai
  • 変[ka]eru -> enai
  • 着[ki]ru -> nai
• cu verbs v5c~u-anai.
  • 待[ma]tsu -> tanai.
  • 話[hana]su -> sanai.
  • 聞[ki]ku -> kanai to ask or listen
  • 遊[oyo]gu -> ganai
  • 遊[aso]bu -> banai to play
  • 飲[no]mu -> manai
  • 帰[kae]ru -> ranai
  • 分[wa]karu -> karanai to understand, know
  • 死[shi]nu -> nanai.
• u verbs ending in u the hiragana v5~u-wanai.
  • 買[ka]u -> wanai
• exceptions
  • suru -> shinai
  • [ku]ru -> konai
  • aru -> nai

Polite present verb conjugation

• polite positive: stem-masu
• polite negative: stem-masen

Verb te-form

Progressive tense

Tae Kim - the progressive tense mostly indicate an ongoing action; can also describe an ongoing state resulting from the action, like "I'm married".

• te-form-iru as grammatical construct only, but also can express existence of an animate object
  • [ta]beru -> beteiru
  • [yo]mu -> ndeiru
• the progressive tense can be considered a ru-verb and follow the conjugation rules including the polite form.

Progressive conjugation examples

• Positive progressive v1~ru
  • [inu] ha, 痩[ya]seteiru in state of having gotten skinny v1~ru-te.
• Negative progressive v5c~u.
  • sore ha, mou 知[shi]qteru yo already in state of having acquired v5~ru-qte that knowledge.
  • PEN wo *持[mo]qteiru* in state of holding v5?
  • 結婚[keqkon]shiteimasu ka in state of being married v5~su-shite?
  • [nani]mo *shiteimasen* in state of doing nothing.
  • 犬[inu] wo *飼[ka]qteiru* in state of raising v5~u-qte.
  • 猫[neko] ha, [ka]qteinai not in state of raising.
  • [neko] ha, 太[futo]qteiru in state of having gotten fat v5~ru-qte.

Shortened progressive form

• i in -iru can be dropped in more casual situations
  • [nani] wo *shiteru* no doing?
  • [nani] wo *[yo]nderu* no reading?
  • [inu] ha, *[ka]qtenai* raising, owning.
  • PEN wo *[mo]qteru* holding?

Past tense

Plain past tense - verbs te-form - {~te-ta, or ~de-da}.

• v1~ru-ta: [ta]be~ru-ta -> beta ate
  • [ta]betei~ru-ta -> beteita was eating
• v5~su-shita.
• v5~ku-ita.
• v5~gu-ida.
• v5~mu-nda, v5~bu-nda, v5~nu-nda.
  • [no]~mu-nda -> nda drank.
• v5~u-qta, v5~ru-qta, v5~tsu-qta.

Plain negative past tense

• conjugate to the negative form and ~i-kaqta.
• v1~ru-nakaqta.
  • [ta]be~ru-nakaqta -> benakaqta did not eat.
  • [ta]betei~ru-nakaqta -> beteinakaqta was not eating.
• v5c~u-nakaqta.
  • [no]m~u-anakaqta -> manakaqta did not drink
• v5~u-wanakaqta.

Polite past tense

• stem-mashita.
• v1~ru-mashita.
  • [ta]be~ru-mashita -> bemashita
• v5c~u-imashita
  • [no]m~u-imashita -> [no]mimashita

Polite negative past tense

• stem-masendeshita.
• v1~ru-masendeshita.
  • [ta]be~ru-masendeshita -> bemasendeshita
• v5c~u-imasendeshita.
  • [no]m~u-imasendeshita -> mimasendeshita

State-of-Being past tense

Tae Kim
Conjugations rules for nouns and na-adj are identical, and the rule is also the same for i-adj and negative forms as they both end in i.

Plain past state-of-being

• nouns and na-adj: -daqta
  • [gakusei]-daqta -> [gakusei]daqta was a student.
  • [hima]-daqta -> [hima]daqta was free
• i-adj or negative forms: ~i-kaqta
  • kawai~i-kaqta -> kawaikaqta was cute
  • kawaikuna~i-kaqta -> kawaikunakaqta was not cute.
  • [gakusei]jana~i-kaqta -> janakaqta was not a student.
  • [hima]jana~i-kaqta -> janakaqta not not free.
  • 行[i]kita~i-kaqta -> kitakaqta.
  • [i]kitakuna~i -> kitakunakaqta.
• exceptions
  • ii conjugates from yoi - yo~i-kaqta -> yokaqta.
  • kaqkoii - kaqkoyo~i-kaqta -> kaqkoyokaqta.

Polite past nouns and adjectives

• nouns and na adj -deshita
  • [gakusei]deshita was a student, politely.
  • [hima]deshita was free, politely.
• i adj and negative forms: plain past tense -desu
  • kawai~i-kaqtadesu -> kawaikaqtadesu
  • kawaikuna~i-kaqtadesu -> kawaikunakaqtadesu
  • [gakusei]jana~i-kaqtadesu -> *[gakusei]janakaqtadesu* was not a student, politely
  • [hima]jana~i-kaqtadesu -> *[hima]janakaqtadesu* was not free, politely
  • [i]kita~i-kaqtadesu -> *[i]kitakaqtadesu* wanted to go, politely
  • [i]kitakuna~i-kaqtadesu -> *[i]kitakunakaqtadesu* didn't want to go, politely.
• except
  • ii - yo~i-kaqtadesu -> *yoikaqtadesu* was good, politely
  • 高[ka]qkoii - kaqkoyo~i-kaqtadesu -> kaqkoyokaqtadesu.