verbs (1)
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Part 1 Taro gets up at six.
There are two kinds of Japanese verbs; transitive and intransitive. Now we are going to learn 5 intransitive verbs : "gets up" "work" "study" "have a rest" and "go to bed". They are very important because they are basic words used every day. The simplest form of a Japanese verb is a " -masu " type. They all end the verb with " -masu " or " -imasu ".| statement | Japanese | pronunciation |
| Masako gets up at six. | 昌子さんは６時に起きます。 | Masako-san wa roku-ji ni oki-masu. |
| Taro works from 10 to 6. | 太郎さんは１０時から６時まで働きます。 | Taroo-san wa juu-ji kara roku-ji made hatarak-imasu. |
| Masako studies from 9 to 11. | 昌子さんは９時から１１時まで勉強します。 | Masako-san wa ku-ji kara juuichi-ji made benkyoo-shi-masu. |
| Taro takes a rest from 12 to 1. | 太郎さんは１２時から１時まで休みます。 | Taroo-san wa juuni-ji kara ichi-ji made yasum-imasu. |
| Taro doesn't work from 12 to 1 | 太郎さんは１２時から１時まで働きません。 | Taroo-san wa juuni-ji kara ichi-ji made hatarak-imasen |
| Masako goes to bed at 11. | 昌子さんは１１時に寝ます。 | Masako-san wa juuichi-ji ni ne-masu |
Note; Japanese verbs never change thier forms according to the kind of the subject ( I, you, he, she, etc. ).
Note; If the subjects are pronouns, < examples; "watashi ( I )", "anata ( you )>, it is best to omit them as long as who is referred to is clear.
Note; These examples above are attached to adverbial phrases indicating time with " ni ".
Now, let's pick up the five verbs in a "masu" type and in the present tense.
| ・・・ます |
| < verb > ( i ) masu |
***
| 起きます |
| oki-masu |
| 働きます |
| hatarak-imasu |
| 勉強します |
| benkyoo-shi-masu |
| 休みます |
| yasum-imasu |
| 寝ます |
| ne-masu |
Note; All these verbs above are attached to "-(i)masu". The left part of the verb is what is called "stem", which you must memorize accurately because various endings ( postfix ) are added after it. ( exception; benkyo-shi-masu *** This one consists of three parts. "shi" is the stem. I'll tell you about the details later.
Note; In Japanese language, the verbs in the present tense stands for both what you do every day and what you will do. i.e. The future tense is largely mixed up with the present.
You can also make a negative form by adding "-masen" or "-imasen".
| ・・・ません |
| < verb > ( i ) masen |
***
| 起きません |
| oki-masen |
| 働きません |
| hatarak-imasen |
| 勉強しません |
| benkyoo-shi-masen |
| 休みません |
| yasum-imasen |
| 寝ません |
| ne-masen |
Note; pronounce "-masen" clearly so as not to be misunderstood as "-masu".
adverbial phrases indicating time are usually put before the verb.
| ・・・から・・・まで |
| < the starting time> kara < the ending time > made |
| ・・・に |
| < the time of the day, week, or month > ni |
Note; "ni" is not always necessary. Some of the words indicating time does not require "ni".
Let's practice using the words below.| words | Japanese | pronunciation |
| at 5 o'clock | ５時に | go-ji ni |
| on the 11 (day) | １１日に | juu-ichi nichi ni |
| in july | ７月に | shichi gatsu ni |
| in the year 2004 | ２００４年に | ni-sen-yo nen ni |
| next week | 来週 | raishuu |
| this month | 今月 | kongetsu |
| this year | 今年 | kotoshi |
| today | 今日 | kyoo |
| every day | 毎日 | mainichi |
| tomorrow | 明日 | ashita |
| next month | 来月 | raigetsu |
| next year | 来年 | rainen |
| at noon | 昼（に） | hiru (ni) |
| in the morning | 朝（に） | asa (ni) |
| in the night | 夜（に） | yoru (ni) |
| in the evening | 晩（に） | ban (ni) |
| on Wednesday | 水曜日（に） | suiyoobi (ni) |
****
| "ni" must always be added |
| "ni" is not necessary |
| Either will do. |
_Part 2 Masako studied from 9 to 5 yesterday.
The past tense form of "-masu" is -(i)mashita. and that of -masen is -(i)masendeshita. The past tense of Japanese is usually added with adverbial phrasese indicating the past, such as yesterday and last year.
| statements | Japanese | pronunciation |
| Masako studied from 9 to 5 yesterday. | 昌子さんはきのう９時から５時まで勉強しました。 | masako-san wa kinoo ku-ji kara go-ji made benkyoo-shi-mashita |
| Taroo got up at six in the morning. | 太郎さんは朝６時に起きました。 | taroo-san wa asa roku-ji ni oki-mashita. |
| Masako went to bed at 11last night. | 昌子さんは昨晩１１時に寝ました。 | masako-san wa sakuban juu-ichi-ji ni ne-mashita |
Note; adverbs indicating time of the day is usually put after those indicating days, months, years, etc.
Note ; last night = 昨晩 sakuban
| ・・・ました |
| < verb > ( i ) mashita |
***
| 起きました |
| oki-mashita |
| 働きました |
| hatarak-imashita |
| 勉強しました |
| benkyoo-shi-mashita |
| 休みました |
| yasum-imashita |
| 寝ました |
| ne-mashita |
The negative form can be made by putting "ma" "sen" "de" and "shita". That is, "ma" represents a "-masu" type, "sen" represents negative, "de" represents combining the parts before and after "de", and "shita" represents the past. However, native Japanese speakers aren't conscious of these small details. They simply pronounce them as if they were a whole verb.
| conversation | Japanese | pronunciation |
| I didn't get at six this morning. | （わたしは）今朝６時に起きませんでした。 | watashi wa kesa roku-ji ni oki-masendeshita |
| You didn't take a rest from 9 to 5 the day before yesterday. | （あなたは）おととい９時から５時まで休みませんでした。 | anata wa ototoi ku-ji kara go-ji made yasum-imasendeshita |
| Masako didn't go to bed last night. | 昌子さんは昨晩寝ませんでした。 | masako-san wa sakuban ne-masendeshita |
Note; the day before yesterday = おととい ototoi / this morning = 今朝 kesa
| ・・・ませんでした |
| < verb > ( i ) masendeshita |
***
| 起きませんでした |
| oki-masendeshita |
| 働きませんでした |
| hatarak-imasendeshita |
| 勉強しませんでした |
| benkyoo-shi-masendeshita |
| 休みませんでした |
| yasum-imasendeshita |
| 寝ませんでした |
| ne-masendeshita |
Let's practice using the words below.
| words | Japanese | pronunciation |
| yesterday | 昨日 | kinoo / sakujutsu |
| the day before yesterday | おととい | ototoi |
| this morning | 今朝 | kesa |
| last week | 先週 | senshuu |
| last month | 先月 | sengetsu |
| last year | 去年 | kyonen |
| last night | 昨夜・昨晩 | sakuya / sakuban |
| three years ago | 三年前（に） | san-nen-mae (ni) |
| the year before last year | 一昨年（に） | ototoshi |
Answer these questions:
何時に起きますか？nan-ji ni oki-masuka ? ( What time do you get up ? )
何時に寝ますか？nan-ji ni ne-masuka ? ( What time do you go to bed ? )
昨日何時に起きましたか？kinoo nan-ji ni oki-mashitaka ? ( What time did you get up yesterday ? )昨日何時に寝ましたか？kinoo nan-ji ni ne-mashitaka ? ( What time do you go to bed yesterday ? )
昨日６時に起きましたか？kinoo roku-ji ni oki-mashitaka ? ( Did you get up at six yesterday ? )
昨日１１時に寝ましたか？kinoo juu-ich-ji ni ne-mashitaka ? ( Did you go to bed at eleven yesterday ? )
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