Guide to Japanese

Past Tense

We will finish defining all the basic properties of verbs by learning how to express the past and past-negative tense of actions. I will warn you in advance that the conjugation rules in this section will be the most complex rules you will learn in all of Japanese. On the one hand, once you have this section nailed, all other rules of conjugation will seem simple. On the other hand, you might need to refer back to this section many times before you finally get all the rules. You will probably need a great deal of practice until you can become familiar with all the different conjugations.

Past tense for ru-verbs

Vocabulary

出る(で・る) ru-verb
to come out
捨てる(す・てる) ru-verb
to throw away
ご飯(ご・はん)
rice; meal
食べる(た・べる) ru-verb
to eat
映画(えい・が)
movie
全部(ぜん・ぶ)
everything
見る(み・る) ru-verb
to see

We will start off with the easy ru-verb category. To change a ru-verb from the dictionary form into the past tense, you simply drop the る and add た.

To change ru-verbs into the past tense

Drop the る part of the ru-verb and add た

Examples:

  • 出(で)る → 出(で)た
  • 捨(す)てる → 捨(す)てた

Examples

  1. ご飯(ご・はん)は、食(た)べた。
    As for meal, ate.

  2. 映画(えい・が)は、全部(ぜん・ぶ)見(み)た。
    As for movie, saw them all.

Past tense for u-verbs

Vocabulary

話す(はな・す) u-verb
to speak
書く(か・く) u-verb
to write
泳ぐ(およ・ぐ) u-verb
to swim
飲む(の・む) u-verb
to drink
遊ぶ(あそ・ぶ) u-verb
to play
死ぬ(し・ぬ) u-verb
to die
切る(き・る) u-verb
to cut
買う(か・う) u-verb
to buy
持つ(も・つ) u-verb
to hold
する exception
to do
来る(く・る) exception
to come
行く(い・く) u-verb
to go
今日(きょう)
today
走る(はし・る) u-verb
to run
友達(とも・だち)
friend
私(わたし)
me, myself, I
勉強(べん・きょう)
study

Changing a u-verb from dictionary form to the past tense is difficult because we must break up u-verbs into four additional categories. These four categories depend on the last character of the verb. The table below illustrates the different sub-categories. In addition, there is one exception to the rules, which is the verb 行(い)く. I’ve bundled it with the regular exception verbs ""する and ""来(く)る even though 行(い)く is a regular u-verb in all other conjugations.

EndingNon-Pastchanges to…Past
す話すす → した話した
く書くく → いた書いた
ぐ泳ぐぐ → いだ泳いだ
む飲むむ → んだ飲んだ
ぶ遊ぶぶ → んだ遊んだ
ぬ死ぬぬ → んだ死んだ
る切るる → った切った
う買うう → った買った
つ持つつ → った持った
Past tense conjugations for u-verbs
Non-PastPast
するした
くるきた
行く行った*
Exceptions

*- exceptions particular to this conjugation

Examples

  1. 今日(きょう)は、走(はし)った。
    As for today, ran.

  2. 友達(とも・だち)が来(く)た。
    Friend is the one that came.

  3. 私(わたし)も遊(あそ)んだ。
    I also played.

  4. 勉強(べん・きょう)は、した。
    About study, did it.

Past-negative tense for all verbs

Vocabulary

捨てる(す・てる) ru-verb
to throw away
行く(い・く) u-verb
to go
食べる(たべ・る) ru-verb
to eat
する exception
to do
お金(お・かね)
money
ある u-verb
to exist (inanimate)
私(わたし)
me, myself, I
買う(か・う) u-verb
to buy
猫(ねこ)
cat
いる ru-verb
to exist (animate)

The conjugation rules for the past-negative tense are the same for all verbs. You might have noticed that the negative of just about everything always end in ない. The conjugation rule for the past-negative tense of verbs is pretty much the same as all the other negatives that end in ない. You simply take the negative of any verb, remove the い from the ない ending, and replace it with かった.

To change verbs into the past-negative tense

Change the verb to the negative and replace the い with かった

Examples:

  • 捨(す)てる → 捨(す)てない → 捨(す)てなかった
  • 行(い)く → 行(い)かない → 行(い)かなかった

Examples

  1. アリス(a ri su)は食(た)べなかった。
    As for Alice, did not eat.

  2. ジム(ji mu)がしなかった。
    Jim is the one that did not do.

  3. ボブ(bo bu)も行(い)かなかった。
    Bob also did not go.

  4. お金(お・かね)がなかった。
    There was no money. (lit: As for money, did not exist.)

  5. 私(わたし)は買(か)わなかった。
    As for me, did not buy.

  6. 猫(ねこ)はいなかった。
    There was no cat. (lit: As for cat, did not exist.)