Basic forms for Japanese learners part 2 - Changing to -te and -ta form

If you have the chance, try listening to a real Japanese talking. Japanese often use the -te form. The て or で form is used to connect words or sentences together. For example, たべて のんで いきます. Which literally means, “I eat, drink and go” It may seem like there is no meaning when you are saying, “I eat, drink and go”, but this is just a simple example to get you to understand how to use the て form.

た or だ form and て or で form

This is the past tense form. Whenever you want to express something in the past tense. You add a た or だ at the end of a verb. One example would be たべた. meaning “I ate”.

Take note that the て or で form can also be change the same way as the た or だ form. So here are some examples of other verbs that changes to the た or　だ form.

Group 1

• たべる、食べる 　becomes たべた、食べた ate
• おしえる、教える becomes おしえた、教えた taught

For the て form

• たべる、食べる 　becomes たべて、食べて
• おしえる、教える becomes おしえて、教えて

In this group, you can see that the る is drop and replace with a た or て. This is easy to understand. So you might ask, when do I simply drop the る and replace it with the た or て form? By looking at the suffix, anything before the る and only the る you can drop the る and change to た only. From the verb たべる and おしえる you can see that the suffix before る is べ and え.

So remember this, whenever you see a る after え、け、げ、せ、て、べ、ね、め or れ, you can drop the る and replace it with た or て form. If its not a る but a う、く、ぐ、つ、む、すor ぬ instead, you should look at the other groups below for more explanation.

Group 2

• のむ、飲む becomes のんだ、飲んだ drank
• すむ、住む becomes すんだ、住んだ lived (in this place, address)
• しぬ、死ぬ becomes しんだ、死んだ died

For て form

• のむ、飲む becomes のんで、飲んで
• すむ、住む becomes すんで、住んで
• しぬ、死ぬ becomes しんで、死んで

Now for this group, it gets a bit tricky. But once you get used to it, its easy to remember. The verbs, のむ、すむ and しぬ has a ん before the だ or で. The rule here is, whenever you see a む or ぬ at the end of the verb, add んだ or んで at the end of the it. So drop the む and replace it with んだ or んで. It might seem hard to remember all these Japanese verbs, but take your time, learning Japanese is a time consuming progress. Study Japanese with someone who is interested too.

Here is one more verb. Can you change it?

• よむ、読む (to read, will read) becomes ???

Group 3

• かく、書く becomes かいた、書いた wrote
• すう、吸う becomesすいた、すいた smoked, sucked, breathed (cigarette, tobacco)

For て form

• かく、書く becomes かいて、書いて
• すう、吸う becomesすいて、すいて

What differences can you tell from this group? The く and う is drop and it becomes いた or いて. Any verb that ends with a く or う will become いた or いて. There is one more verb below that I would like to teach you.

• かせぐ、稼ぐ(to earn income) becomes かせいだ、稼いだ

For て form

• かせぐ、稼ぐ(to earn income) becomes かせいで、稼いで

Can you spot the small difference the former and the latter? It’s the くand the ぐ. The く becomes a た or て while the ぐ becomes a だ or で.

Group 4

• はなす、話す (to speak. will speak) becomes はなした、話したspoke, talked

For て form

• はなす、話す (to speak. will speak) becomes はなして、話して

You just simply drop the す and change it to した or して.

Special Group

• すくう　救う(to save, to rescue)becomes すくった、救った
• くう、食う(to eat, a vulgar word use by males mostly) becomes くった、食った
• いう、言う (to say) becomes いった、言った

For て form

• すくう　救う(to save, to rescue)becomes すくって、救って
• くう、食う(to eat, a vulgar word use by males mostly) becomes くって、食って
• いう、言う (to say) becomes いって、言って

If you see a くand う together OR い and う together at the end of the verb, drop the う only and change it to った. Some might wonder why, well…because this is the rule. 

• くる、来る becomes きた、来たcame
• いく、行く becomes いった、行った went
• する becomes した did

For て form

• くる、来る becomes きて、来て
• いく、行く becomes いって、行って
• する becomes して

The remaining verbs are special, and are commonly use. So you only have to memorize them. Pay attention to their ending suffix. Here is a tip on learning these Japanese forms. Try to start finding other verbs from a Japanese dictionary, and then learn them by changing the dictionary forms from to another forms that you have learned.

That’s all for today’s guide to learning Japanese. In the next post, I will touch on the ない form. This is a form to show negation. I will also touch on the い and な adjectives, and how to change them to negation or past negation. It’s getting more complicating. But don’t worry, you will get used to learning Japanese. 

Learn Japanese with confidence!

Learn How to Use -tekuru and -teiku to Show Verb Motion in Japanese

Does anyone knows the meaning of いってきます ittekimasu? Those who often watch Japanese dramas or animes probably heard it many times. The word itte いってmeans to go, which of course we have learnt it from the previous posts. And why is there a きます kimasu attached after it? So does it means to “to go and come back”? Some of you probably know this word, as its a common expression use in Japan. Lets find out more…

いってききます ittekimasu is use when someone leaves a place and comes back. And in reply to that, the other person will say いってらしゃい itterashyai vice versa which does not really have a direct meaning in English. Think of it as the same meaning of “Take care while you out”.

Now let’s find out more on how to use tekuruてくる and teikuていく in common everyday Japanese language. An example below.

もつ、持つ - to bring

もっていく、持って行く - to bring and go

We learnt that iku いく means to go. So when we combine a verb like motsuもつ with ikuいく you get motteiku which means to bring and go. The verb must first be change to a teて form before you can attach the ikuいく after it.

もつ becomes もって. And もって　＋　いく = もっていく、持って行く

You can even change the iku into kuru, which means “to bring it back” So here are two sentence example below.

ほん　を　もっていく - Bring a book go

ほん　を　もってくる - Bring a book back

You can also combine with other verbs like kau　かう、買う means “to buy”. So you get kattekuru　買ってくる. Which means “to buy back” An example below.

ひるごはん　を　かってくる - Buy lunch back

hiru gohan wo kattekuru

ひる、昼 - afternoon

ひるごはん literally means “afternoon rice” or a better word for it would be lunch. Some might still be abit confuse with this. So here is a simple illustration of it.

The scenario shows friend A and friend B talking over the phone. Friend A living in Tokyo, and Friend B lives in Osaka.

Friend A: きょう、うち　に　くる？- Are you coming over to my house today?

Friend B: 行くよ - Yes, Im going

Friend A: ちなみに、らめん　を　かってくれる？- By the way, can you buy ramen for me?

Friend B：いいよ、じゃあ、かっていく　よ - alright, I’ll buy it (and go over)

うち、家 - house, home

ちなみに - By the way

らめん - Japanes noodles, ramen

Friend B ——-(Noodle Store) かっていく———> Friend A

Now Friend B arrives in Friend A house.

Friend A : あ！たまご　を　わすれた - Oh, I fogot to buy eggs

Friend B: だいじょうぶ、わたし　が　かってくる - Its alright, I’ll go buy them back

たまご、卵 - Eggs

だいじょうぶ、大丈夫 - its aright

Friend A house—– Friend B ——-> (Egg Store)

<———————–かってくる

Can you think of more ways to use tekuru てくる and teiku ていく?

Have fun learning Japanese!

How to use “when” in Japanese or -tara form

This form very useful and commonly use by the Japanese. The examples below will show you how to change from the plain verb to -tara forms

たべる(to eat) becomes たべたら(when you eat)

はなす(to speak) becomes はなしたら(when you speak)

あるく(to walk) becomes あるいたら(when you walk)

およぐ(to swim) becomes およいだら(when you swim)

よぶ(to call) becomes よんだら(when you call it)

のむ(to drink) becomes のんだら(when you drink it)

しぬ(to die) becomes しんだら(when you die)

つくる(to make) becomes つくったら(when you make)

まつ(to wait) becomes まったら(when you wait)

あらう(to wash) becomes あらったら(when you wash)

The above examples are plain verbs. Just by changing each verb into a た-ta form and then adding a ら ra after it.

To change it to a negative form

たべる becomes たべない negative plain form becomes たべなかったら (if you did not eat)

Just drop the い on the ない form and then change it to -kattara　かったら In this case, because of the negative form is involve here. The meaning becomes “If you didn’t…”

のむ becomes のまない and then becomes のまなかったら meaning “If you didn’t drink it…”

To change to a polite -tara form

If you want to say it in a polite way, just change each verb into the past -masu form and add the ら ra after it. An example below will show you how.

たべる becomes たべましたThis is the polite past form. Then add the ら ra it, you get たべましたら. This way of saying is very polite, usually use wen you are speaking with customers.

To change to a polite negative -tara form

たべる becomes たべません and then becomes たべません　でしたら

のむ becomes のみません and then becomes のみません　でしたら

You have to change the -masu　into a past tense. By adding the でした you get the past tense. Then adding the ら after it will give you the polite negative -tara form.

Well, I hardly hear Japanese use the polite negative -tara form while I was in Japan, its probably use in hotels or high class restaurant.  Its recommended to use the plain negative form or plain form when you want to use -tara

It might take some time for you to absorb all these. Getting use to learning Japanese forms is the key to improving your listening and speaking. Try to get use to the -nakattara and -nakatta soundings.

Enjoy learning Japanese!

Learn How to Use Giving and Receiving Statements in Japanese

Today we shall learn on how to use receiving and giving statements in Japanese. The grammar that you will learn today is very useful because you will be able to express yourself better when you want to tell or request a Japanese person for something.

The three verbs that you will learn today are kureruくれる, morauもらう and ageruあげる. The rule here is to change any verb into a -teて form first before using kureruくれる, morauもらう and ageruあげる.

Let’s start off with learning kureruくれる

えんぴつ　を　かして　くれませんか - Won’t you lend me a pencil?

enpitsu wo kashite kuremasenka?

えんぴつ、鉛筆 means “pencil”

かす、貸す means “to lend or to borrow”

So what does kureruくれる means? It means to receive. But kureruくれる itself has no direct word for it. It acts like an arrow that comes towards the speaker. So after you have change the verb from かす to かして you can add the kureru after it or to sound more polite, add the -masu form of kureru after it (kureruくれる becomes kuremasuくれます) The obligated polite term for kureru is kusadaiください, which we learned in previous post

More examples

この　ほん　を　よんで　くれる？ - Can you read this book for me?

kono honn wo yonnde kureru?

この　ビール　を　のんで　くれる？ - Can you drink this beer for me?

kono bi-ru wo nonde kureru?

Next, let’s learn how to use morauもらう

Morauもらう is very similar to kureruくれる because it also has the same meaning as receiving. You can use back the examples above and change the kureruくれる to morauもらう. It’s not a problem. See examples below.

この　ほん　を　よんで　もらう？ - Can you read this book for me?

kono honn wo yonnde morau?

この　ビール　を　のんで　もらう？ - Can you drink this beer for me?

kono bi-ru wo nonde morau?

The humble expression for morauもらう is itadakuいただく and with the masu form, you get an even more humble expression, いただきます. Which is commonly use before you eat your food. Or if a Japanese gives you a treat, you should always say to the person before you eat, いただきます！ 

That was pretty easy to teach morauもらう.  Moving on next is ageruあげる

For ageruあげる, it means “to give” or another meaning for “for you” Let’s look at the examples

これ　を　たべて　あげます - I will eat this for you

kore wo tabete agermasu

パソコン　を　つけて　あげます - I will switch on the computer for you.

pasokon wo tsukete agemasu

It’s pretty simple to understand. Just change the verb that you will use into a -te form and add the agemasuあげます or ageruあげる after it. But do not use ageru あげる freely, as it might become offensive to the other party that you are speaking to. So how do we know when to use ageruあげる correctly?

Use ageruあげる only when the other party is younger than you, or he or she is your good friend. Let’s look at a small conversation below.

The scenario is taking place in a home.

Son: この　もんだい　が　わからない、どう　しよう？ - I don’t understand this question, what shall I do?

Son:kono mondai ga wakaranai, dou shyou?

Mother：だいじょうぶ、おしえて　あげる

Mother:daijyoubu, oshiete ageru

どう　しよう means “what to do” or “what should be done”

もんだい、問題 means “question”

だいじょうぶ、大丈夫 means “its alright” or “its ok”

So from the small conversation above, we can see that the mother will teach her son how to solve the problem. So its alright for the mother to use ageruあげる freely. But the best way to avoid any trouble is to just simply end the sentence without the ageruあげる. Example below.

Boss：この　しゅるい　を　コピー　して　くれませんか？ - Can you make a copy of these documents for me?

Boss: kono shyurui wo koppi shite kuremasenka?

Staff：　はい、コピー　します。Sure! I will copy them.

Staff: hai, koppi shimasu

コピー means “copy” and to change to a verb, コピー　する means “to copy”

しゅるい、種類 means “documents”

This is the safest way to avoid any confusion with the kureru/morau and ageru verbs. Another thing to take note is, in a working environment, its best not to use ageruあげる, as it sounds strange. The reason is because, using ageruあげる may seem like the other party is helpless and weak making him/her feel like he can’t do the work. To the Japanese, it’s a very rude statement.

A more complex usage of ageruあげる, morauもらう and kureruくれる will be posted soon. Stay tune for it.

Using kureru, morau and ageru in a more complicated Japanese sentence

When you want to explain to someone that you received or given something in Japanese, the sentences starts to get a little more complicating. There is a difference in usage between kureru and morau. Let’s take a look at some examples

Using kureru くれる

この　テレビ　は　いつ　かった　の？ - When did you bought this tv?

kono terebi wa itsu katta no?

いいえ、ともだち　が くれた - Nope, a friend gave it to me

iie, tomodachi ga kureta

Using morau もらう

この　テレビ　は　いつ　かった　の？- When did you bought this tv?

kono terebi wa itsu katta no?

いいえ、ともだち　に もらった or いいえ、ともだち　から もらった　- Nope, I received it from a friend

iie, tomodachi ni moratta or iie, tomodachi kara moratta

Words to learn

かう、買う - to buy

ともだち、友達 - friend

テレビ - television, tv

いいえ - no, nope

から - from

From the examples above, we can tell that when you want to use kureru, you need to add が before it. So for the sentence ともだち　が くれた, it simply means “the friend did the giving and I received it”. Most people will think, “Why is it me that I am receiving it?” That is because the verb kureru　くれる, always have the arrow pointing towards you, the speaker. Just remember this, whenever you want to use kureruくれる in your sentence, the receiving arrow will always point back to you. Refer to the previous post for more explanation

And for the second example, where morau もらう was used. The ni に particle and the kara から can be use to tell where the arrow comes from. In this case, the arrow comes from the friend,　ともだち.　But the ni に particle and the karaから should not be use together with the kureru　くれる verb. It just does not fit. Just part of the rules.  Morau　もらう may not always necessary be pointing back to you. You may even use morau もらう this way

かれ　は　せんせい　から or に パソコン　を　もらった -　He received a computer from teacher

kare wa sensei kara or ni pasokon wo moratta

We can see that morau　もらう is pointing from the teacher to the him, the boy. If we break the sentence down, and think back of the basic rules that I taught earlier in my earlier posts, you can see that its pretty easy to understand this.

かれ　は　is the main component in the sentence, so it should be express out first and mark it as the main topic using the は particle.

Next, just now we learned earlier, that kara　から means from, so せんせい　から or に means from teacher

And finally, パソコン　を　もらった means “to receive computer” the を　particle is use to show an action acting on an object. We learned this earlier in another post on understanding Japanese particles part 2.

Conclusion

So when you piece them altogether, you get to understand how this complicated sentence is made. And also dont forget that Japanese sentences are post-position. So everything goes backwards. A detailed explantion of Japanese sentences was posted some time back. Each broken parts are post-position and assembling each smaller structure back should be in post-position as well.　Clearer example below

->English is pre-position

He received a computer from teacher

<- Japanese is post-position so lets form the English sentence above backwards

“He” + “teacher” + “from” + “computer” + “received”

Now we can change each word into Japanese and fit into the Japanese structure, so you get:

kare wa sensei kara or ni pasokon wo moratta

Almost the whole sentence makes sense in Japanese!

Using ageru　あげる

この　パソコン　を　はなちゃん　に かって　あげた - I bought this computer for Hana chan

kono pasokon wo Hana chan ni katte ageta

In the sentence above, Hana chan can be a little girl who is younger than me by about 10 years. She can be my younger sister, or just a little kid that I got to know from somewhere, or could even be your friend’s daughter. In any case, as long as the person that you are refering to is younger than you, your mother or father, or a good friend who is about the same age as you, you can use ageru freely. Close relationship with another person allows you to use ageru あげる freely

But if the person you are talking to is much eldar than you, someone who is your boss, or someone who is your senpai 先輩(someone who works in the company longer than you), or someone you don’t really know, you should never use ageru あげる in front of them. Refer to the previous post for more explanation

Japanese language can be troublesome, don’t you all think so?