R1 - Plain & Polite Forms of Nouns, Adjectives and Verbs

 

Dictionary Form (Plain Form) - This is the form listed in the dictionary  is used among close friends and family in informal situations.

Polite Form - This form is used in situations required politeness or a degree of formality, and is more appropriate for general use.

	Plain Forms	Polite Forms
Nouns
先生	だ	です
	だった	でした
Adjectival Nouns
きれい	じゃない	じゃ  (or では)    ないです/ じゃ  (or では)   ありません
	じゃなかった	じゃ  (or では)    なかったです/ じゃ  (or では)   ありませんでした
		でしょう
		じゃ  (or では)   ないでしょう
～い Adjectives
	おもしろい	おもしろいです
	おもしろくない	おもしろくないです
	おもしろかった	おもしろかったです
	おもしろくなかった	おもしろくなかったです

Verbs

Present Tense

Japanese verb forms have two main tenses, the present and the past. There is no future tense. The present tense is used for future and habitual action as well. The informal form of the present tense is the same as the dictionary form. The ~ masu form is used in formal situations.

Past Tense

The past tense is used to express actions completed in the past (I saw, I bought etc.) and present perfect tense (I have read, I have done etc.). Forming the informal past tense is simpler for Group 2 verbs, but more complicated for Group 1 verbs. The conjugation of Group 1 verbs varies depending on the consonant of the last syllable on the dictionary form. All Group 2 verbs have the same conjugation pattern.

Group 1
Formal	Replace ~ u with ~ imashita	kaku --- kakimashita nomu --- nomimashita
Informal	(1) Verb ending with ~ ku: replace ~ ku with ~ ita	kaku --- kaita kiku --- kiita
	(2) Verb ending with ~ gu: replace ~ gu with ~ ida	isogu --- isoida oyogu --- oyoida
	(3) Verb ending with ~ u, ~tsu and ~ ru: replace them with ~ tta	utau --- utatta matsu --- matta kaeru --- kaetta
	(4) Verb ending with ~ nu, ~bu and ~ mu: replace them with ~ nda	shinu --- shindaasobu --- asonda nomu --- nonda
	(5) Verb ending with ~ su: replace ~ su with ~ shita	hanasu --- hanashitadasu --- dashita
Group 2
Formal	Take off ~ru, and add ~ mashita	miru --- mimashita taberu ---tabemashita
Informal	Take off ~ru, and add ~ ta	miru --- mita taberu --- tabeta
Group 3
Formal	kuru --- kimashita, suru --- shimashita
Informal	kuru --- kita, suru ---shita

Present Negative

To make sentence negative, verb endings are changed into negative forms (The ~ nai Form).

Formal	All Verbs (Group 1, 2, 3)
	Replace ~ masu with ~ masen	nomimasu --- nomimasen tabemasu --- tabemasen kimasu --- kimasen shimasu --- shimasen
Informal	Group 1
	Replace the final ~ u with ~anai (If verb ending is a vowel + ~ u, replace with ~ wanai)	kiku --- kikanai nomu --- nomanai au --- awanai
	Group 2
	Replace ~ ru with ~ nai	miru --- minai taberu --- tabenai
	Group 3
	kuru --- konai, suru ---shinai

Past Negative

Formal	All Verbs (Group 1, 2, 3)
	Add ~ deshita to the formal present negative form	nomimasen --- nomimasen deshita tabemasen --- tabemasen deshita kimasen--- kimasen deshita shimasen--- shimasen deshita
Informal	All Verbs (Group 1, 2, 3)
	Replace ~ nai with ~ nakatta	nomanai --- nomanakattatabenai --- tabenakattakonai --- konakatta shinai ---shinakatta

Inviting

Formal (won’t you?)	All Verbs (Group 1, 2, 3)
	Replace ~ masu with ~ masen ka	nomimasu --- nomimasen ka tabemasu --- tabemasen ka kimasu --- kimasen ka shimasu --- shimasen ka
Formal (Let’s)	All Verbs (Group 1, 2, 3)
	Replace ~ masu with ~ mashoo	nomimasu --- nomimashoo tabemasu --- tabemashoo kimasu --- kimashoo shimasu --- shimashoo

	Plain Forms	Polite Forms	Notes
～る Verbs	Group 2
To eat	食べる	食べます	The basic form of Group 2 verbs end with either "~iru" or "~ eru".
Don’t eat	食べない	食べません
ate	食べた	食べました
Didn’t eat	食べなかった	食べませんでした
Let’s eat Won’t you eat		食べましょう 食べませんか
～う Verbs	Group 1
To drink	のむ	のみます	The basic form of Group 1 verbs end with "~ u".
Don’t drink	のまない	のみません
Drank	のんだ	のみました
Didn’t drink	のまなかった	のみませんでした
Let’s drink		のみましょう
Won’t you drink?		のみませんか
	Plain Forms	Polite Forms	Notes
Irregular Verbs
To come	来る	来ます	There are only 2 irregular verbs.  They do not behave like each other or like any other verbs so must be simply memorised.
Isn’t coming	来ない	来ません
Came	来た	来ました
Didn’t come	来なかった	来ませんでした
Won’t you come?		来ませんか
To do	する	します
Isn’t doing	しない	しません
Did	した	しました
Didn’t do	しなかった	しませんでした
Let’s do		しましょう
Won’t you do X?		しませんか