Verb forms – Japanese N5 grammar
Meaning, explanation and example sentences with translations.
〜ます · I do, I will do (polite form)
the polite verb form in the non-past
The default form when talking to someone you do not know well. It covers the present and the future at once — Japanese does not separate them with different endings; the context or a time expression in the sentence decides.
verb stem + ます (書く → 書きます, 食べる → 食べます, する → します)
Examples
- 毎朝、新聞を読みます。I read the newspaper every morning.A recurring action — the present.
- 明日、友だちに会います。I am meeting a friend tomorrow.The same ending, and yet the future. 明日 settles it.
〜ません · I do not do, I will not do (polite form)
the polite negative of an action
The negative of the ます form. It is made by swapping the ending alone, with no extra word — Japanese has no counterpart to the English “do not” placed before the verb.
masu-stem + ません
Examples
- お酒は飲みません。I do not drink alcohol.The topic marked with は stresses that it is alcohol in particular that is meant.
- 今日はどこへも行きません。I am not going anywhere today.Under negation, a question word with も gives the sense of “nowhere / nothing / nobody”.
〜ました · I did (polite form)
the polite form of an action already done
The past tense in the polite register. A single ending covers what English splits between the simple past and the present perfect — 見ました means both “I watched” and “I have watched”.
masu-stem + ました; negative: 〜ませんでした
Examples
- 昨日、映画を見ました。I watched a film yesterday.An event closed off in the past.
- 先週、京都へ行きました。I went to Kyoto last week.The time expression and the ending point to the past in agreement.
〜て · …, and then…; the linking form
joining actions in the order they happened
Binds sentences into one utterance and puts them in chronological order. It carries no information about tense or politeness itself — that is settled only by the final verb of the sentence.
書く → 書いて, 読む → 読んで, 食べる → 食べて, する → して, 来る → 来て
Examples
- 朝ごはんを食べて、会社へ行きます。I eat breakfast and go to work.The order of events is the order of the verbs. Reversing them would change the meaning.
- 手を洗って、ごはんを作ります。I wash my hands and make some food.The tense of the whole utterance is carried only by 作ります at the end.
〜ています（進行） · I am doing right now
an action under way at the moment of speaking
Describes what is going on now and has not finished yet. It works with verbs naming an action spread over time — reading, eating, watching.
te-form + います
Examples
- 今、音楽を聞いています。I am listening to music right now.The word 今 settles the reading as an action in progress.
- 弟は部屋でゲームをしています。My brother is playing a game in his room.The action is under way and has not been interrupted.
〜ています（結果の状態） · lives, is married — the result lasts, not the act
a state that holds after the action has finished
The same spelling, and an entirely different meaning. With verbs naming a one-off change — moving in, getting married, opening — 〜ています speaks not of the action lasting but of its result lasting. 住んでいます does not mean “I am moving in right now”, it means “I live here”. The division is not rigid: with some verbs, 着る among them, both readings are possible and the context decides.
te-form + います, with verbs of a one-off change of state
Examples
- 姉は東京に住んでいます。My sister lives in Tokyo.The move already happened; what lasts is its result.
- 田中さんは結婚しています。Mr Tanaka is married.Reading it as “he is getting married right now” would be a mistake — this is a state, not a ceremony.
〜ない · I do not do (plain form)
the negative of a verb in plain form
The counterpart of ません in casual speech, among people close to one another and in writing. Beyond register it has a second job: it is the base on which requests to refrain and expressions of obligation are built.
書く → 書かない, 食べる → 食べない, する → しない, 来る → 来ない
Examples
- 今日は何も食べない。I am not eating anything today.The casual register — this is how one speaks to oneself or to people close by.
- 彼はたばこを吸わない。He does not smoke.A standing trait, not a one-off refusal.
〜た · I did (plain form)
an action already done, in plain form
The plain past. It inflects exactly like the te-form — just swap the final て for た, and で for だ. Whoever has mastered one gets the other for free.
the te-form with て → た (書いて → 書いた, 読んで → 読んだ)
Examples
- 昨日、山に登った。I climbed the mountain yesterday.The counterpart of 登りました in the casual register.
- その本はもう読んだ。I have already read that book.読んで ends in で, so the past form is 読んだ, not 読んた.
〜てから · only after doing…, once…
the second action starts once the first has closed
A stronger version of plain te-form linking: it marks that the second action begins only after the first, and that this order matters. It also serves as the reference point from which elapsed time is counted.
te-form + から
Examples
- 宿題をしてから、遊びます。I will play only after I have done my homework.The stress falls on the playing not starting any earlier.
- 日本に来てから、三年たちました。Three years have passed since I came to Japan.Here から marks the start of the count.
もう · already
a signal that the action is already behind us
Says that something has managed to happen. It goes together with the ました or ています form, because both describe the state after an action. In another context もう simply means “by now”, without referring to anything completed.
もう + verb in the ました form; もう + the ています form
Examples
- 昼ごはんはもう食べました。I have already had lunch.もう and the ました form go together — the question もう食べましたか expects exactly this kind of answer.
- もう帰ってもいいですか。May I go home now?Here もう means “by now”, not “already done”.
まだ · not yet; still
a signal that a state still holds, or has yet to happen
The counterpart of もう, but with a trap in its construction: the negative of もう食べました is not まだ食べませんでした but まだ食べていません — what is meant is a state lasting up to now, not the past. Without negation, まだ means “still”.
まだ + the ていません form (not yet); まだ + an affirmative form (still)
Examples
- 宿題はまだ終わっていません。I have not finished my homework yet.The ていません form, not ませんでした — this is the most common mistake with まだ.
- 父はまだ会社にいます。My father is still at the office.Without negation まだ means “still”, not “not yet”.
Where this comes from
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- Kaname: Japanese GrammarJLPT practice: N5 N4 N3 N2 N1
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