Polite verbs: the masu form

1. Put the verb at the end of the sentence

   A Japanese sentence ends with its verb, and who, when, where and what all come before it: 私は あした 友だちと 町で えいがを 見ます。 The order of the other parts can move, but the verb stays last, and time words usually sit near the front.

2. Use ます for now and for the future

   The ます form covers what you do and what you will do: まいにち テニスを します (I play tennis every day), あした テニスを します (I'll play tennis tomorrow). Japanese has no separate future tense, so a time word shows which you mean.

3. Make a verb negative with ません

   Swap ます for ません: 食べます becomes 食べません, and 行きます becomes 行きません. Like ます, it can be about now or the future: あした 学校へ 行きません.

4. Talk about the past with ました and ませんでした

   For the past, swap ます for ました: きのう えいがを 見ました. For the past negative, add でした to ません: しゅくだいを しませんでした. Every verb follows this pattern in the ます form, irregular ones included.

5. Suggest and invite with ましょう and ませんか

   ましょう means let's: いっしょに 行きましょう. ましょうか offers help or asks shall we: まどを あけましょうか (Shall I open the window?). ませんか makes a polite invitation, like won't you: いっしょに 食べませんか.

6. Say what you want to do with たいです

   Put たいです on the stem, the part before ます: 行きます gives 行きたいです, and 食べます gives 食べたいです. The thing you want can take を or が: すしが 食べたいです. Use it for your own wishes, and ask about other people's: 何が したいですか.

7. Find the stem, and know the three verb groups

   The stem is everything before ます: のみ, 食べ, し. Group 2 verbs end in る with an え or い sound just before it (食べる, 見る); most other verbs are group 1 (のむ, かう, わかる), and する and 来る are irregular. A few verbs that look like group 2 are really group 1, such as かえる (go home) and 入る, and the group decides how the te-form is made.

ます form

The polite form of a verb, for the present and the future: 行きます.

Stem

The part of a verb before ます: 食べ in 食べます. たい and ましょう attach to it.

ません

The polite negative: 行きません, I don't go or I won't go.

ました

The polite past: 行きました, I went.

ませんでした

The polite past negative: 行きませんでした, I didn't go.

ましょう

Let's, added to the stem: はじめましょう means let's start.

たいです

Want to, added to the stem: 見たいです, I want to see it.

Dictionary form

The form a verb takes in a dictionary or word list, such as 行く or 食べる. At Foundation you need to recognise it, and at Higher you use it in sentences.

Verb group

One of the three sets Japanese verbs fall into. The group decides how the te-form and other forms are made.

• Using a present verb with a past time word, as in きのう 行きます.

  Match the ending to the time word: きのう 行きました, あした 行きます. Examiners treat a clash like this as an error that makes you hard to follow.

• Saying I want to go as 行きますたい.

  たい takes the place of ます: 行きたいです. Take off ます first, then add たいです.

• Using ましょう to say what you will do, as in あした べんきょうしましょう for I'll study tomorrow.

  ましょう means let's. For your own plan, use ます with a time word: あした べんきょうします.

• Putting the verb in the middle, as English does: 私は 食べます すしを.

  The verb goes last: 私は すしを 食べます. Build the sentence up and finish with the verb.

• Adding です after a verb, as in 食べましたです.

  A ます form is already polite and complete, so nothing follows it: 食べました. です belongs after nouns and adjectives.

More Verbs and their forms topics

• Existing, giving and receiving
• The te-form
• Plain forms
• The nai-form
• The ta-form
• The dictionary form

Keep reading

• What are the GCSE Japanese grade boundaries?
• The GCSE Japanese syllabus, explained