More from the masu stem
Going to do something with 見に行く, doing two things at once with ながら, はじめる, おわる and つづける, and the negative and past of たい (Higher).
Learn
More from the masu stem, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Find the ます stem
The stem is the verb without ます: 飲み from 飲みます, 食べ from 食べます, し from します. Several Higher patterns attach straight to it, just as たいです does.
Say what you are going somewhere to do with に
Stem plus に plus a verb of going says why you go: 友だちに 会いに 行きます, 昼ごはんを 食べに 家へ 帰ります. With a する noun, the noun alone can take に: 買い物に 行きます.
Do two things at once with ながら
Stem plus ながら means while doing: 音楽を 聞きながら 勉強します. The main action goes last, and the same person does both.
Start, finish and keep going with はじめる, 終わる and つづける
Add these to the stem: 読みはじめました (started reading), 書き終わりました (finished writing), 雨が ふりつづけています (it keeps on raining). They change like ordinary verbs, so they take every ending.
Say what you don't want to do
たい works like an い-adjective, so its negative is たくないです or たくありません: 行きたくないです. Never use じゃありません with it.
Say what you wanted, or didn't want, to do
The past of たい is たかったです: 行きたかったです (I wanted to go). Its past negative is たくなかったです: 行きたくなかったです (I didn't want to go).
More from the masu stem key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- ます stem
- The verb without ます, which other endings attach to: 読み, 見.
- Purpose に
- Stem plus に plus a verb of going or coming, to say why you go: 買いに 行きます.
- ながら
- While doing, for one person doing two things at once.
- はじめる
- Start, added to a stem: 食べはじめる means start eating.
- 終わる
- Finish, added to a stem: 読み終わる means finish reading.
- つづける
- Keep on, after a stem: 話しつづける.
- たくないです
- Don't want to, the negative of たいです: 見たくないです.
- たかったです
- Wanted to, the past of たいです: 見たかったです.
Common mistakes in More from the masu stem
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Using ながら for two people, as in 母が 料理を しながら、 私は テレビを 見ました.
ながら is for one person doing both things: 私は 音楽を 聞きながら 料理を しました. For two people, use two sentences.
Putting the main action in the ながら part.
The main action goes last: 音楽を 聞きながら 勉強します is studying with music on. Swap them and the music becomes the main thing.
Using the dictionary form for purpose, as in 見るに 行きます.
Purpose uses the stem: 見に 行きます, 会いに 来ました.
Making the past of たい with でした, as in 行きたいでした.
たい changes like an い-adjective: 行きたかったです. Its negative is 行きたくないです, not 行きたいじゃありません.
Practice
Try a More from the masu stem question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Which sentence means 'I started studying Japanese last year'?
- きょねん 日本語を 勉強しおわりました。
- きょねん 日本語を 勉強しはじめました。
- きょねん 日本語を 勉強しつづけました。
- きょねん 日本語を 勉強しに 行きました。
Show the answer and the working
Answer: きょねん 日本語を 勉強しはじめました。
Started is stem + はじめました: 勉強しはじめました.
- Start: はじめる.
- Stem 勉強し + はじめました.
- So the first sentence.