Japanese Grammar – Plain Past Verbs

Japanese Grammar – Plain Past Form of Verbs – Review Notes

As we learned in our last Japanese grammar lesson, there are 3 types of Japanese verbs.

In today’s grammar lesson, we learned how to change verbs in each of the 3 verb classes from Plain Present to Plain Past, also known as the ta-form.

In these video review notes we will go over today’s Japanese grammar in greater detail and see a list of verbs!

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Today’s Grammar Lesson:

★　Today we will learn how to change verbs from plain present form to plain past form, also known as た-form (ta-form).

★　We learned last time that there are 3 classes of Japanese verbs:

★　う-verbs (u-verbs)

★　る-verbs (ru-verbs)

★　irregular verbs

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Changing う-verbs (u-verbs) to た-form

★　The first type of Japanese verbs is called う-verbs (u-verbs).

★　う-verbs (u-verbs) can end in う (u), つ (tsu), る (ru), む (mu), ぬ (nu), ぶ (bu), く (ku), ぐ (gu), or す (su)

★　Depending on which ending the う-verb (u-verb) has, there are different ways to conjugate it.

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う-verbs that end in う (u), つ (tsu) or る (ru)

★　For u-verbs that end in う (u), つ (tsu), or る (ru), you should change the ending to った (tta)

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Example 1: Verb ending in う (u)

★　洗う (あらう – arau) – wash/will wash – changes to 洗った (あらった – aratta) – washed.

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Example Sentence Plain Present:

後でお皿を洗うつもりです。

Ato de osara o arau tsumori desu.

I intend to wash the dishes later.

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Example Sentence Plain Past:

彼はもう洗ったと思います。

Kare wa mou aratta to omoimasu.

I think he already washed (them).

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Example 2: Verb ending in つ (tsu)

★　立つ (たつ – tatsu) – stand / stand up – changes to 立った (たった – tatta) – stood / stood up

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Example Sentence Plain Present:

立つな！

Tatsu na!

Don’t stand up!

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Example Sentence Plain Past:

赤ちゃんが立った。

Akachan ga tatta.

The baby stood up.

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Example 3: Verb ending in る (ru)

★　怒る (おこる – okoru) – to get angry – changes to 怒った (おこった – okotta) – got angry.

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Example Sentence Plain Present:

お母さんはすぐ怒る。

Okaasan wa sugu okoru.

My mom is quick to get angry.

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Example Sentence Plain Past:

お父さんが怒った。

Otousan ga okotta.

My dad got angry.

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う-verbs that end in む (mu), ぬ (nu), ぶ (bu)

★　For u-verbs that end in む (mu), ぬ (nu), or ぶ (bu), you should change the ending to んだ (nda)

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Example 1: Verb ending in む (mu)

★　読む (よむ – yomu) – read/will read – changes to 読んだ (よんだ – yonda) – read (past).

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Example Sentence Plain Present:

私は毎日新聞を読む。

Watashi wa mainichi shinbun o yomu.

I read the newspaper every day.

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Example Sentence Plain Past:

今週本を３冊読んだ。

Konshuu hon o sansatsu yonda.

I read 3 books this week.

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Example 2: Verb ending in ぬ (nu)

★　死ぬ (しぬ – shinu) – to die/will die – changes to 死んだ (しんだ – shinda) – died.

★　It is best to avoid using these words as much as possible. It is better to use the words 亡くなる (なくなる – nakunaru) – pass away – or 亡くなった (なくなった – nakunatta) – passed away.

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Example 3: Verb ending in ぶ (bu)

★　遊ぶ (あそぶ – asobu) – play/will play – changes to 遊んだ (あそんだ – asonda) – played.

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Example Sentence Plain Present:

友達と遊ぶ。

Tomodachi to asobu.

I will play with my friend.

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Example Sentence Plain Past:

一人で遊んだ。

Hitori de asonda.

I played by myself.

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う-verbs that end in く (ku)

★　For u-verbs that end in く (ku) you should change the ending to いた (ita)

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Example: Verb ending in く (ku)

★　続く (つづく – tsuzuku) – continue/will continue – changes to 続いた (つづいた – tsuzuita) – continued

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Example Sentence Plain Present:

次のページへ続く。

Tsugi no pēji e tsuzuku.

I will continue to the next page.

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Example Sentence Plain Past:

雨が降り続いた。

Ame ga furi tsuzuita.

Rain continued to fall.

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う-verbs that end in ぐ (gu)

★　For u-verbs that end in ぐ (gu) you should change the ending to いだ (ida)

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Example: Verb ending in ぐ (gu)

★　泳ぐ (およぐ – oyogu) – swim/will swim – changes to 泳いだ (およいだ – oyoida) – swam.

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Example Sentence Plain Present:

私は毎日３キロを泳ぐ。

Watashi wa mainichi sankiro o oyogu.

I swim 3 kilometers every day.

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Example Sentence Plain Past:

昨日海で泳いだ。

Kinou umi de oyoida.

Yesterday I swam in the ocean.

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う-verbs that end in す (su)

★　For u-verbs that end in す (su) you should change the ending to した (shita)

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Example: Verb ending in す (su)

★　直す (なおす – naosu) – to fix/repair – changes to 直した (なおした – naoshita) – fixed/repaired.

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Example Sentence Plain Present:

壊れたテレビを直す。

kowareta terebi o naosu.

I will fix the broken TV.

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Example Sentence Plain Past:

彼は私のコンピュータを直した人です。

Kare wa watashi no konpyūta o naoshita hito desu.

He is the person who fixed my computer.

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An Exception to U-verb Rules:

★　An exception to the rules is the verb 行く (いく – iku) – to go.

★　It ends in く (ku) so if you follow the normal rules it would change to 行いた (iita), but this is not correct. The past tense of 行く (いく – iku) is 行った (いった – itta).

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Changing る-verbs (ru-verbs) to た-form

★　The second group of Japanese verbs are called る-verbs (ru-verbs).

★　る-verbs (ru-verbs) are always simple.

★　To change a る-verb (ru-verb) to Plain Past form, just take off る (ru) and add た (ta)

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Example 1: 見る (miru)

★　見る（みる – miru) – to see/watch changes to 見た (みた – mita) – saw/watched

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Example Sentence Plain Present:

私は毎日テレビを見る。

Watashi wa mainichi terebi o miru.

I watch TV everyday.

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Example Sentence Plain Past:

その映画はもう見た。

Sono eiga wa mou mita.

I already saw that movie.

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Example 2: 教える (oshieru)

 ★　教える（おしえる – oshieru) – teach/will teach changes to 教えた (おしえた – oshieta) – taught.

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Example Sentence Plain Present:

私は子供に日本語を教えるつもりです。

Watashi wa kodomo ni nihongo o oshieru tsumori desu.

I intend to teach Japanese to my children.

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Example Sentence Plain Past:

私は子供に日本語を教えた。

Watashi wa kodomo ni Nihongo o oshieta.

I taught Japanese to my children.

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Example 3: 落ちる (ochiru)

 ★　落ちる（おちる – ochiru) – to fall – changes to 落ちた (おちた – ochita) – fell.

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Example Sentence Plain Present:

落ちる！

Ochiru!!

I’ll fall!!

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Example Sentence Plain Past:

石が落ちた。

Ishi ga ochita.

A rock fell.

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Changing Irregular Verbs to Plain Past

★　There are only 2 irregular verbs in Japanese:

★　来る（くる – kuru) which means ‘to come’

★　する (suru) which means ‘to do’

★　来る (くる – kuru) changes to 来た（きた – kita) – came

★　する (suru) changes to した (shita) – did

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List of Japanese Verbs in Plain Past Form:

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List of some common う-verbs in た-form:

会った　　あった　　　atta　　　 　    met

騙した　　だました　　damashita　   tricked

選んだ　　えらんだ　　eranda　　　  chose

太った　　ふとった　　futotta　　　 gained weight

頑張った　がんばった　ganbatta　  did (one’s) best

入った　　はいった　　haitta　　　    entered

話した　　はなした　　hanashita　    talked

払った　　はらった　　haratta　　     payed

光った　　ひかった　　hikatta　　     shined

買った　　かった　　　katta　　　     bought

聞いた　　きいた　　　kiita　　　      listened

守った　　まもった　　mamotta　     protected

待った　　まった　　　matta　　       waited

持った　　もった　　　motta　　       had

泣いた　　ないた　　　naita　　        cried

思った　　おもった　　omotta　        thought

使った　　つかった　　tsukatta　      used

動いた　　うごいた　　ugoita　　      moved

歌った　　うたった　　utatta　　       sung

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List of some common る-verbs in た-form:

開けた　　あけた　　　aketa　　　    opened

褒めた　　ほめた　　　hometa　　　praised

入れた　　いれた　　　ireta　　　　  put in

考えた　　かんがえた　kangaeta　 　thought

借りた　　かりた　　　karita　　　   borrowed

片付けた　かたづけた　katazuketa　 tidied up

数えた　　かぞえた　　kazoeta　　　counted

消えた　　きえた　　　kieta　　　　 disappeared

聞こえた　きこえた　　kikoeta　　　heard

答えた　　こたえた　　kotaeta　　　answered

見せた　　みせた　　　miseta　　　  showed

捨てた　　すてた　　　suteta　　　   threw away

助けた　　たすけた　　tasuketa　　  saved/helped

足りた　　たりた　　　tarita　　　　was enough

疲れた　　つかれた　　tsukareta　　got tired

忘れた　　わすれた　　wasureta　　 forgot

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Next Grammar Lesson:

★　Next time we will learn how to make the Plain Negative Past Tense of verbs!

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