JAPANESE TENSE




DEFINITION: Tenses can indicate a relationship between the time the action in a verb occurs and the time the verb is uttered, In Japanese exist only two tenses, the present and the past tense.

PRESENT TENSE

In this tense exist two forms the affirmative and negative present.

  1. Affirmative

    In Japanese for the affirmative tense you can add the word ます (masu) in the final of the verb or not.

    English Japanese Romanji
    I'm eating 私は食べています Watashi wa tabete imasu
    You are dancing あなたが踊っている Anata ga odotte iru
    He is playing 彼が演奏しているます Kare ga ensō shite irumasu
    She is cooking 彼女は料理です Kanojo wa ryōridesu
    We are writing 我々は書いている Wareware wa kaite iru
    They are painting 彼らは,塗装されています Karera wa, tosō sa rete imasu

  2. Negative

    In Japanese for the affirmative tense you can add the word masen in the final of the verb or not.

    English Japanese Romanji
    I do not play 果たし再生されません Watashi wa saisei sa remasen
    you don't dance あなたはダンスはありません Anata wa dansu wa arimasen
    He is not singing 彼は歌っていません Kare wa utatte imasen
    She is not writing 彼女が執筆されていません Kanojo ga shippitsu sa rete imasen
    We are not swimming 我々は,水泳されていません Wareware wa, suiei sa rete imasen
    They are not jumping 彼らはジャンプしていない Karera wa janpu shite inai


PAST TENSE

In this tense exist two forms the affirmative and negative past.

  1. Affirmative

    In Japanese for the affirmative tense you can add the word mashita in the final of the verb or not.

    English Japanese Romanji
    I was singing 私が歌っていた Watashi ga utatte ita
    You were eating あなたが食べていた Anata ga tabete ita
    He was jumping 彼がジャンプした Kare ga janpu shita
    She was running 彼女は走っていた Kanojo wa hashitte ita
    We were playing 私たちは遊んでいた Watashi-tachi wa asonde ita
    They were playing 彼らが遊んでいた Karera ga asonde ita

  2. Negative

    In Japanese for the affirmative tense you can add the word masen deshita in the final of the verb or not.

    English Japanese Romanji
    I was not playing 私は再生されていない Watashi wa saisei sa rete inai
    You did not play あなたは演奏されなかった Anata wa ensō sa renakatta
    He did not dance 彼は踊ることはなかった Kare wa odoru koto wa nakatta
    She did not read 彼女が読んでいない Kanojo ga yonde inai
    We did not work 我々は動作しませんでした Wareware wa dōsa shimasendeshita
    They did not sing 彼らが歌うしませんでした Karera ga utaushimasendeshita





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