What is the Ta Form?
The た form is how you talk about the past in casual Japanese. It's the plain equivalent of ました. When you're telling a friend what happened yesterday, recounting a story, or writing in a casual diary. た form is what you use. Our lesson on Japanese past tense covers both the casual た form and its polite counterpart ました.
Here's the best part: if you already know て form, you already know た form. The conjugation patterns are identical. You just swap て for た, and で for だ. Same rules, different ending.
Conjugation Rules
U-verbs
Ending in う, つ, る → った
| Dictionary | Ta-Form |
|---|---|
| 買う (kau) | 買った |
| 待つ (matsu) | 待った |
| 帰る (kaeru) | 帰った |
Ending in む, ぶ, ぬ → んだ
| Dictionary | Ta-Form |
|---|---|
| 飲む (nomu) | 飲んだ |
| 遊ぶ (asobu) | 遊んだ |
| 死ぬ (shinu) | 死んだ |
Ending in く → いた
| Dictionary | Ta-Form |
|---|---|
| 書く (kaku) | 書いた |
| 聞く (kiku) | 聞いた |
Ending in ぐ → いだ
| Dictionary | Ta-Form |
|---|---|
| 泳ぐ (oyogu) | 泳いだ |
| 急ぐ (isogu) | 急いだ |
Ending in す → した
| Dictionary | Ta-Form |
|---|---|
| 話す (hanasu) | 話した |
| 押す (osu) | 押した |
Ru-verbs
Drop る, add た:
| Dictionary | Ta-Form |
|---|---|
| 食べる (taberu) | 食べた |
| 見る (miru) | 見た |
| 寝る (neru) | 寝た |
Irregular Verbs
| Dictionary | Ta-Form |
|---|---|
| する | した |
| 来る (kuru) | きた |
| 行く (iku) | 行った |
Same as te-form: 行く is the exception that uses った instead of いた.
Te-Form and Ta-Form: The Connection
If you know one, you know the other:
| Te-Form | Ta-Form |
|---|---|
| 買って | 買った |
| 飲んで | 飲んだ |
| 書いて | 書いた |
| 泳いで | 泳いだ |
| 話して | 話した |
| 食べて | 食べた |
Every て becomes た. Every で becomes だ. That's literally the entire relationship.
Uses Beyond Simple Past
The ta-form isn't only for past tense. It also shows up in:
- Conditional (たら): 食べたら = if/when you eat
- Experience (ことがある): 行ったことがある = have been to
- Discovery: 見たら猫がいた = when I looked, there was a cat
- Casual completion: もう食べた = already ate