Lesson 6: Past Tense Basics (～ました / ～でした)

Forming the Past Tense (～ました / ～ませんでした)

Japanese polite past tense is formed by changing ます to ました (positive) or ません to ませんでした (negative). This indicates completed actions or states in the past.

Positive Past (～ました)

Replace ～ます with ～ました.

Negative Past (～ませんでした)

Replace ～ません (negative present) with ～ませんでした (negative past).

didn't go

• Present Negative:
  行いきません
• Past Negative:
  行いきませんでした

didn't eat

• Present Negative:
  食たべません
• Past Negative:
  食たべませんでした

didn't see/watch

• Present Negative:
  見みません
• Past Negative:
  見みませんでした

didn't drink

• Present Negative:
  飲のみません
• Past Negative:
  飲のみませんでした

didn't do

• Present Negative: しません
• Past Negative: しませんでした

didn't come

• Present Negative:
  来くません
• Past Negative:
  来くませんでした

Examples Across Verb Types:

Positive Past Examples

Negative Past Examples

Cultural Note:
When talking about past events in Japanese, the level of politeness remains important. The ～ました form is suitable for most situations when speaking with people you don't know well, superiors, or in formal settings. In casual conversations among friends and family, shortened forms like
食たべた
and
行いった are more common, which we'll explore further in future lessons.

Using Time Words with Past Tense

Time expressions help specify when an action happened in the past. These words are essential for providing context to your past tense verbs.

Common Past Time Expressions:

Placement in Sentences

Time expressions are typically placed at the beginning of the sentence or after the topic marked with は.

Examples Using Time Words:

Grammar Note:
You can add は after a time expression to emphasize it:
昨日きのうは映画えいがを見みました
(As for yesterday, I watched a movie).

Cultural Note:
Japanese people often use time expressions precisely. While in English you might say "I saw him the other day" somewhat vaguely, in Japanese, people tend to be more specific about when events occurred, using expressions like
先週せんしゅうの水曜日すいようび
(last Wednesday) when possible.

Past Tense for Adjectives and Nouns

Unlike verbs, adjectives and nouns have their own patterns for forming the past tense in Japanese.

You may find it helpful to revisit this section after completing the next lesson on adjectives for a more complete understanding. In this section, we focus specifically on how adjectives form their past tense.

い-Adjectives in Past Tense

Positive Polite

Pattern: い → かったです
Example:
高たかい → 高たかかったです
Takai → Takakatta desu
"was expensive"

Negative Polite

Pattern: くないです → くなかったです
Example:
高たかくないです → 高たかくなかったです
Takaku nai desu → Takaku nakatta desu
"wasn't expensive"

Positive Casual

Pattern: い → かった
Example:
高たかい → 高たかかった
Takai → Takakatta
"was expensive"

Negative Casual

Pattern: くない → くなかった
Example:
高たかくない → 高たかくなかった
Takaku nai → Takaku nakatta
"wasn't expensive"

な-Adjectives and Nouns in Past Tense

Positive Polite

Pattern: です → でした
Examples:
静しずかです → 静しずかでした
Shizuka desu → Shizuka deshita
("was quiet")
学生がくせいです → 学生がくせいでした
Gakusei desu → Gakusei deshita
("was a student")

Negative Polite

Pattern: ではないです → ではなかったです
Example:
静しずかではないです → 静しずかではなかったです
Shizuka dewa nai desu → Shizuka dewa nakatta desu
"wasn't quiet"

Positive Casual

Pattern: だ → だった
Examples:
静しずかだ → 静しずかだった
Shizuka da → Shizuka datta
("was quiet")
学生がくせいだ → 学生がくせいだった
Gakusei da → Gakusei datta
("was a student")

Negative Casual

Pattern: じゃない → じゃなかった
Example:
静しずかじゃない → 静しずかじゃなかった
Shizuka ja nai → Shizuka ja nakatta
"wasn't quiet"

Examples in Sentences:

Usage Tip:
The casual forms (だった, じゃなかった) are used among friends and family. In polite situations, use でした or ではなかったです. Similarly, for い-adjectives, use the polite かったです in formal situations.

Particles は・が in Past Tense Contexts

When describing past events, the particles は and が continue to play their important roles, with は marking general topics or background information, and が emphasizing specific or new information.

Using は for General Context in Past Tense

The particle は is used to mark the topic of a sentence, including when talking about past events. It often introduces what you're going to comment on.

Using が for Specific Emphasis in Past Tense

The particle が highlights or emphasizes a specific subject, particularly when providing new information or answering "who" or "what" questions about past events.

Examples with は and が in Past Contexts:

Common Patterns:

1. Time expression + は: Sets up a timeframe as the topic
   昨日きのうは忙いそがしかったです。
   (Yesterday was busy.)

2. Question words + が: Used in questions about specific elements
   誰だれが来きましたか？
   (Who came?)

3. Specific subject + が + verb: Emphasizes who or what did something
   田中たなかさんが話はなしました。
   (Tanaka-san (specifically) spoke.)

Cultural Note:
In Japanese conversations about past events, maintaining appropriate politeness levels remains important. When discussing past actions with people you don't know well or in formal situations, it's best to use the polite past forms (～ました, でした) rather than casual forms, even when talking about events that happened long ago.

Past Tense Questions and Responses

Asking and answering questions about past events is an essential skill in Japanese conversation. Here's how to form questions about past actions and respond appropriately.

Forming Past Tense Questions

To form a question about a past event, simply add か at the end of a past tense sentence:

Example 1: Verb "to go"

Statement:
行いきました。
Ikimashita
"I went."
Question:
行いきましたか？
Ikimashita ka?
"Did you go?"

Example 2: Verb "to see"

Statement:
見みました。
Mimashita.
"I saw."
Question:
見みましたか？
Mimashita ka?
"Did you see?"

Example 3: Adjective "fun"

Statement:
楽たのしかったです。
Tanoshikatta desu.
"It was fun."
Question:
楽たのしかったですか？
Tanoshikatta desu ka?
"Was it fun?"

Responding to Past Tense Questions

Positive Responses:

• はい、行いきました。
  Hai, ikimashita
  (Yes, I went.)
• はい、見みました。
  Hai, mimashita
  (Yes, I saw it.)
• はい、楽たのしかったです。
  Hai, tanoshikatta desu
  (Yes, it was fun.)

Negative Responses:

• いいえ、行いきませんでした。
  Iie, ikimasen deshita
  (No, I didn't go.)
• いいえ、見みませんでした。
  Iie, mimasen deshita
  (No, I didn't see it.)
• いいえ、楽たのしくなかったです。
  Iie, tanoshiku nakatta desu
  (No, it wasn't fun.)

Common Question Patterns:

Cultural Note:
When answering questions about past events in Japanese, it's common to repeat the verb in your response rather than just saying "yes" or "no" as you might in English. This creates clearer communication and is considered more polite and complete.

Putting It All Together: Talking About Your Day

Now let's combine everything we've learned about past tense to talk about events that happened in your day or week. This is a common conversation topic in Japanese, especially when meeting friends or colleagues.

Sample Daily Report (My day yesterday)

Practice Dialogue: Talking About Yesterday

A: 昨日きのう、何なにをしましたか？
(Kinō, nani o shimashita ka?)
"What did you do yesterday?"

B: 昨日きのうは友達ともだちと映画えいがを見みました。
田中たなかさんは？
(Kinō wa tomodachi to eiga o mimashita. Tanaka-san wa?)
"Yesterday, I watched a movie with my friend. How about you, Tanaka-san?"

A: 私わたしは家いえで勉強べんきょうしました。
映画えいがは面白おもしろかったですか？
(Watashi wa ie de benkyō shimashita. Eiga wa omoshirokatta desu ka?)
"I studied at home. Was the movie interesting?"

B: はい、とても面白おもしろかったです。
でも、長ながかったです。
(Hai, totemo omoshirokatta desu. Demo, nagakatta desu.)
"Yes, it was very interesting. But it was long."

A: そうですか。何時なんじに家いえに帰かえりましたか？
(Sō desu ka. Nanji ni ie ni kaerimashita ka?)
"I see. What time did you go home?"

B: 9時くじに帰かえりました。
晩ばんごはんを食たべませんでした。
(Ku-ji ni kaerimashita. Bangohan o tabemasendeshita.)
"I went home at 9 o'clock. I didn't eat dinner."

Try practicing this dialogue with a partner, substituting your own activities!

Cultural Note:
When having conversations about past activities in Japanese, it's common to ask follow-up questions to show interest. This back-and-forth exchange of information creates harmony (和/wa) in the conversation and builds relationships. The phrase そうですか ("I see" or "Is that so?") is frequently used to acknowledge what someone has said before asking a follow-up question.