|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Starry Starry Fright Captain
|
 Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 1:50 pm
 |
|
|
 |
Hello again, my students.
I hope you've all been memorizing your lessons dutifully, because this one is going to be tricky. Mastering the concepts in this lesson will make the difference between parroting preschool-level Japanese and being able to form coherent, thoughtful sentences. Being introduced to this material is the point where many of my classmates decided to end their studies in Japanese.
We are going to learn about verbs.
To start, we're going to examine all of the different kinds of verbs. You know that in English, there are past tense, present tense and future tense (ex. I run, ran, will run). This is also true for Japanese, with a slight difference - they have formal verbs and nonformal verbs. What have been learning so far is the "formal" version. Let's review.
tabemasu (eat)
tabemasen (do not eat)
tabemashita (ate)
tabemasen deshita (did not eat)
This is known as "masu" form.
Now, this is not the verb that you would see in a Japanese dictionary. If you wanted to find this word in the dictionary, it would come up as:
taberu
This is called "dictionary" or "ru" form. To understand how we make this form, we have to learn about verb groups.
Dun dun dun.
eek
Japanese verbs are divided into three groups, called Group One, Group Two and Group Three/Irregulars. Unfortunately, this means memorization. You must memorize which verb goes in which group, just like Japanese students do. I will list some examples below for you to start memorizing.
GROUP ONE
hanashimasu (to speak)
kakimasu (to write)
kikimasu (to listen)
nomimasu (to drink)
ikimasu (to go)
aimasu (to meet)
So how do we change these to dictionary form? Drop the "imasu" and add "u".
hanasu
kaku
kiku
nomu
iku
au
Likewise, if you see a dictionary form verb and want to change it into masu from, drop the "u" and add "imasu".
GROUP TWO
tabemasu (to eat)
mimasu (to see)
okimasu (to wake up)
nemasu (to sleep)
These ones are easier to deal with. Just drop the "masu" and add "ru".
taberu
miru
okiru
neru
Easy! And to change them back, drop the "ru" and add "masu".
GROUP THREE
shimasu (to do)
kimasu (to come)
These are all memorization. They turn into:
suru
kuru
So when do you use this dictionary form? Well, obviously, to look things up in the dictionary, but it is also used in conversation with close friends and family members as a less formal alternative.
All of the forms contained in this lesson are present tense. Past and negative tenses will be covered in the next few lessons.
How is everyone finding this lesson? Be sure to post any questions or problems you have and check the homework board frequently for chances to practice your knowledge.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:41 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 8:17 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 11:58 am
|
Starry Starry Fright Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:31 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:29 pm
|
|
|
|
Starry Starry Fright xXSakura-chanxX67 Starry Starry Fright xXSakura-chanxX67 Oh no.. I am seriously confused by this xd I will post a practice thread for this in the Homework forum. Yes! Putting the verb in dictionary form doesn't change its meaning. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:35 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 11:24 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 3:11 pm
|
Starry Starry Fright Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 1:51 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 12:50 pm
|
Starry Starry Fright Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 12:50 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2010 8:25 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Starry Starry Fright Captain
|
Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 2:59 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
