Past Tense in Japanese: One Past for Every Verb

The past tense: one past for every verb

Past time words take no particle: 昨日行きました, “I went yesterday”. Specific dates and times take に.

Short answer: Japanese has a single past tense, which covers English “ate”, “have eaten” and “did eat”. For verbs, change ます to ました (and ません to ませんでした). For い-adjectives, change い to かった. For nouns and な-adjectives, change です to でした. With friends, verbs use the plain た form: 食べた, 行った.

Verbs: ました and ませんでした

Built on the same stem as the ます form, so if you can say 食べます you can already say 食べました.

Past	Meaning	Past negative
tabemashita	ate	食べませんでした
nomimashita	drank	飲みませんでした
ikimashita	went	行きませんでした
mimashita	saw, watched	見ませんでした
shimashita	did	しませんでした
kimashita	came	来ませんでした

Adjectives and nouns in the past

The three word types each mark the past their own way. い-adjectives carry the past themselves; nouns and な-adjectives put it on です.

	was	was not
い-adjective	高かったです takakatta desu	高くなかったです takakunakatta desu
な-adjective	静かでした shizuka deshita	静かじゃなかったです shizuka ja nakatta desu
noun	雨でした ame deshita	雨じゃなかったです ame ja nakatta desu

The plain past: the た form

With friends and in writing, verbs use the plain past. It is made exactly like the て form, with た in place of て (and だ in place of で).

Past time words

These words point to the past. Like other relative time words, they take no particle.

Already and not yet

もう + past means “already”. For “not yet”, Japanese does not use the past: it uses まだ + ていません, because the action has still not happened.

もうmōalready昼ご飯ひるごはんhirugohanlunchをo(object)食べましたかたべましたかtabemashita kaate?

Mō hirugohan o tabemashita ka. · “Have you had lunch yet?”もう + past question: “already?”

はいhaiyesもうmōalready食べましたたべましたtabemashitaate

Hai, mō tabemashita. · “Yes, I’ve already eaten.”One past form covers “ate” and “have eaten”.

宿題しゅくだいshukudaihomeworkはwa(topic)終わりましたかおわりましたかowarimashita kafinished?

Shukudai wa owarimashita ka. · “Have you finished your homework?”終わる: to end, finish.

いいえiienoまだmadanot yetですdesuis

Iie, mada desu. · “No, not yet.”まだです is the short answer; the full one is まだ終わっていません.

Patterns built on the た form

The plain past is the base for several key patterns. Each has its own page later in the course.

Pattern	Meaning	Use
itta koto ga aru	have been	experience
ittara	when / if (I) go	condition
ittari kitari	going back and forth	examples
itta hō ga ii	you should go	advice

たり〜たりする: doing things like…

たり lists a few example actions, not all of them, and ends with する. It is the verb version of や.

週末しゅうまつshūmatsuweekendはwa(topic)掃除したりそうじしたりsōji shitaricleaning and買い物したりかいものしたりkaimono shitarishopping andしますshimasudo

Shūmatsu wa sōji shitari kaimono shitari shimasu.“At weekends I do things like cleaning and shopping.”Why: Only the final する shows tense and politeness.

昨日きのうkinōyesterdayはwa(topic)本ほんhonbooksをo(object)読んだりよんだりyondarireading and寝たりねたりnetarisleepingしましたshimashitadid

Kinō wa hon o yondari netari shimashita.“Yesterday I read and slept, that sort of thing.”Why: Past: しました at the end.

The past before a noun

A plain past verb placed before a noun describes it: 昨日買った本, “the book (I) bought yesterday”. The verb always comes first, the noun last.

た for “oh, there it is”

Japanese uses た when you suddenly notice or remember something, even though English uses the present.

あaohあったattathere it is

A, atta!“Oh, here it is!”Why: Finding something you were looking for.

バスbasubusがga(subject)来たきたkitacame

Basu ga kita!“Here comes the bus!”Why: Spotting it arriving.

明日あしたashitatomorrowはwa(topic)休みやすみyasumiday offだったdattawas

Ashita wa yasumi datta!“Oh, tomorrow’s a day off!”Why: Remembering: past form, future meaning.

Check yourself: make it past

Give the plain past, then open the answer.

go行くいくiku
Show answer
行った (exception).
drink飲むのむnomu
Show answer
飲んだ.
write書くかくkaku
Show answer
書いた.
expensive高いたかいtakai
Show answer
高かった.
quiet静かだしずかだshizuka da
Show answer
静かだった.
goodいいii
Show answer
よかった (from よい).

A day in the past

A short account of yesterday. Every sentence ends in a past form.

昨日きのうkinōyesterdayはwa(topic)雨あめamerainでしたdeshitawas

Kinō wa ame deshita.“Yesterday it rained.”Why: Noun + でした: “it was rain”.

家いえiehomeでdeat映画えいがeigafilmをo(object)見ましたみましたmimashitawatched

Ie de eiga o mimashita.“I watched a film at home.”Why: で: the place the action happened.

とてもtotemovery面白かったおもしろかったomoshirokattawas interestingですdesu(polite)

Totemo omoshirokatta desu.“It was really good.”Why: い-adjective past: かった, with です for politeness.