Japanese verbs and actions

Use verbs to describe routines and plans, report what happened, and explain where an action occurs. Learn each verb’s class together with its useful forms, then keep the noun phrases and particles connected to the action they describe.

Learn the verb before changing its ending

Begin with Polite Japanese present verbs. It explains the three verb classes, shows why every verb ending in ru cannot be treated alike, and distinguishes a routine or future plan from an action currently in progress. Continue with past and negative verbs to report an earlier event or deny that it happened.

The same small set of actions appears across the lessons so that you can compare what changes and what remains stable. A verb form does not agree with the subject in number or person. Its ending instead supplies distinctions such as politeness, time, and negation. Each lesson explains the intended context before asking you to choose a form.

Give each noun phrase a job

The object lesson introduces を after the object of an appropriate action. It also explains why a Japanese noun translated as an English object does not always take that particle. Learn the Japanese construction that goes with the verb or expression, instead of translating an English sentence one word at a time.

The place lesson then contrasts the destination of movement, the place where something exists, and the setting of an activity. These distinctions are useful when arranging a meeting, describing a routine, or asking where to find an item. A place name alone does not choose the particle; the intended relationship with the predicate matters.

Produce a small account of your day

After the worked models, write a short account using a familiar action. State what you normally do, change it to yesterday, and then deny an action that did not happen. Add a place only when you can explain its relationship to the verb.

The dialogue game in the past verb lesson reconstructs an exchange about a completed activity. Use the production tasks before that game, since arranging supplied lines does not show whether you can create the message independently. Return later and change the action or the place while keeping the intended time and polarity.

Sources

• Monash University: Activity locations
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: Location and existence
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: Polite nonpast verbs
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: Polite past verbs
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: Destinations with e and ni
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: Objects with o
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: Three verb classes
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: Actions in progress