Lesson Nineteen: Verbs in Sentences
Now it’s time to start using verbs in sentences. You’re doing great for getting this far!
When we want to use a verb in a sentence we can use the “masu” form. No matter what kind of verb it is it will end with ます (masu) when it’s in “masu” form. A verb with ます (masu) is non-past. This means that it can be either present tense of future tense. That can be a little confusing, especially at first!
Since it can be future or present tense, the sentence “watashi wa tabemasu” can be either of the two sentences below.
“I will eat.” (I’m going to eat in the future.)
“I eat.” (I eat, that’s what I do.)
Check out these conjugated verbs and see if you can determine how they were conjugated.
will go | ikimasu | いきます |
will see | mimasu | みます |
Now let’s use these in sentences. Remember there are three main parts of a sentence. The subject (topic), the object and the verb. We need a special type of word called a particle to show how words are used in a sentence. Remember? We mark the topic of the sentence with the は (wa) particle.
To mark the direct object of a sentence we use the particle を (wo). Remember that is goes right after the word that is the direct object of the verb. So how do you know what the direct object is? It’s the word that the verb acts on in Japanese, or in English.
So for the phrase “Johnny walked to the store,” “store” is not the direct object. The walking didn’t happen to the store. The store wouldn’t afterwards say “Man, I just got walked.” But in the phrase “Johnny ate the sushi,” the sushi is the direct object. The eating happened to the sushi.
Here are some sentences with verbs and direct objects.
Terakami ate sushi. | terakamisan wa sushi wo tabemashita. | てらかみさんはすしをたべました。 |
Ueno will read a book. | uenosan wa hon wo yomimasu. | うえのさんはほんをよみます。 |
Don’t forget that the verb goes at the end of the sentence! Learning how to make sentences correctly is important in any language!
Here are some more verbs to play around with. Just so you know, you should use が (ga) instead of を (wo) with the verb “wakaru.” I’ll tell you more about が (ga) later.
eat | taberu | たべる |
read | yomu | よむ |
meet | au | あう |
write | kaku | かく |
hurry | isogu | いそぐ |
Here are some words that can work well with direct objects.
speak | hanasu | はなす |
see | miru | みる |
go | iku | いく |
do | suru | する |
come | kuru | くる |
Time to practice these words. Think of how you can use them in sentences!
GAME: Word search
We can also replace the (masu) with other things to use the verb differently. Using this was can make verbs past tense, negative, or negative past tense! All that we need to change is the ます (masu).
We can change it into ました (mashita) to make it past tense. We can also change it to “masen” to make it negative. Lastly we can change the ます (masu) into ませんでした (masen deshita) in order to make it past negative. These different tenses work just like the different tenses of です (desu)!
Using verbs is important!
GAME: Flash cards
I hope you’re getting used to making sentences in Japanese! If not, it’s time to go back and review some lessons!
Remember how there was a formal and informal form of “desu”? I’ll explain informal forms of verbs soon!
