N5 · Verbs
Past, suggestions and invitations in ます
ました, ませんでした, ましょう and ませんか
Change the end of ます to talk about the past, to suggest and to invite.
Once a verb has its ます-form, everything in this topic is a change to the last syllables. ました is the polite past and ませんでした the polite past negative: 行きました "went", 行きませんでした "did not go". The stem stays exactly as it was, so a verb whose ます-form you know has its past already.
Japanese has one past where English has several. 食べました is "I ate", "I have eaten" and "I did eat", and the context decides. The one place English speakers trip is "not yet". Something that has not happened so far is not a past negative but a present state, まだ食べていません; 食べませんでした would say that the chance has come and gone.
ましょう is "let's": 行きましょう "let's go". With か it asks rather than proposes — 行きましょうか "shall we go?" or, offering help, "shall I?". And ませんか, a negative question, is the ordinary way to invite: 一緒に行きませんか "would you like to come with me?".
The invitation is negative for the same reason English says "won't you join us?": a negative question leaves the other person room to say no. That makes ませんか the safer choice with anybody you are not close to, while ましょう assumes the decision has been made and suits people who have already agreed to do something together.
The form
stem (regular) stem (irregular) ending
| wrote | 書きました |
| went home | 帰りました |
| ate | 食べました |
| got up | 起きました |
| did | しました |
| came | 来ました |
| did not write | 書きませんでした |
| did not go home | 帰りませんでした |
| did not eat | 食べませんでした |
| did not get up | 起きませんでした |
| did not do | しませんでした |
| did not come | 来ませんでした |
| let's write | 書きましょう |
| let's go home | 帰りましょう |
| let's eat | 食べましょう |
| let's get up | 起きましょう |
| let's do it | しましょう |
| let's come (again) | 来ましょう |
The rules one by one
For the past, ます becomes ました.
昨日は早く寝ました。I went to bed early yesterday.
For the past negative, でした is added to ません.
週末はどこへも行きませんでした。I did not go anywhere at the weekend.
ましょう proposes doing something together.
そろそろ帰りましょう。Let's start heading home.
ませんか invites, and leaves more room to refuse than ましょう.
今度、一緒に映画を見ませんか。Would you like to see a film together sometime?
ましょうか offers help or asks the group to decide.
荷物を持ちましょうか。Shall I carry your bag?
A closer look
Answering an invitation
An invitation with ませんか is accepted with the positive: いいですね。行きましょう "Sounds good — let's go." Saying no is where English habits fail. A flat いいえ、行きません is grammatical and sounds like a door being shut.
The ordinary refusal leaves the sentence unfinished: 明日はちょっと… "tomorrow is a bit…". Nobody needs the rest. The unfinished sentence is the polite form, and it works because the invitation was itself phrased as a question that could be declined.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the answer to "have you … yet?" is "not yet"
use まだです or まだ〜ていません, not ませんでした.
もう昼ご飯を食べましたか。いいえ、まだ食べていません。Have you had lunch yet? No, not yet.
ませんでした describes a closed stretch of time in which something did not happen. "Not yet" describes the present and leaves the door open, and Japanese marks a present state with ている.
How to spot it
- 〜ました
- 〜ませんでした
- 〜ましょう
- 〜ましょうか
- 〜ませんか
- 昨日
- 先週
- もう
Example sentences
先週、京都に行きました。I went to Kyoto last week.
今朝は何も食べませんでした。I did not eat anything this morning.
昨日の夜、友達に電話しました。I phoned a friend last night.
ちょっと休みましょう。Let's take a short break.
明日、一緒に昼ご飯を食べませんか。Would you like to have lunch together tomorrow?
窓を開けましょうか。Shall I open the window?
8 more example sentences
夏休みに沖縄で泳ぎました。I swam in Okinawa during the summer holidays.
昨日は雨でしたから、出かけませんでした。It rained yesterday, so I did not go out.
先月、新しいパソコンを買いました。I bought a new computer last month.
宿題はもうしましたか。Have you done your homework yet?
駅の前で会いましょう。Let's meet in front of the station.
少し歩きませんか。Would you like to walk for a bit?
会議は何時に始めましょうか。What time shall we start the meeting?
昨日はだれも来ませんでした。Nobody came yesterday.
Worth knowing (1)
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ましょうか for an offer, ましょう for a plan
With か the form turns from a proposal into an offer. 手伝いましょう announces that help is coming; 手伝いましょうか asks "shall I help?" and leaves the decision to the other person. When you are offering help, the question is almost always the right one.
重そうですね。手伝いましょうか。That looks heavy. Shall I help?
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
With 昨日 in the sentence the meaning seems clear to an English ear, so the past marker feels optional. It is not: ません is non-past, and the past negative needs the whole of ませんでした. A time word never replaces the tense in Japanese — the two travel together.
ました for did, ませんでした for did not, ましょう for let's, ませんか to invite.
Your turn
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