N5 · Verbs
The ます-form
the polite non-past: ます and ません
The polite form of every verb, for habits, for now and for the future.
The ます-form is the verb as you say it to anybody you do not know well: a shop assistant, a colleague, a teacher, a stranger asking the way. It is the ます-stem plus ます, and its negative replaces ます with ません. Person and number play no part: 行きます is "I go", "you go", "we go" and "they go" alike.
The stem depends on the group. A う-verb moves its last kana from the u row to the i row: 書く gives 書き, 飲む gives 飲み, 買う gives 買い. A る-verb drops る: 食べる gives 食べ. する becomes し, and 来る becomes 来, read ki.
There is no separate future. 明日行きます is "I will go tomorrow", 毎日行きます is "I go every day", and the time word tells them apart. What the ます-form does not cover is "I am doing it right now": 今食べます means "I am going to eat now", and an action already under way needs ています.
Because the verb comes last, a Japanese sentence is not finished until its verb is — and ません arrives at the very end. A listener does not know whether you are going until the last syllable. That is why the end of a Japanese sentence carries so much of the grammar, and why it pays to listen to it.
The form
stem (regular) stem (irregular) ending
| write (う-verb) | 書きます |
| drink (う-verb) | 飲みます |
| eat (る-verb) | 食べます |
| see (る-verb) | 見ます |
| do (irregular) | します |
| come (irregular) | 来ます |
| do not write | 書きません |
| do not drink | 飲みません |
| do not eat | 食べません |
| do not see | 見ません |
| do not do | しません |
| do not come | 来ません |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
A う-verb moves its last kana to the i row and adds ます.
毎晩音楽を聞きます。I listen to music every evening.
A る-verb drops る and adds ます.
朝ご飯を食べます。I have breakfast.
する becomes します, and 来る becomes 来ます.
兄は来年日本に来ます。My older brother is coming to Japan next year.
For the negative, ます becomes ません.
私はお酒を飲みません。I do not drink alcohol.
The same form covers habits and the future; a time word says which.
来週京都へ行きます。I am going to Kyoto next week.
A closer look
The stem does more than carry ます
The form in front of ます — 書き, 食べ, し — is not only a step on the way to politeness. It is one of the busiest pieces of the language: 書きたい "I want to write", 書きながら "while writing", 書きに行く "go somewhere to write", and nouns such as 書き方 "way of writing" are all built on it.
So the effort of learning ます-forms correctly is spent once and paid back for years. A learner who knows a verb as 書きます already holds the piece that most later patterns need; one who has learned it wrongly will carry the mistake into all of them.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the verb is one of the honorific verbs いらっしゃる, くださる, なさる or おっしゃる
the stem ends in い, not り: いらっしゃいます, くださいます, なさいます, おっしゃいます.
先生は明日いらっしゃいます。The teacher will be here tomorrow.
These verbs are used so often in polite speech that the り wore down to い, and the worn form became the standard one. They belong to honorific speech and are met properly there.
How to spot it
- 〜ます
- 〜ません
- 〜ますか
- 毎日
- 明日
- よく
Example sentences
毎朝新聞を読みます。I read the newspaper every morning.
土曜日は仕事をしません。I do not work on Saturdays.
何時に起きますか。What time do you get up?
明日、母が来ます。My mother is coming tomorrow.
肉は食べません。I do not eat meat.
図書館で本を借ります。I borrow books from the library.
7 more example sentences
毎週土曜日にプールで泳ぎます。I swim at the pool every Saturday.
田中さんはたばこを吸いません。Mr Tanaka does not smoke.
弟は野菜を食べません。My younger brother does not eat vegetables.
バスは何時に来ますか。What time does the bus come?
日本語で手紙を書きます。I write letters in Japanese.
週末は家で休みます。At the weekend I rest at home.
私はテレビをあまり見ません。I do not watch much television.
Worth knowing (2)
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There is no "do" in a Japanese question
A question is the statement plus か: 肉を食べますか "Do you eat meat?". There is no helping verb and no change of word order, and the answer repeats the verb instead of saying "yes, I do": はい、食べます or いいえ、食べません.
コーヒーを飲みますか。いいえ、飲みません。Do you drink coffee? No, I do not.
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Some adverbs need ません
Two common adverbs, あまり "not much" and ぜんぜん "not at all", go with a negative verb. With ません they make a sentence; with ます the sentence falls apart.
私はお酒をぜんぜん飲みません。I do not drink alcohol at all.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English has "I watch" and "I am watching", and the ます-form looks like the first of the two, so learners use it for both. Said with 今, 見ます means "I am going to watch now", not "I am watching". An action that is already under way takes ています.
Stem plus ます for yes, stem plus ません for no — and a time word for when.
Your turn
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