Japanese conjugation , like the conjugation of verbs of many other languages, allows verbs to be morphologically modified to change their meaning or grammatical function. In Japanese, the beginning of a word (the stem ) is preserved during conjugation, while the ending of the word is altered in some way to change the meaning (this is the inflectional suffix ). Japanese verb conjugations are independent of person, number and gender (they do not depend on whether the subject is I, you, he, she, we, etc.); the conjugated forms can express meanings such as negation, present and past tense, volition, passive voice, causation, imperative and conditional mood, and ability. There are also special forms for conjunction with other verbs, and for combination with particles for additional meanings.
Japanese verbs have agglutinating properties: some of the conjugated forms are themselves conjugable verbs (or i-adjectives), which can result in several suffixes being strung together in a single verb form to express a combination of meanings.
Conjugable words (verbs, i‑adjectives, and na‑adjectives) are traditionally considered to have six possible conjugational stems or bases ( 活用形 , katsuyōkei; literally "conjugation forms"). [1] This article lists those from the continuative base (連用形, ren'yōkei), as well as the euphonic sub-base (音便形, onbinkei).
The conjunctive form or infinitive functions like an intermediate conjugation; it requires an auxiliary verb to be attached since the conjunctive form is rarely used in isolation. It can also function to link separate clauses (hence the name "conjunctive") in a similar way to the te form above; however usage of the conjunctive form as a conjunction has restrictions. The conjunctive form can function as a gerund (a verb functioning as a noun) without the need for nominalizers, although permissible use cases are limited. [2] [3] [4] [5]
| English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|
| I'll meet the customer. | お客様に会います (okyakusama ni aimasu) | polite language |
| I want to win the game. | 試合に勝ちたい (shiai ni kachitai) | auxiliary verb (example: desire) |
| I'll go to see a movie. | 映画を見に行く (eiga o mi ni iku) | particle (example: purpose) |
| We're about to change trains. Don't forget your shopping! | まもなく列車を乗り換えるよ。 (mamonaku ressha o norikaeru yo.) 買い物を忘れるな! (kaimono o wasureru na!) | compound words |
The conjunctive/infinitive form uses the ren'yōkei base. It is one of the simplest conjugation patterns due to its lack of irregular conjugations. It does have an additional case for certain honorific verbs, but even those follow a consistent conjugation pattern.
In the domestic tradition of grammar, all inflected words have their own ren'yōkei (連用形), regardless of whether they can stand alone or must be followed by auxiliaries. In western analyses, "infinitives" must be able to stand on their own, and forms with auxiliaries are treated separately. Thus, such forms as ‑mashi (〜まし) and ‑deshi (〜でし) are considered ren'yōkei in the native tradition, but not infinitives in western analyses as they cannot be on their own [6] and must be followed ‑te (〜て) or ‑ta (〜た).
The conjunctive forms of the copulae and of adjectives function adverbially without additional auxiliaries just like those of verbs:
The verb aru, the adjective nai and the particle ‑te are instrumental in expanding copulae's and adjectives' conjugation by fusing with their conjunctive forms:
Just like how da can be "split", or unfused, back to de (wa) aru, with added particles, the above fused forms can be split, as in Akaku wa atta. (赤くはあった。; lit. 'Being red? It was indeed.').
The particle ‑te itself was once a conjunctive form as well, and it combined with aru to make ‑ta and ‑tarō, although the latter of which are increasingly displaced by ‑ta darō or ‑ta deshō.
Unlike verbal conjunctive forms which can combine with ‑masu(ru) to make polite forms, as in kakimasu(ru) (書きます(る); 'write'), adjectives use conclusive forms and desu instead, as in akai desu (赤いです; 'be red').
Apart from the standard ‑ku forms, adjectives also have forms ending in long vowels. They stem from a historical loss of the consonant k, which was complete in conclusive/attributive forms (akaki → akai (赤き→赤い; 'be red'). In conjunctive forms, however, such loss was complete only in western dialects; in standard Japanese, it is restricted to formations with gozaimasu(ru) to make hyper-polite expressions, as in akaku → akō gozaimasu(ru) (赤うございます(る); 'be red'), compared to regularly polite akai desu (赤いです). In cases where there are triply long vowels, such as ooku → oō (多う), the actual pronunciations may only involve doubly long vowels, as in ō gozaimasu. Cases like yowaku → yo(w?)ō (弱う) are phonetically suspect as to whether there is still a lingering w sound and whether there is a reduction to a doubly long vowel (yo(w)ō gozaimasu or yō gozaimasu (?)). [8] Some of these hyper-polite adjectives have become idioms, such as ohayaku → ohayō (gozaimasu) (おはよう(ございます); lit. 'it's early', 'good morning'), omedetaku → omedetō (gozaimasu) (おめでとう(ございます); lit. 'it's wonderful', 'congratulations'), arigataku → arigatō (gozaimasu) (ありがとう(ございます); lit. 'it's rare', 'it's blessed; it's worthwhile; it's appreciated; thank you'). The sound changes resulting from the historical ‑u ending are usually spelt out in modern kana as shown below, although some historical spellings may still be used sometimes, such as しう instead of しゅう. [9] For beshi (可し), there was such a historical sound change as beku → beu → byō, [10] [11] and byō gozaimasu (べうございます) has been attested. [12]
Like ‑ku, ‑zu can fuse with ‑aru as well to expand its own conjugation (‑zaru, ‑zareba) independent of ‑n(u), though these forms are largely confined to elevated language or cliches like mizaru kikazaru iwazaru (見猿聞か猿言わ猿; ' not seeing, not hearing, not speaking '), manekarezaru kyaku (招かれざる客; 'uninvited guest'), motazaru (持たざる; 'have-not'), irazaru (要らざる; 'uncalled-for', synonymous with iran(u) (要らん・要らぬ) [13] [14] ), etc. [15]
| Dictionary form | Pattern [16] | Conjunctive form | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godan verbs | ||||
| 結う(yuu, fasten) | 結う | 結い | 結い(yui, fastening) | |
| 言う(yū, say) | ゆう | いい | 言い (ii, saying) | |
| 勝つ (katsu, win) | 勝つ | 勝ち | 勝ち (kachi, winning) | |
| 狩る (karu, hunt) | 狩る | 狩り | 狩り (kari, hunting) | |
| 貸す (kasu, lend) | 貸す | 貸し | 貸し (kashi, lending) | |
| 書く (kaku, write) | 書く | 書き | 書き (kaki, writing) | |
| 嗅ぐ (kagu, smell) | 嗅ぐ | 嗅ぎ | 嗅ぎ (kagi, smelling) | |
| 呼ぶ(yobu, call) | 呼ぶ | 呼び | 呼び(yobi, calling) | |
| 読む(yomu, read) | 読む | 読み | 読み(yomi, reading) | |
| 死ぬ (shinu, die) | 死ぬ | 死に | 死に (shini, dying) | |
| Honorific godan verbs | ||||
| 下さる (kudasaru, give) | 下さる | 下さり | 下さり (kudasari, giving) | |
| 下さい り | ます(る) | 下さいます(る)・下さります(る) (kudasa(r)imasu(ru), give) [a] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] | ||
| Ichidan verbs | ||||
| 射る (iru, shoot) | 射る | 射 | 射 (i, shooting) | |
| 得る (eru, get) | 得る | 得 | 得 (e, getting) | |
| Irregular verbs | ||||
| する (suru, do) | する | し | し (shi, doing) | |
| 来る (kuru, come) | くる | き | 来 (ki, coming) | |
| Adjectives and adjectival auxiliaries | ||||
| 無い (nai, be nonexistent) | ない | なく | 無く (naku, being nonexistent) | |
| のう | ございます(る) | 無うございます(る) (nō gozaimasu(ru), be nonexistent) | ||
| 少ない (sukunai, be scarce) | 少ない | 少なく | 少なく (sukunaku, being scarce) | |
| 少のう | ございます(る) | 少のうございます(る) (sukunō gozaimasu(ru), be scarce) [9] | ||
| 弱い(yowai, be weak) | よわい | よわく | 弱く(yowaku, being weak) | |
| よおう | ございます(る) | 弱うございます(る)(yoō gozaimasu(ru), be weak) | ||
| 多い (ōi, be abundant) | 多い | 多く | 多く (ōku, being abundant) | |
| 多う | ございます(る) | 多うございます(る) (oō gozaimasu(ru), be abundant) [25] | ||
| 良い (ii/yoi, be good) | いい よい | よく | 良く(yoku, being good) | |
| よう | ございます(る) | 良うございます(る)(yō gozaimasu(ru), be good) [26] | ||
| 悪い (warui, be bad) | 悪い | 悪く | 悪く (waruku, being bad) | |
| 悪う | ございます(る) | 悪うございます(る) (warū gozaimasu(ru), be bad) [27] | ||
| 可愛い (kawaii/kawayui, be adorable) | かわいい かわゆい | かわいく かわゆく | 可愛く (kawaiku/kawayuku, being adorable) | |
| かわゆう | ございます(る) | 可愛うございます(る) (kawayū gozaimasu(ru), be adorable) [28] [29] | ||
| 大きい (ōkii, be large) | 大きい | 大きく | 大きく (ōkiku, being large) | |
| 大きゅう | ございます(る) | 大きゅうございます(る) (ōkyū gozaimasu(ru), be large) [30] | ||
| 宜しい(yoroshii, be good) | 宜しい | 宜しく | 宜しく(yoroshiku, being good) | |
| 宜しゅう | ございます(る) | 宜しゅうございます(る)(yoroshū gozaimasu(ru), be good) [9] [31] | ||
| 同じい (onajii, be the same) | 同じい | 同じく | 同じく (onajiku, being the same) | |
| 同じゅう | ございます(る) | 同じゅうございます(る) (onajū gozaimasu(ru), be the same) [32] [33] | ||
| 可し (beshi, ought/have to) | 可し | 可く | 可く (beku, having to) | |
| 如し (gotoshi, be like) | 如し | 如く | 如く (gotoku, being like) | |
| Special auxiliaries | ||||
| 〜ん・〜ぬ (‑n(u), not) | ん ぬ | ん ぬ ず | 〜ん・〜ぬ・〜ず (‑n(u)/‑zu, without) [34] [35] | |
Conjunctives allow "splitting", [36] or adding particles like wa or mo between the conjunctives and a following verb/adjective to redirect focus. The following verb/adjective is aru/arimasu or nai/arimasen with copulae and adjectives, and suru/shimasu or shinai/shimasen with other verbs. There is a strong tendency to focus on negatives, [37] namely nai/arimasen and shinai/shimasen. In the following examples, the focused information is underlined in the Japanese originals, and in all-caps in the English translations to emulate spoken emphasis.
Accentually, if a verb is to be accented, all their forms without auxiliaries or particles are minimally accented on the second mora from last, for example, tabe (食べ; 'eat', [tábè]→[tábèwàɕìnàì]). [38] However, conjunctives are capable of being unimoraic, which means they can only be accented on the last and only mora they have. Furthermore, if an unaccented verb is followed by a particle, the particle places an accent on the verb's last mora anyway, resulting in a handful homophonous pairs such as these: [39]
The conjunctive form is also compatible with an extensive list of particles and auxiliaries. [40] Of these, the polite auxiliary -masu used to have s-irregular conjugation (サ変格活用, sa-hen katsuyō), [41] whose prototype is the verb suru. As shown elsewhere in this article, unlike suru which has normal eastern shapes and elevated western shapes in Tokyo Japanese, -masu retains its western shapes. [42]
| Particle/auxiliary | English | Japanese | Conjugation type | Function |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 〜に | She brought flowers and went to see him during his hospitalization | Kanojo wa hana o motte nyūinchū no kare no mimai ni itta (彼女は花を持って入院中の彼を見舞いに行った) [7] | particle | in order to do something; before a verb of movement such as iku (行く; 'come') or kuru (来る; 'go') |
| What have you come to do? | Nani shi ni kita (何しに来た) | |||
| 〜乍ら | He trembled as he spoke. | Furue nagara hanashita (震えながら話した) | particle | while doing something else at the same time |
| It's awful of you to not tell me even though you knew. | Shitte i nagara oshiete kurenai nan te hidoi ja nai ka (知っていながら教えてくれないなんてひどいじゃないか) | though something else is the case; follows an adjective's imperfective | ||
| Though he's young, he's a well-balanced person. | Wakai nagara yoku dekita jinbutsu da (若いながらよくできた人物だ) | |||
| 〜つつ | We stayed up late talking about the old days. | Ōji o katari tsutsu yoru o akashita (往時を語りつつ夜を明かした) | particle | while doing something else at the same time |
| 〜ます | I'll write you as soon as I get to London. | Rondon ni tsuitara sugu o tegami o kakimasu (ロンドンに着いたらすぐお手紙を書きます) | verb-like; irregular | polite language |
| 〜為さる | It's all right, have as much as you like. | Ii no yo, suki na dake otabe nasai (いいのよ、好きなだけお食べなさい) | verb-like; godan | subject-exalting language; honorific of suru; can replace suru altogether in compounds |
| You'll probably despise me if I say this. | Kō mōshitara osagesumi nasaru deshō (こう申したらお蔑みなさるでしょう) | |||
| Never mind. | Okamai nasaru na (おかまいなさるな) | |||
| Don't worry so much. | Sonna ni shinpai shi nasan na (そんなに心配しなさんな) | |||
| You would agree that the United States should be involved in providing aid to these countries. | Gasshūkoku ga korera no kuni no enjo ni sanka su beki da to yū koto ni dōi nasaru deshō (合衆国がこれらの国の援助に参加すべきだということに同意なさるでしょう) | |||
| 〜過ぎる | That metal becomes brittle if it's overheated. | Sono kinzoku wa nesshi sugiru to moroku naru (その金属は熱しすぎるともろくなる) | verb-like; ichidan | doing or being something excessively; follows a verb's conjunctive, but an adjective's stem directly |
| Too many cooks spoil the soup. | Ryōrinin ga ōsugiru to sūpu ga mazuku naru (料理人が多すぎるとスープがまずくなる) | |||
| Her political theory is too complicated for me. | Kanojo no seiji riron wa watashi ni wa fukuzatsu sugiru (彼女の政治理論は私には複雑すぎる) | |||
| 〜始める | The cherry blossoms have started to bloom. | Sakura ga saki hajimete ita (桜が咲き始めていた) | verb-like; ichidan | starting doing something |
| 〜初める | The night began to turn to day. | Yoru ga ake someta (夜が明けそめた) | ||
| 〜出す | Snow began to fall. | Yuki ga furi dashita (雪が降りだした) | verb-like; godan | |
| 〜掛ける | The banana has started to rot. | Sono banana wa kusari kakete iru (そのバナナは腐りかけている) | verb-like; ichidan | being poised to do something |
| 〜掛かる | rotten fruit | kusari kakatta kudamono (腐りかかった果物) | verb-like; godan | |
| 〜終わる | I finished eating. | Tabe owatta (食べ終わった) | verb-like; godan | finishing doing something |
| 〜切る | I haven't finished reading this book. | Kono hon wa mada yomi kitte inai (この本はまだ読み切っていない) | ||
| 〜通す | I read it through to the very end. | Saigo made yomi tōshita (最後まで読み通した) | verb-like; godan | doing something thoroughly |
| 〜尽くす | I said everything I wanted to say. | Iitai koto wa subete ii tsukushita (言いたいことはすべて言い尽くした) | ||
| 〜合う | At some point, they fell for each other. | Itsu kashira wa futari aishi au yō ni natta (いつかしら二人は愛し合うようになった) | verb-like; godan | doing something together or to/for each other |
| 〜立てる | The media gave it too much coverage, so it blew up further. | Masukomi ga kaki tateta no de sawagi ga ōkiku natta (マスコミが書き立てたので騒ぎが大きくなった) | verb-like; ichidan | doing something vigorously |
| 〜捲る | He made calls right and left. | Achi kochi ni denwa o kake makutta (あちこちに電話をかけまくった) | verb-like; godan | doing something wildly |
| 〜興じる | It's a time for drinking merrily. | Sake o nomi kyōjiru no da (酒を飲み興じるのだ) | verb-like; ichidan | enjoying doing something |
| 〜続ける | Average temperatures have kept rising for decades here. | Koko sūjūnen heikin kion ga agari tsuzukete iru (ここ数十年平均気温が上がり続けている) | verb-like; ichidan | continuing doing something |
| 〜付ける | This cheese smells bad to those who aren't used to eating it. | Kono chīzu wa tabe tsukenai hito ni wa kusai (このチーズは食べつけない人には臭い) | verb-like; ichidan | being used to doing something |
| 〜慣れる | He's gotten used to running this marathon course. | Kono marason kōsu wa hashiri narete iru (このマラソンコースは走り慣れている) | verb-like; ichidan | getting used to doing something |
| 〜得る | Among people who could write their own names, there likely existed a variety of literate types, ranging from those who could write only their own given names, through those who could adequately read documents written primarily in hiragana, to those who could comprehend the gist of even documents written primarily in kanji. | Jiko no seimei o shirushi eru hitobito no naka ni wa, jiko no namae nomi o kaki eru hito kara, hiragana shutai no bunsho de areba jūbun ni yomi eru hito, kanji shutai no bunsho de mo imi dake wa rikai shi eru hito nado ni itaru made, tayō na shikijisha ga sonzai shita to omowareru. (自己の姓名を記し得る人々のなかには、自己の名前のみを書きえる人から、平仮名主体の文書であれば充分に読みえる人、漢字主体の文書でも意味だけは理解しえる人などに至るまで、多様な識字者が存在したと思われる。 [43] ) | verb-like; ichidan | being able to do something |
| 〜たい | A self-proclaimed Arab magnate has said he wants to buy this building. | Jishō Arabu no daifugō ga kono biru o kaitai to itte kita (自称アラブの大富豪がこのビルを買いたいと言ってきた) | adjective-like | wanting to do something |
| 〜たがる | The cat's making lots of noise because she wants to get out. | Neko ga soto ni detagatte urusai (猫が外に出たがってうるさい) | verb-like; godan | |
| 〜易い | It's easier to get advice from my mother than from my father. | Chichi yori haha no hō ga sōdan shi yasui (父より母のほうが相談しやすい) | adjective-like | something being easy to do |
| 〜難い | Something hard to say can be written in a letter. | Ii nikui koto de mo tegami ni nara kakeru (言いにくいことでも手紙になら書ける) | adjective-like | something being difficult to do |
| Passions are hard to control. | Jōyoku wa seishi-gatai (情欲は制しがたい) | |||
| 〜勝ち | Young people are prone to go to extremes. | Wakamono wa kyokutan ni hashiri-gachi da (若者は極端に走りがちだ) | noun-like | being prone to do something |
| She at the age when you dream a lot. | Yumemi-gachi na toshigoro na n da yo (夢見がちな年ごろなんだよ) | |||
| 〜立て | a freshly bought hat | kai tate no bōshi (買いたての帽子) | noun-like | something having been freshly done |
The conjunctive form, like the te form, connects clauses in a similar way to how "and" does in English. However, the conjunctive and te forms are not usually interchangeable, and each form fulfills specific grammatical purposes. When a pair of verbs have a strong connection in context, only the te form can bridge them. When a pair of verbs are not directly related but happen during a shared period of time, only the conjunctive form can bridge them. Furthermore, if a pair of verbs are both controllable or uncontrollable in nature, the te form must bridge them; otherwise, when a verb is controllable whilst the other verb is uncontrollable, the conjunctive form must bridge them. Finally, the te and conjunctive forms are interchangeable if additional information is included between the verbs. [3] [44]
| Permissible | English | Japanese | Relationship between verbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| te form | I'll go to the department store and do some shopping. | デパートへ行って、買い物をする depāto e itte, kaimono o suru | closely related |
| te form | I'll meet my friend and ask about their holiday. | 友達に会って、休みのことを尋ねる tomodachi ni atte, yasumi no koto o tazuneru | both controllable |
| te form | The ground shook so much in the earthquake that I couldn't stand up. | 地震で地面がすごく揺れて、立てなかった jishin de jimen ga sugoku yurete, tatenakatta | both uncontrollable |
| Interchangeable | Can you open the fridge and get me the carrots from the lower right shelf? | 冷蔵庫を開けて、右下の棚から人参を取ってくれない? reizōko o akete, migi shita no tana kara ninjin o totte kurenai? | additional information between them |
| 冷蔵庫を開け、右下の棚から人参を取ってくれない? reizōko o ake, migi shita no tana kara ninjin o totte kurenai? | |||
| Conjunctive form | They were born in Japan and studied at a Japanese school. | 彼らは日本で生まれ、日本の学校で勉強した karera wa nihon de umare, nihon no gakkō de benkyō shita | unrelated (birth is unrelated to studying) |
| Conjunctive form | It rained, so I used an umbrella. | 雨が降り、傘を使った ame ga furi, kasa o tsukatta | uncontrollable + controllable |
In the case where the conjunctive form is interchangeable with the te form, there is a stylistic means where the conjunctive form is preferred. This avoids 「て...て...て...」 (te...te...te...) repetition, much like how English users might avoid saying "and...and...and...". In practice however, such a strategy is more readily accustomed to writing and more difficult to control in spoken conversation (where the te form is usually elected for every verb). [3]
Another common usage is to form compound words, specifically compound nouns and compound verbs. As for compound nouns, the conjunctive form attaches as a prefix to another noun. Compound verbs are formed in the same way, except the conjunctive form attaches to the imperfective form. This pattern can be used to express mutuality if a transitive verb attaches to 〜合う (-au, to unite). [45]
| Verb [conjunctive form] + Noun/Verb [imperfective form] | Compound | Literal translation | Dynamic translation | Function | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 食べ (tabe, eating) | 物 (mono, thing) | 食べ物 (tabe mono) | "eating thing" | food | compound noun |
| 切り (kiri, cutting) | 離す (hanasu, to separate) | 切り離す (kiri hanasu) | "cutting and separating" | to cut off | compound verb |
| 誓い (chikai, promise) | 合う (au, to unite) | 誓い合う (chikai au) | "promising and uniting" | to promise each other | mutual verb |
The conjunctive form is also used in formal honorifics, such as お使い下さい (o tsukai kudasai, "Please use this.").
The te form ( て形 , tekei) or the gerund [46] allows verbs to function like conjunctions. Similar to the word "and" in English, the te form connects clauses to make longer sentences. Conversely, as a sentence terminal, it functions as a casual instruction (like a gentle imperative command). Finally, the te form attaches to a myriad of auxiliary verbs for various purposes. [47] [44]
| English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|
| (I will eat breakfast. I will go to school.) I will eat breakfast and go to school. | 朝ごはんを食べる。学校に行く。 (asagohan o taberu. gakkō ni iku.) 朝ごはんを食べて学校に行く (asagohan o tabete gakkō ni iku) | conjunction |
| Please eat. | 食べて (tabete) | gentle instruction |
| I am waiting. | 待っている (matte iru) | auxiliary verb (example: present-continuous) |
There are limitations where the te form cannot be used to conjugate between pairs of verbs (such as when two verbs are unrelated) and the conjunctive form is used instead. [3]
The te form is created by using the onbinkei base, which is not a distinct "base", but rather the result of consonant and vowel reduction, termed onbin (音便), of the conjunctive when followed by the te/de (て・で) suffix: [46]
Te was the conjunctive form of the ancient auxiliary tu. [48] [49] [50] It was used to create the perfective auxiliary by fusing with the verb aru: te + aru → ta, which triggers the exact same sound changes as shown here. This was also how the particle ‑tari was formed. [51] [52] It also fused with the copular particle ni: ni + te → de. [53]
For verbs like kau (買う; 'buy'), yū (言う; 'say'), etc, there is a clear preference for sokuonbin in northern and eastern dialects, as in katte (買って), itte/yutte (言って); and for u‑onbin in western and southern dialects, as in kōte (買うて), yūte (言うて). [54] [55] In standard Japanese (eastern), however, there are exceptions where u‑onbin is preferred, such as tōte (問うて; 'inquire'), tōte (訪うて; 'visit'), kōte (請うて・乞うて; 'solicit'), kōte (恋うて; 'long for'), [56] [57] [38] notamōte (宣うて; 'say'), [56] itōte (厭うて), [58] tamōte (給うて; 'bestow'). [59] [60] These distinctly elevated western forms [h] are favored as the verbs themselves are inherently elevated. [61] Non-elevated verbs are less likely to get the western treatment, for example in “Mō tokku ni doko ka e shimikonde shimattarō yo” to notamōta (「もうとっくにどこかへしみ込んでしまったろうよ」とのたもうた) where shimatta (of shimau) remains eastern even though notamōta (of notamau) is westernized. [61] Other examples with u‑onbin, such as ōta (負うた), sōta (沿うた) have been found as well, [56] and the tendency to use u‑onbin is stronger if the verb stem already contains the vowel o. [61] Some western-Japanese writers such as Orikuchi Shinobu and Oda Sakunosuke (both of whom were Osakan) wrote prose (both narration and dialog) with western forms such as yūte (言うて), ōte (会うて), mōte (舞うて), sōte (添うて), ushinōte (失うて), isogashūte (忙しゅうて), etc (see example quotations below), while others restrict western forms to only elevated verbs. Further dialectal forms include kaite for kashite (貸して), daite for dashite (出して), magiraite for magirashite (紛らして), [62] yōde for yonde (呼んで) and yonde (読んで), tōde for tonde (飛んで), nōde for nonde (飲んで), [46] [63] [64] [65] [66] etc.
The verb iku/yuku (行く) in particular has the irregular form itte (行って), rather than iite/yuite (行いて). The similarly irregular yutte, as well as the regular iite and yuite, are historically attested in both classical and modern Japanese (see examples below). Additionally, yuite was associated with western dialects, and iite and even ite were recorded in premodern Christian material. [67] It has been hypothesized that the emergence of the eastern itte, which dates from the Muromachi period, [68] and which wound up displacing the other forms (including the once western yuite), was due to a phonetic difficulty in or an aversion to saying iite with any sort of clarity, or a potential confusion with the historical iite (言ひて; 'say'). [67] Nevertheless, the current paradigm bears out that itte (言って) and itte (行って) are still homophonously (consonantally, vocalically and accentually) pronounced [ìtté]. [38] [69] Currently, only itte is recommended, [70] as are ika‑/yuka‑, iki/yuki, iku/yuku, ike/yuke and ikō/yukō. [17] [69] Itte is currently found in the vast majority of dialects, with ite being a sporadic western variant. [71] As for the i‑ and yu‑ stems, while i‑ has been dominant since the Taishō era, yu‑ dominated classical literature of the Meiji era and earlier times, and thus are more elevated. [72] [70]
Te can be followed by different subsidiary verbs (補助動詞, hojo dōshi) and subsidiary adjectives (補助形容詞, hojo keiyōshi), such as iru/oru (居る・いる・おる), aru (有る・ある), kureru (呉れる・くれる), kudasaru (下さる・くださる), miru (見る・みる), oku (置く・おく), shimau (仕舞う・終う・しまう), nai (無い・ない), ii/yoi (良い・いい・よい), hoshii (欲しい・ほしい), etc, to add more meaning or nuance. The current convention is to spell these words in kana when they function as subsidiaries, although they are already frequently spelt in kana anyway due to their high frequency. Note that despite their shared etymology, ‑ta and ‑tari no longer mean the same thing as ‑te aru.
The auxiliary ‑nai de ("not and") is more common than ‑nakute after verbs, the latter of which is not used before subsidiary verbs: [48]
The negative equivalent of atte (あって) is the adjective nakute: [48] [i]
‑Kute wa can be colloquially reduced to ‑kutya(a) (with a palatalized ty sound rather than a fully affricated ch sound): [73]
After adjectives, only the auxiliary ‑nakute is used: [48]
‑N de, equivalent to ‑nai de, is used mostly by older speakers: [74]
| Dictionary form | Pattern [16] | te form | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godan verbs | |||||
| う | 結う(yuu, fasten) | 結う | 結っ 結う | て | 結って・結うて [75] (yutte / yūte, fasten and) |
| 言う(yū, say) | ゆう | いっ ゆっ ゆう | て | 言って・言うて [76] (itte/yutte / yūte, say and) | |
| 会う (au, meet) | あう | あっ おう | て | 会って・会うて [77] (atte / ōte, meet and) | |
| 祝う (iwau, celebrate) | いわう | いわっ いおう | て | 祝って・祝うて [78] [79] (iwatte / iōte, celebrate and) | |
| 負う (ou, carry) | 負う | 負っ 負う | て | 負って・負うて [80] [81] [82] [83] (otte / ōte, carry and) | |
| 覆う (ōu, cover) | 覆う | 覆っ 覆う | て | 覆って・覆うて [84] [85] [86] [87] (ōtte / oōte, cover and) | |
| 問う (tou, inquire) | 問う | 問う 問っ | て | 問うて [88] [89] [90] [91] ・問って [92] [93] [94] (tōte / totte, inquire and) | |
| 訪う (tou, visit) | 訪う | 訪う 訪っ | て | 訪うて [95] [96] ・訪って [97] (tōte / totte, visit and) | |
| 請う (kou, solicit) | 請う | 請う 請っ | て | 請うて [98] [99] [100] [101] ・請って [102] [103] [104] [105] (kōte / kotte, solicit and) | |
| 恋う (kou, long for) | 恋う | 恋う 恋っ | て | 恋うて [106] [107] ・恋って [108] [j] (kōte / kotte, long for and) | |
| 厭う (itou, grudge) | 厭う | 厭う 厭っ | て | 厭うて [110] [111] ・厭って [112] [113] (itōte / itotte, grudge and) | |
| 給う (tamau / tamō [38] [69] , bestow) | たまう たもう | たもう たまっ | て | 給うて [114] [115] [116] ・給って [117] [118] (tamōte / tamatte, bestow and) | |
| 宣う (notamau / notamō [38] [69] , say) | のたまう のたもう | のたもう のたまっ | て | 宣うて [119] [120] [121] ・宣って [122] [123] [124] (notamōte / notamatte, say and) | |
| つ | 勝つ (katsu, win) | 勝つ | 勝っ | て | 勝って (katte, win and) |
| る | 狩る (karu, hunt) | 狩る | 狩っ | て | 狩って (katte, hunt and) |
| す | 貸す (kasu, lend) | 貸す | 貸し | て | 貸して (kashite, lend and) |
| く | 書く (kaku, write) | 書く | 書い | て | 書いて (kaite, write and) |
| ぐ | 嗅ぐ (kagu, smell) | 嗅ぐ | 嗅い | で | 嗅いで (kaide, smell and) |
| ぶ | 呼ぶ(yobu, call) | 呼ぶ | 呼ん | で | 呼んで(yonde, call and) |
| む | 読む(yomu, read) | 読む | 読ん | で | 読んで(yonde, read and) |
| ぬ | 死ぬ (shinu, die) | 死ぬ | 死ん | で | 死んで (shinde, die and) |
| Irregular godan verbs | |||||
| く | 行く (iku/yuku, go) | いく ゆく | いっ ゆっ ゆい いい | て | 行って・行いて (itte/yutte [125] [126] [127] / yuite [125] [128] [129] [130] [131] [127] [132] /iite [125] [133] [134] [135] [136] , go and) |
| Ichidan verbs | |||||
| 射る (iru, shoot) | 射る | 射 | て | 射て (ite, shoot and) | |
| 得る (eru, get) | 得る | 得 | て | 得て (ete, get and) | |
| Irregular verbs | |||||
| する (suru, do) | する | し | て | して (shite, do it and) | |
| 来る (kuru, come) | くる | き | て | 来て (kite, come and) | |
| Verbal auxiliaries | |||||
| 〜ます(る) (‑masu(ru)) | ます(る) | まし | て | 〜まして (‑mashite, and) | |
| です (desu, be) | です | でし | て | でして (deshite, be and) | |
| Adjectives and adjectival auxiliaries | |||||
| 無い (nai, be nonexistent) | ない | なく | て | 無くて (nakute, be nonexistent and) | |
| 〜ない (‑nai, not) | ない | 〜なくて (‑nakute, not and) | |||
| ない | で | 〜ないで (‑nai de, not and) | |||
| 良い (ii/yoi, be good) | いい よい | よく | て | 良くて(yokute, be good and) | |
| Special auxiliaries | |||||
| 〜ん・〜ぬ (‑n(u), not) | ん ぬ | ん ぬ | で | 〜んで [137] [74] [138] ・〜ぬで [139] (‑n(u) de, not and) | |
| 〜ません・〜ませぬ (‑masen(u), not) | ません ませぬ | ません ませぬ | で でして | 〜ませんで [74] [140] ・〜ませんでして [74] [141] ・〜ませぬで [142] ・〜ませぬでして [143] (‑masen(u) de / ‑masen(u) deshite, not and) | |
The te form can precede an extensive list of subsidiary [7] verbs and adjectives (補助動詞・形容詞, hojo dōshi/keiyōshi). [144] Of these subsidiaries, yaru (遣る), ageru (上げる), kureru (呉れる) and kudasaru (下さる), all of which literally mean "give", can be used to convey favors, and their imperative forms when used this way are less terse than those of other verbs. [44] [144] [145] These expressions are similar to "do me a favor and …" in English, but apart from "do something for somebody" (positively), they can also mean "do something to somebody" (negatively).
The current orthographic convention is to spell subsidiaries only in hiragana to distinguish them from the main verbs or adjectives they derive from. Thus, yonde miru (読んでみる) means "try reading" with miru being a subsidiary verb meaning "try", while yonde(,) miru (読んで(、)見る) means "read and see" with miru being a main verb meaning "see". Mite miru, meaning "try seeing", would be spelt 見てみる rather than 見て見る. Other subsidiaries follow the same principle, such as oite oku (置いておく; rather than 置いて置く), kite kuru (来てくる; rather than 来て来る), itte iku (行っていく; rather than 行って行く), but some verbs like shimau are almost always spelt in kana for simplicity anyway, as in shimatte shimau (しまってしまう).
Phonetically, if the verb before -te/-de is accented, the accent (if any) of the subsidiary verb can be deleted, while that of the main verb can be kept in a separate minor phrase, which begins in a low tone if possible (henceforth, high tones are marked with acutes, low tones with graves, and the accent of a phrase is the high tone immediately before a low tone). Thus:
Using multiple minor phrases also works with if either or both verbs are unaccented, for example:
Some of these combinations of -te/-de and a following subsidiary can be colloquially contracted. Notably, while -te/-de iru → -teru/-deru and -te/-de ita carry no accent, -tete/-dete and -teta/-deta do: [149] [150]
呼んでない can be either a contraction of 呼んでいない "not be calling", or the negative of 呼んである "have been called": [151]
Due to the ambiguity of てない, which could be not only the negative of -te aru, but also a contraction of -te inai and thus too informal, -te inai can be used for both for more consistency in formality: [152]
The verb shiru (知る), whose kanji represents the Chinese word for "know", is often translated as "know", but a more accurate translation would be "learn about" or "find out about". In order to say "I know", the construction shitte( i)ru (知って(い)る) is used instead. [153] This is because shiru is imbued with active recognization, which relates to the archaic meaning of taking physical command or possession of somebody or something, [154] reflected by the spellings 治る with the kanji for the Chinese word for "rule", "govern" or "control", and 領る for "lead". [155] To "know", therefore, is to take psychological command or possession of outside information, hence shiru ("I take command of this information"), and maintain it, hence shitte iru ("I took command of this information and it's still in my knowledge"; attributively, interchangeable with shitta). While "I know" ("I take command of it and still have it") is shitte iru, "I don't know" is actually shiranai ("I don't take command of it"), [156] which is morphologically the negative of shiru, but semantically the negative of both shitte iru and shiru. On the other hand, shitte inai ("I didn't take command of it and still don't have it") would insinuate perpetuation of ignorance, [157] for example in Ningen ga naze hito o korosu no ka […] sono konponteki na riyū ni tsuite, watashitachi wa mada nani mo shitte inai, to omowareru kara de aru (人間がなぜ人を殺すか[…]その根本的な理由について、私たちはまだ何も知っていない、と思われるからである; transl. Why does a human being kill another person? […] it seems that we still remain ignorant of the basic reasons for that). [158]
Subsidiaries can be chained together, such as -te ite miru, -te oite oku, -te mite oite shimau, etc. [159]
The various meanings are not as discrete as this table suggests. There is room for interpreting one way or another, and context can help to find the most likely interpretation. [160]
| Original verb/adjective | te + subsidiary | Colloquial contraction | English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| いる・居る'exist; be' [k] | ている・でいる ているの(だ)・でいるの(だ) | てる・でる てるの(だ)・てんの(だ)・てんだ・でるの(だ)・でんの(だ)・でんだ | The cat's holding a fish in her mouth. | Neko ga sakana o kuwaete iru (猫が魚をくわえている) | being doing something right now or at some point in the future |
| What's that guy doin' over there? | Aitsu, anna tokoro de nani yatten da? (あいつ、あんなところで何やってんだ?) | ||||
| Whatcha doin'? | Nani yatten no? (何やってんの?) | ||||
| Stay in bed! [l] | Nete inasai (寝ていなさい) | ||||
| He loves his wife deeply. | Kare wa tsuma o fukaku aishite iru (彼は妻を深く愛している) | doing, being doing or having been doing something regularly, during a period around the present or in the future | |||
| I've been kicking back lately. | Saikin wa mainichi hima ni shite iru (最近は毎日暇にしている) | ||||
| Are you still a reporter? [m] | Mada kisha o yatteru no? (まだ記者をやってるの?) | ||||
| You’re already dead! [n] | Omae wa mō shinde iru! (おまえは もう死んでいる! [162] ) | having done something with a persistent result | |||
| Your fly is open. [o] | Fasunā ga aitemasu yo (ファスナーが開いてますよ) | ||||
| The window is shut. [p] | Mado ga shimatte iru (窓が閉まっている) | ||||
| いない・居ない | ていない・でいない | てない・でない | I'm not married yet. [q] | Kekkon shite inai (結婚していない) | negative of te iru; also negative of te aru and same as te nai below |
| おる・居る'exist; be' | ておる・でおる | Today there is a special offer. | Kyō wa tokubetsu oyasuku natte orimasu (今日は特別お安くなっております) | same as iru; more deferential in Tokyo Japanese; neutrally alternative to iru in some other dialects [161] | |
| Pliny of ancient times once said. “Even a bad book is not without merit” | Inishie no Puriniusu Sensei mo notamōte orimasu. “Akusho to iedo, torie ga kaimu to yū koto wa nai” (いにしえのプリニウス先生も宣うております。 「悪書といえど,とりえが皆無ということはない」 [121] ) | ||||
| ある・有る・在る'exist; be' | てある・である | The car is parked on the street. [r] | Michi ni kuruma ga tomete aru (道に車が停めてある) | something having been done with a persistent result [s] | |
| The window is shut. [t] | Mado ga shimete aru (窓が閉めてある) | ||||
| ない・無い'not exist; not be' | てない・でない | The coat hasn't been paid for. [u] | Kono kōto-dai wa mada haratte nai (このコート代はまだ払ってない) | negative of te aru; also replaceable by te inai above | |
| ござる・御座る'exist; be' | てござる・でござる | We have an assortment of wine and beer. [v] | Wain mo bīru mo kakushu torisoroete gozaimasu (ワインもビールも各種取りそろえてございます) | same as aru; much more polite | |
| 置く'put' | ておく・でおく | とく・どく | Just leave them there for now. | Mada oite oite kudasai (まだ置いておいてください) | getting something done and leaving it as is |
| Let's just hear him out anyway. | Kare no iibun o ichiō kiite okō (彼の言い分を一応聞いておこう) | getting something done anyway | |||
| There's an exam tomorrow, we better get some reading done and get some tapes listened to. | Ashita shiken da kara, yoku hon o yondoitari, tēpu o kiitoitari shitoita hō ga ii (明日試験だから、よく本を読んどいたり、テープを聞いといたりしといた方がいい [164] ) | getting something done so there is some result at least | |||
| “I think it’s best to store it in the church. Nobody will think of snatching it if we leave it there. We’ll put it under the altar and not touch it until we need it.” | “Kyōkai ni shimatte oku no ga, ichiban ii to omou n da. Asoko ni oitokeba, dare mo kapparaō nan te omoi ya shinai kara ne. Saidan no shita ni oitoite, hoshiku naru made, te o tsukenai koto ni shiyō” (「教会にしまっておくのが、いちばんいいと思うんだ。あそこに置いとけば、誰も掻っぱらおうなんて思いやしないからね。祭壇の下に置いといて、ほしくなるまで、手をつけないことにしよう」 [165] ) | getting something done in advance so something else can happen | |||
| 見る'look; see' | てみる・でみる | Have a look at the newspaper. | Shinbun o mite mite (新聞を見てみて) | doing something and seeing/finding out what happens; trying doing something | |
| Give it a shot, I bet you can do it. | Yatte minasai, kitto dekiru yo (やってみなさい、きっとできるよ) | ||||
| Not knowning what's inside the box, we opened it to find out. | Nani ga haitte iru ka wakaranai no de, hako o akete mita (何が入っているか分からないので、箱を開けてみた) | ||||
| As someone with parents, I don't get to have that much freedom. | Oya ga atte mireba, anmari jiyū ni wa dekinai (親があってみえれば、あんまり自由にはできない) | once something is seen, experienced or considered | |||
| Once I got to Tōkyō, I found it unbearably noisy. | Tōkyō e tsuite mitara, yakamshikute tamaranakatta (東京へ着いてみたら、やかましくてたまらなかった) | ||||
| ご覧・御覧'seeing' | てごらん(なさい)・でごらん(なさい) | Try thinking it through. | Yoku kangaete goran (よく考えてごらん) | same as miru; exalts the subject | |
| 見せる'show' | てみせる・でみせる | In the latest match against Celta B, he showed off this brilliant free kick. | Chokkin no Seruta Bī-sen de wa, konna azayaka na furī kikku o misete miseta. (直近のセルタB戦では、こんな鮮やかなフリーキックを見せてみせた。 [166] ) | doing something while showing that to someone | |
| Let me sing you a song. | Hitotsu utatte miseyō (ひとつ歌ってみせよう) | ||||
| しまう・仕舞う・終う・了う'end; put an end to; put/store away' | てしまう・でしまう | ちまう・ちゃう・じまう・じゃう [167] | Here's a rocky tract that gets submerged at high tide. | Koko wa ageshio ni naru to kakurete shimau iwaba desu (ここは上げ潮になると隠れてしまう岩場です) | doing something completely or thoroughly |
| “I’ve already put away my other clothes, so I’m just layering up now” | “Fuku o shimatte shimatta no de, nan to ka kasanegi o shite kitemasu” (「服をしまってしまったので、なんとか重ね着をして着てます」 [168] ) | ||||
| Did you drain all the hot water? | Oyu nuichatta no (お湯抜いちゃったの) | ||||
| Have you read it all? | Mō yonjatta? (もう読んじゃった?) | ||||
| I finally got around seeing that bastard. | Tōtō aitsu ni atte shimatta (とうとうあいつに会ってしまった) [148] | getting around doing something | |||
| Just die already! | Shinjae! (死んじゃえ!) | ||||
| “Shirley! Just waste that idiot emperor already! He’s the enemy of women!” | “Shāryi-san! Anna onna no teki na baka kōtei, hinerikoroshichae!” (「シャーリィさん! あんな女の敵なバカ皇帝、捻り殺しちゃえ!」 [169] ) | ||||
| I ended up offending her with my poor choice of words. | Iikata ga warukute kanojo o okorasete shimatta (言い方が悪くて彼女を怒らせてしまった) | having ended/wound up doing something | |||
| Damn it, I left my wallet home! | Shimatta, kamiire oite kichimatta (しまった、紙入れを置いて来ちまった) | ||||
| “She’s dead.” | “Kanai ga shinjimatta n da na” (「家内が死んじまったんだな」 [170] ) | ||||
| Oops, I did it again. | Are, mata yatchatta (あれ、またやっちゃった) | ||||
| Whoops, I just spit on you. | A, tsuba ga tonjatta (あ、唾が飛んじゃった) | ||||
| No matter how many times I try to memorize this word, I just keep forgetting it. | Kono tango wa nankai oboete mo wasurete shimau (この単語は何回覚えても忘れてしまう) | ending/winding up doing something [w] | |||
| When I'm your age, I'll probably forget what I eat yesterday, too. | Ore mo anta gurai no toshi ni nattara, kinō nani o tabeta ka wasurechimau yō ni naru n darō na (俺もあんたぐらいの年になったら,きのう何を食べたか忘れちまうようになるんだろうな) | ||||
| He'll drink any goddamn thing. | Nan de mo nonjau (なんでも飲んじゃう) | ||||
| What the hell's happening? | Dō natchatten daro (どうなっちゃってんだろ) | ||||
| 済む'end; come to an end; be over' | てすむ・ですむ | I'm managing without a car of my own. | Jikayōsha ga nakute mo sunde iru (自家用車がなくても済んでいる) | getting by on doing something; managing to do something | |
| It uses little power thanks to its power-saving design. | Setsudengata na no de denryoku wa sukunakute sumu (節電型なので電力は少なくてすむ) | ||||
| You can't just laugh this off. [x] | Sore wa waratte sumu koto de wa nai (それは笑ってすむことではない) | getting off/away with doing something | |||
| If I turn down the transfer assignment, I won't have to live apart from my family. [y] | Tenkin o kotowareba bekkyo seikatsu o shinai de sumu (転勤を断れば別居生活をしないですむ) | ||||
| He got off with a warning. [z] | Kare wa keikoku de sunda (彼は警告ですんだ) | ||||
| 済まない'isn't over' | てすまない・ですまない | I'm sorry I can't accept your kindness. [aa] | Goshinsetsu o hogo ni shite sumanai (ご親切を反古にしてすまない) | feeling sorry for doing something | |
| 済みません'isn't over' | てすみません・ですみません | I'm sorry for causing you trouble. [ab] | Gomendō o kakete sumimasen (ご面倒をかけてすみません) | ||
| 来る'come' | てくる・でくる [172] | He came home from the office. [ac] | Kaisha kara kaette kita (会社から帰ってきた) | coming here while also doing something else | |
| Worms also often come on Trojan Horses. [ad] | Wāmu mo Toroi no Mokuba ni notte kuru no ga futsū da. (ワームもトロイの木馬に乗ってくるのが普通だ。) | ||||
| Go get his ass. [ae] | Yattsukete koi (やっつけてこい) | going somewhere else, doing something there, then coming back here | |||
| I'm leaving. [af] | Itte kimasu (行ってきます) | ||||
| As the water clears, the bottom becomes visible. ―Nothing is becoming visible at all. | Mizu ga sunde kuru to soko ga miete kimasu. ―Nan ni mo miete konai na. (水が澄んでくると底が見えてきます。―なんにも見えてこないな。) | sustaining or progressing along up until a point in time | |||
| I told of how I've lived my life | Jibun ga ika ni ikite kita ka o hanashita (自分がいかに生きてきたかを話した) | ||||
| In summer, the sky starts to be lighter when it gets to be four in the morning. | Natsu ni wa asa yoji ni naru to, sora ga shirande kuru (夏には朝四時になると、空が白んでくる) | starting from then on | |||
| My stomach started hurting, so I went to the doctor. | Kyū ni onaka ga itande kita kara, isha ni itta (急におなかが痛んできたから、医者に行った) | ||||
| When I left my Tokyo office, I was told that if I called from Ōiso Station, the secretary (at his house) would drive there and pick me up, so I called after half past one. | Tōkyō no ofisu o saru toki, Ōiso-eki kara denwa o sureba (jitaku no) hisho ga kuruma de mukae ni kite kuru to yū koto datta no de, ichiji han ni natte kara denwa o shita. (東京のオフィスを去るとき、大磯駅から電話をすれば(自宅の)秘書が車で迎えに来てくるということだったので、1時半になってから電話をした。 [173] ) | ||||
| 行く'go' | ていく・てゆく・でいく・でゆく [172] | てく・でく | He went home. [ag] | Uchi e kaette itta (うちへ帰っていった) | going away while also doing something else |
| She walked off alone down the single path through the fields. [ah] | Kanojo wa hatake no naka no ippon michi o hitori de aruite itta (彼女は畑の中の一本道を一人で歩いていった) | ||||
| Did they come and get the laundry? [ai] | Sentakumono o totte itta? (洗濯物を取っていった?) | coming here, doing something here, then going away | |||
| ‘They’ve got … they’ve got Ron?’ [aj] | “Suichūjin ga tottetta no wa…… tottetta no wa, Ron?” (「水中人が取ってったのは……取ってったのは、ロン?」 [174] ) | ||||
| Let's eat before leaving. | Tabete ikimashō (食べていきましょう) | ||||
| Old soldiers don't die, they just fade away. | Rōhei wa shinazu, kiete iku nomi (老兵は死なず、消えていくのみ) | sustaining or progressing along from a point in time onward | |||
| The affair dragged on unsettled. | Shigoto wa katazuite ikanakatta (仕事は片付いていかなかった) | ||||
| It will get colder from now on. | Kore kara samuku natte iku deshō (これから寒くなっていくでしょう) | starting from now on | |||
| 行けない'can't go' | ていけない・でいけない | てけない・でけない | No way I could keep on living on my own. | Hitori de wa tote mo ikite ikenai (一人ではとても生きていけない) | it's impossible to keep on doing something |
| You can’t afford not to be strict with how much money and how many connections you get. | Okane to kone o dore dake eru ka, shibia ja nai to yattekenai wa. (お金とコネをどれだけ得るか、シビアじゃないとやってけないわ。 [175] ) | ||||
| You mustn't steal other people's ideas. | Tanin no aidea o nusunde wa ikenai (他人のアイデアを盗んではいけない) | it's prohibited to do something | |||
| he who must not be named | namae o itte wa ikenai ano hito (名前を言ってはいけないあの人) | ||||
| 行けません'can't go' | ていけません・でいけません | てけません・でけません | “……Mika, you’ve gotten freakier over the years, haven’t you?” “If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be able to run a rental store” | “……Mika-chan, nennen, seikaku yugande kitenai?” “Kono kurai de nakya, rentaru-ya no kanrishoku nan ka yattekemasen” (「……ミカちゃん、年々、性格ゆがんできてない?」 「このくらいでなきゃ、レンタル屋の管理職なんかやってけません」 [176] ) | same as ikenai; more polite |
| It's the library's job to answer these questions, and this must be communicated with the younger generations. | Korera ni kotaeru koto ga toshokan no shigoto deari, sore wa wakai sedai ni mo tsutaenakute wa ikemasen. (これらに答えることが図書館の仕事であり、それは若い世代にも伝えなくてはいけません。 [91] ) | ||||
| いらっしゃる'be; come; go' いらっしゃって・いらっしゃった | ていらっしゃる・でいらっしゃる ていらっしゃって・でいらっしゃって・ていらっしゃった・でいらっしゃった | てらっしゃる・でらっしゃる てらっしゃって・でらっしゃって・てらっしゃった・でらっしゃった・ていらして [177] ・でいらして・ていらした・でいらした・てらして・でらして・てらした・でらした | You probably don't remember, but it's me, Satō. [ak] | Tabun oboete irassharanai deshō keredo, watashi, Satō desu (たぶん覚えていらっしゃらないでしょうけれど、私、佐藤です) | same as iru, kuru and iku; ‑te/‑de irassharu is also the same as (de) aru; exalts the subject, and unusable if the subject is not human |
| “No,” she said, “we won’t have any of this. If she comes in she must see you—and think if she likes there’s something wrong! But how can I open the door to her, when she dislikes me—wishes to see not me, but her son? I won’t open the door!” [al] | “Dame yo” to kanojo wa itta, “Konna koto wa yamemashō. Okaasama ga haitterashitara, anata ni ki ga tsuku ni chigai nai wa――sore ni, katte ni nani ka okashii to omoware de mo shitara! De mo dō shite watashi ga to o akete agerarete? Watashi o kiratterasshatte――watashi ja naku, musuko ni aitagatterassharu no ni. Watashi, doa wa akenai wa” (「だめよ」と彼女は言った、「こんなことはやめましょう。お姑様が入ってらしたら、あなたに気がつくにちがいないわ――それに、勝手に何かおかしいと思われでもしたら! でもどうしてわたしが戸を開けてあげられて? わたしを嫌ってらっしゃって――わたしじゃなく、息子に会いたがってらっしゃるのに。わたし、ドアは開けないわ」 [178] ) | ||||
| “I thought you had been dreaming,” [am] | “Yume o miterashita n da to omoimashita wa” (「夢を見てらしたんだと思いましたわ」 [178] ) | ||||
| “Were you dancing with her, Diggory?” [an] | “Sono kata to odotte irashita no, Digori?” (「その方と踊っていらしたの、ディゴリ?」 [178] ) | ||||
| Hurry up and come down, please! [ao] | Sassa to orite irasshai (さっさと下りていらっしゃい) | ||||
| Come back soon! [ap] | Itte( i)rasshai (いって(い)らっしゃい) | ||||
| Take your umbrella with you! [aq] | Kyō wa kasa o motte irasshai (傘を持っていらっしゃい) | ||||
| I envy how you always stay beautiful. [ar] | Anata wa itsu mo outsukushikute irassharu kara urayamashii wa (あなたはいつもお美しくていらっしゃるからうらやましいわ) | ||||
| もらう・貰う'receive' | てもらう・でもらう | I had him translate it into English. | Kare ni sore o eiyaku shite moratta (彼にそれを英訳してもらった) | having someone else do something | |
| 頂く'receive' | ていただく・でいただく | I had this composition corrected by my teacher. | Kono sakubun wa sensei ni naoshite itadaita no desu (この作文は先生に直していただいたのです) | ||
| I asked the parents whether they might not let their son take our daughter's hand in marriage. [179] [as] | Oya ni sono musuko ni uchi no musume o moratte yatte itadakenai to ka tanonda (親にその息子にうちの娘を貰ってやっていただけないとか頼んだ) | ||||
| やる・遣る'give (to someone other than me/us); do' | てやる・でやる | I'll kill you! | Zettai ni koroshite yaru! (絶対に殺してやる!) | doing something to/for someone other than me/us | |
| I'll handle it for you. | Boku ga umaku yatte yaru yo (僕がうまくやってやるよ) | ||||
| 上げる'raise; give (to someone other than me/us)' | てあげる・であげる | たげる・だげる | Let me help you put your shoes on. | Kutsu o hakasete ageyō (靴をはかせてあげよう) | |
| I'll even pay your tuition fees. | Gakuhi mo dashitageru (学費も出したげる) | ||||
| 遣わす'give (to someone other than me/us)' | てつかわす・でつかわす | I forgive you. | Yurushite tsukawasu (許してつかわす) | ||
| くれる・呉れる'give (to me/us)' | てくれる・でくれる | Will you lend me the book? | Hon o kashite kurenai? (本を貸してくれない?) | doing something to/for me/us | |
| You just embarrassed me, you know that? | Yoku mo haji o kakasete kureta na (よくも恥をかかせてくれたな) | ||||
| くださる・下さる'give (to me/us)' | てくださる・でくださる | He took the trouble to come to the airport and see me. | Wazawaza kūkō made mukae ni kite kudasatta (わざわざ空港まで迎えに来てくださった) | ||
| I'd be much obliged if you would grant my request. | Watashi no negai o kiite kudasareba makoto ni arigatai n desu ga (私の願いを聞いてくだされば誠にありがたいんですが) | ||||
| Anyway, please get her to leave my hospital room. [179] [at] | Tonikaku, byōshitsu kara dete itte moratte kudasai (とにかく、病室から出ていってもらってください) | ||||
| いい・良い・善い'be good' | ていい・でいい | Can I borrow this? | Kore karite ii desu ka (これ借りていいですか) | it's okay to do something | |
| Can I see you tomorrow? | Ashita otaku e asobi ni itte mo ii desu ka (明日お宅へ遊びに行ってもいいですか) | ||||
| よろしい・宜しい'be good' | てよろしい・でよろしい | Starting tomorrow, you won't need to come to work. | Ashita kara kaisha ni konakute yoroshii (あしたから会社に来なくてよろしい) | ||
| ほしい・欲しい'be wanted' | てほしい・でほしい | I hope my mother has a long life. | Haha ni wa nagaiki shite hoshii (母には長生きして欲しい) | it's desirable to do something |
During speech, the speaker may terminate a sentence in the te form but slightly lengthen the vowel sound as a natural pause: てぇ (te...). Similar to when a sentence ends with "so..." in English, this serves as a social cue that can:
Another usage of the te form is, just as with English, the order of clauses may be reversed to create emphasis. However, unlike in English, the sentence will terminate on the te form (rather than between clauses).
| English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|
| I'll go to the pharmacy and buy medicine. | 薬局へ行って薬を買う(yakkyoku e itte kusuri o kau) | typical conjunction |
| I'll buy medicine, by going to the pharmacy | 薬を買う。薬局へ行って (kusuri o kau. yakkyoku e itte) | reversed conjunction |
The perfective form ( 過去形・完了形 , kakokei / kanryōkei; also known as the "ta form", "past tense" and the "perfect tense") is equivalent to the English "past tense". [180]
| English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|
| I went to Japan. | 日本に行った (nihon ni itta) | past tense |
| I practiced piano every day. | 毎日ピアノの練習をした (mainichi piano no renshū o shita) |
The perfective form is created by using the onbinkei base, followed by the ta/da (た・だ) suffix, which was historically a combination of te (as in the te forms below) and the verb aru ("exist"). [51] [52] Note that ‑te aru now has different uses from ‑ta, and there can even be ‑te atta (← ‑te + ari + ‑ta) as well. ‑Ta, ‑tara(ba), ‑tari, ‑tarō trigger the same sound changes as ‑te as shown above.
Note that despite their common origin, ‑ta and ‑te aru are split differently by particles. [181] Here, the particle wa is illustratively used:
The past form of the eastern negative auxiliary ‑nai, which is grammatically adjectival, is ‑nakatta (← ‑naku + atta). The western ‑n, on the other hand, has multiple variants: ‑nanda, ‑zatta (← ‑zu + atta), ‑henkatta, ‑n jatta, ‑n datta [182] [au] (both from ‑n + de atta), ‑n yatta, etc. ‑Nkatta is found in both the east and the west. [183]
While ‑n is largely western, it is still used in the polite negative ‑masen in eastern dialects as well, and it also has multiple variants for past negative forms with: [184]
Alternatively, politeness can be marked only with desu instead of ‑mase‑, with:
Of the above, only ‑masen deshita and ‑nakatta desu are accepted in Tokyo Japanese.
The now western-only ‑nanda was used in the older Edo Japanese (the precursor of the modern Tokyo Japanese), [185] as in torananda (取らなんだ; 'did not take', equivalent to toranakatta), mairimasenanda (参りませなんだ; 'did not visit', equivalent to mairimasen deshita), shiremashinanda (知れましなんだ; 'could not know; did not become known', equivalent to shiremasen deshita), [186] de arimasenanda (でありませなんだ; 'were not', equivalent to de arimasen deshita), etc. In Tokyo Japanese, ‑nanda was displaced by ‑nakatta, while ‑masenanda was displaced by ‑masenkatta, [187] ‑masen datta, [188] and ultimately ‑masen deshita. [189] [190] [191] [192] ‑Nanda and ‑masenanda can still be used in literature to convey dialectal or faux-archaic speech, even if that speech is anachronistic or made by non-Japanese characters.
| Dictionary form | Pattern [16] | Perfective form | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godan verbs | |||||
| う | 結う(yuu, fasten) | 結う | 結っ 結う | た | 結った・結うた [75] (yutta / yūta, fastened) |
| 言う(yū, say) | ゆう | いっ ゆっ ゆう | た | 言った・言うた [76] (itta/yutta / yūta, said) | |
| 会う (au, meet) | あう | あっ おう | た | 会った・会うた [77] (atta / ōta, met) | |
| 祝う (iwau, celebrate) | いわう | いわっ いおう | た | 祝った・祝うた [193] (iwatta / iōta, celebrated) | |
| 負う (ou, carry) | 負う | 負っ 負う | た | 負った・負うた [av] [80] [196] [82] [83] (otta / ōta, carried) | |
| 覆う (ōu, cover) | 覆う | 覆っ 覆う | た | 覆った・覆うた [197] [198] [199] [200] (ōtta / oōta, covered) | |
| 問う (tou, inquire) | 問う | 問う 問っ | た | 問うた [95] [201] [202] [203] [90] [204] ・問った [205] [206] [207] [208] [209] (tōta / totta, inquired) | |
| 訪う (tou, visit) | 訪う | 訪う 訪っ | た | 訪うた [95] [96] [210] ・訪った [211] [212] [213] (tōta / totta, visited) | |
| 請う (kou, solicit) | 請う | 請う 請っ | た | 請うた [99] [214] [215] [216] ・請った [217] [218] [219] [220] (kōta / kotta, solicited) | |
| 恋う (kou, long for) | 恋う | 恋う 恋っ | た | 恋うた [221] [222] ・恋った [223] (kōta / kotta, longed for) | |
| 厭う (itou, grudge) | 厭う | 厭う 厭っ | た | 厭うた [224] [111] ・厭った [225] [226] (itōta / itotta, grudged) | |
| 給う (tamau / tamō [38] [69] , bestow) | たまう たもう | たもう たまっ | た | 給うた [122] [114] [227] [228] [229] [115] [116] ・給った [230] [231] (tamōta / tamatta, bestowed) | |
| 宣う (notamau / notamō [38] [69] , say) | のたまう のたもう | のたもう のたまっ | た | 宣うた [232] [233] ・宣った [123] [234] (notamōta / notamatta, said) | |
| つ | 勝つ (katsu, win) | 勝つ | 勝っ | た | 勝った (katta, won) |
| る | 狩る (karu, hunt) | 狩る | 狩っ | た | 狩った (katta, hunted) |
| す | 貸す (kasu, lend) | 貸す | 貸し | た | 貸した (kashita, lent) |
| く | 書く (kaku, write) | 書く | 書い | た | 書いた (kaita, wrote) |
| ぐ | 嗅ぐ (kagu, smell) | 嗅ぐ | 嗅い | だ | 嗅いだ (kaida, smelled) |
| ぶ | 呼ぶ(yobu, call) | 呼ぶ | 呼ん | だ | 呼んだ(yonda, called) |
| む | 読む(yomu, read) | 読む | 読ん | だ | 読んだ(yonda, read) |
| ぬ | 死ぬ (shinu, die) | 死ぬ | 死ん | だ | 死んだ (shinda, died) |
| Irregular godan verbs | |||||
| く | 行く (iku/yuku, go) | いく ゆく | いっ ゆっ ゆい いい | た | 行った・行いた (itta/yutta [125] [126] [128] / yuita [235] [128] [129] [236] [237] /iita [125] [238] [126] [239] [240] , went) |
| Ichidan verbs | |||||
| 射る (iru, shoot) | 射る | 射 | た | 射た (ita, shot) | |
| 得る (eru, get) | 得る | 得 | た | 得た (eta, got) | |
| Irregular verbs | |||||
| する (suru, do) | する | し | た | した (shita, did it) | |
| 来る (kuru, come) | くる | き | た | 来た (kita, came) | |
| Verbal auxiliaries | |||||
| 〜ます(る) (‑masu(ru)) | ます(る) | まし | た | 〜ました (‑mashita) | |
| です (desu, be) | です | でし | た | でした (deshita, were) | |
| だ (da, be) | だ | だ | った | だった (datta, were) | |
| Adjective and adjectival auxiliaries | |||||
| 無い (nai, be nonexistent) | 無い | 無かっ | た | 無かった (nakatta, were nonexistent) | |
| 良い (ii/yoi, be good) | いい よい | よかっ | た | 良かった(yokatta, were good) | |
| Special auxiliaries | |||||
| 〜ん・〜ぬ (‑n(u)) | ん ぬ | なん | だ | 〜なんだ (‑nanda) [241] [242] [243] [244] [245] [246] [247] [248] | |
| 〜ません・〜ませぬ (‑masen(u)) | ません ませぬ | ません ませぬ | でした | 〜ませんでした・〜ませぬでした [249] [250] [251] (‑masen(u) deshita) | |
| ませなん | だ | 〜ませなんだ (‑masenanda) [252] [243] [253] [254] | |||
The perfective form is compatible with:
| English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|
| I read a book, watched TV, etc. | 本を読んだり、テレビを見たりした (hon o yondari, terebi o mitari shita) | non‑exhaustive list of actions |
| If I go to Japan, I want to see Mount Fuji. | 日本に行ったら、富士山が見たい (nihon ni ittara, fuji san ga mitai) | if or when |
| When I went to the cafe, I came across Suzuki. | カフェに行ったら、鈴木さんに会った (kafe ni ittara, Suzuki-san ni atta) | unexpected past outcome |
"Work here for another two hours, my lord. Can't do with less than thirty minutes' exposure. The current's none too strong."「旦那様、もう二時間ばかりここで仕事をいたしたいのでございます。現像いたしますのには、三十分では少のうございます。水の出が弱いので」
[…]
"Pleased to meet you, Lord Wimsey," said Mr. Milligan. "Won't you take a seat?"
[…]
"I'm vurry pleased to meet you, Duchess," had been that financier's opening remark, "to thank you for your exceedingly kind invitation. I assure you it's a compliment I deeply appreciate."
[…]
"To be sure they will," said Mr. Bunter, "and very nice, too. You just come and lay down a bit, sir—they've come to take over this section."
Dieu me donnerait sa plus belle étoile,神樣の一番綺麗な星よりも、
J'aime mieux l'enfant que tu m'as donné.
— Sire, puis-je quitter la France quand je croirai ma vie menacée?「陛下、命を脅かされたら、フランスを離れてもよろしゅうございますか?」[“Sire, may I leave France in case my life is endangered?”]
y a este propósito dice Plinio que no hay libro, por malo que sea, que no tenga alguna cosa buena; […] y a este propósito dice Tulio: "La honra cría las artes."いにしえのプリニウス先生も宣うております。
Moley gulped, jammed a cheroot into his mouth, and struck a match. He was striving to steady himself. "All right. You won't talk about that. But you had a fight with him, didn't you?" She was silent. "He called you a dirty name, didn't he?" A sickness came into her eyes, but she merely compressed her lips. "Well, how long did this go on, Mrs. Godfrey? How long were you with him?"モリーはつばをのみ、たばこをくわえて、マッチをすった。自分を落ちつかせようと懸命だった。「よろしい。そのことは言わんでよろしい。だが、マルコとあらそったでしょう」夫人は黙っていた。「マルコはあなたを、罵ったでしょう」夫人は不快の色を目に浮かべたが、唇をかみしめただけだった。「じゃあ、どのくらい、いたんですか、奥さん。どのくらい一緒にいたんですか」
„Ich weiß keinen Ort, wo es besser aufgehoben wäre, als die Kirche, da getraut sich niemand etwas wegzunehmen. Wir stellen es unter den Altar und rühren es nicht eher an, bis wir es nötig haben."「教会にしまっておくのが、いちばんいいと思うんだ。あそこに置いとけば、誰も掻っぱらおうなんて思いやしないからね。祭壇の下に置いといて、ほしくなるまで、手をつけないことにしよう」
'What's a Wheezy?'「ウィージーってなんだい?」
'Your Wheezy, sir, your Wheezy - Wheezy who is giving Dobby his jumper!'
Dobby plucked at the shrunken maroon sweater he was now wearing over his shorts.
'What?' Harry gasped. 'They've got … they've got Ron?'
"No," she said, "we won't have any of this. If she comes in she must see you—and think if she likes there's something wrong! But how can I open the door to her, when she dislikes me—wishes to see not me, but her son? I won't open the door!"「だめよ」と彼女は言った、「こんなことはやめましょう。お姑様が入ってらしたら、あなたに気がつくにちがいないわ――それに、勝手に何かおかしいと思われでもしたら! でもどうしてわたしが戸を開けてあげられて? わたしを嫌ってらっしゃって――わたしじゃなく、息子に会いたがってらっしゃるのに。わたし、ドアは開けないわ」
[…]
"I thought you had been dreaming," said she.
[…]
"Were you dancing with her, Diggory?" she asked, in a voice which revealed that he had made himself considerably more interesting to her by this disclosure.
Even the helmet, that covered him with its invisibility, had vanished!隠す力を以て彼を覆うた兜さえも、もう見えませんでした!
"Here's Abominable Lunch Number Seventy-seven," she announced. "Made from plastic food bags, parsley, and gum from under theatre seats. Brush your teeth after or you'll taste the poison all afternoon."「さあ、おぞましき昼食第七十七号ですよ」とお祖母さまはのたもうた。「プラスチックのパックに入っているインスタント食品と、パセリと、映画館の座席の下から拾って来たガムでこしらえたのよ。あとで歯を磨きなさいね――さもないと、夜になるまでずっと毒の味が口に残りますからね」
— Como me lo pregunta este señor —respondió ella—, no pude dejar de respondelle.『この旦那樣がお訊ねになつたので、御返事せんわけには行かなんだもの。』と娘は言つた。[“As the gentleman asked me, I could not help answering him,” said the girl.]
Bru. Farewell, good Strato.—Caesar, now be still:ブルー さやうなら、ストレートーよ。……シーザーよ、今こそ安心なさい。予はお前さんを此半分ほども甘んじては殺さなんだのだ。
I kill'd not thee with halfe so good a will.
'It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learnt it all?'「ごめんなさいはこいつらのセリフだ。おまえさんが手紙を受け取ってないのは知っとったが、まさかホグワーツのことも知らんとは、思ってもみなかったぞ。なんてこった! おまえの両親がいったいどこであんなにいろんなことを学んだのか、不思議に思わなんだのか?」
«А я опять не помер!»「やれやれ、またわしは死ななんだよ!」[“Good grief, once again, I didn’t die!”]
"Sure I should never have thought you had the face. Well, and what did the last one say to ye? Nothing that can't be got over, perhaps, after all?" […] Ay, when I think what she'll say to me now without a mossel of red in her face, it do seem strange that 'a wouldn't say such a little thing then....「まさかお前がそんなに厚かましいとは思わなんだ。ところで最後に声かけた娘っ子は何て返事しただ?結局、聞き流してしまえねえようなことじゃなかろう?」[…]ああ、女房も今なら顔なんかちっとも赤らめんで言ってのけるだろうにって思やあ、あのころ、あんなつまらんこともよう言わなんだのが不思議に思えるだ。
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