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にほんごがじょうずになるつもり!
Nihongo ga jouzu ni naru tsumori!
I plan on becoming good at Japanese!
The casual form
This is it.... this is the lesson where we finally learn the casual form in Japanese. The form primarily used in manga and anime. Now, you will be able to talk to your friends without sounding like you are talking to an older person... nah, this doesn't mean that, but keep in mind that the polite form will still have to be used when talking to a superior or to someone you don't know.
However, there are a lot of constructions in Japanese that, even in the polite form, it requires the knowledge of the casual or neutral form, especially when it comes to verbs.
Now, buckle up, because this lesson will be overloaded...
So, we learned practically all the verb tenses, present, future, and past. We learned so far the forms 〜ます/〜ません/〜ました/〜ませんでした, all stored in our brain.
Now, it is the time to learn all of those again, but in the casual form.
As mentioned, the casual form in Japanese is the form you will hear the most often in anime, so it is possible that until then, you could not understand much while watching anime.
When speaking with the casual form, you will address mainly your friends, close friends, parents perhaps, family, but do not use it while talking to someone you don't know, even if they are the same age as you. You can sound rude.
Japanese people often do not feel comfortable with people they don't know, so if ever you befriend a Japanese person and they start using your name or to use the casual form with you, it means that you passed the test!
But the casual form is all but easy. That is because, on top of learning the polite form of verbs, now you have to learn how to say them in a whole different way.
So, first thing first! Japanese verbs, like all verbs in any language, have an infinitive form (or dictionary form). This is the most basic form, like in English 'to be', 'to have', 'to take'... that is the infinitive form.
This infinitive form is also used to say verbs at the present tense or the future in the casual form. So, the 〜ます will be taken out altogether to be reduced to the simple basic infinitive case.
This is also a great moment to learn about Japanese verbs!
Verbs in Japanese all end with a 〜う sound (たべる、のむ、およぐ、あう、かう、いく) and you can see that some have different endings (some ends in ku, others in ru, some in mu, su, gu, u, etc.) This will be important to know to be able to form the 〜ます form as well. We learned about this form already, but we haven't really dived into it regarding the endings of verbs.
For instance, all verbs ending in 〜く will turn into 〜き for the 〜ます form.
いく (to go) turns into いきます.
かく (to write) turns into かきます.
and so on.
The Japanese verbs
Japanese verbs can be classified in 3 categories: godan verbs, also known as class-5 verbs; ichidan verbs, also known as class-1 verbs; and irregular verbs (which there are only two irregular verbs: する (to do) and くる (to come).
Let's see the different possible endings of verbs beforehand. I gave you some examples for each category.
Ending 〜う
(あう (to meet), かう (to buy)
Ending 〜く
(いく (to go), かく (to write), きく (to listen, to hear)
Ending 〜す
(おす (to push), はなす (to speak, to talk)
Ending 〜つ
(まつ (to wait), もつ (to hold), たつ (to stand)
Ending 〜ぬ
(しぬ (to die)
Ending 〜む
(よむ (to read), のむ (to drink)
Ending 〜る
(たべる (to eat), おきる (to wake up), はしる (to run)
Ending 〜ぐ
(およぐ (to swim), いそぐ (to hurry up)
Ending 〜ぶ
(まなぶ (to learn), えらぶ (to choose)
These are all possible endings of verbs in the infinitive.
Ichidan verbs
Let's start off with ichidan verbs. They are the easiest to conjugate, both in the polite and casual forms. Examples of these verbs include みる (to see), おきる (to wake up), あける (to open) and たべる (to eat). These are called 〜る verbs, because they all end with the character る.
To conjugate these verbs, the る ending will be replaced by the new ending. Thus, たべる becomes たべます. The stem たべ is unaffected.
たべる - たべ - たべます (to eat)
みる - み - みます (to see, to watch)
おきる - おき - おきます (to wake up)
So, now, I will tell you everything about the casual form for the ichidan verbs.
The infinitive form will replace the 〜ます form when talking in the casual form.
What are you eating?
なにたべる？
Nani taberu?
I eat curry.
カレーをたべる。
Karee o taberu.
Note that, in the casual form, particles, especially the topic marker and the object marker, can be omitted. When asking questions, the particle か can be omitted as well. Only the intonation will remain.
Some particles, though, will remain, as they are important to the sentence.
Tomorrow, I am waking up at 7.
あした、しちじにおきる。
Ashita, shichi ji ni okiru.
In this sentence, we cannot omit the particle に.
The casual form of ichidan verbs in the negative will turn 〜ません into 〜ない.
I do not eat broccoli.
ブロッコリーをたべない。
Burokkorii o tabenai.
For the past, 〜ました will become simply 〜た.
I woke up at 7 today.
きょう、しちじにおきた。
Kyou, shichi ji ni okita.
And then, I opened the door.
そして、ドアをあけた。
Soshite, doa o aketa.
Finally, for the past negative, 〜ませんでした will become 〜なかった.
I did not eat the apple.
りんごをたべなかった。
Ringo o tabenakatta.
Remember: for ichidan verbs, the stem of the verbs is not affected.
Godan verbs
The godan verbs are often called 〜う verbs, because they end in a 〜う sound. Unlike the ichidan verbs, the sound 〜う will shift through the five vowel sounds (あ, い, う, え, お). Some examples of these verbs are よむ (to read), かく (to write), はなす (to speak), and きく (to listen, to hear).
The 〜う sound of these verbs will shift to a 〜い sound in the 〜ます form.
あう - あい - あいます
(to meet)
かく - かき - かきます
(to write)
はなす - はなし - はなします
(to talk, to speak)
まつ - まち - まちます
(to wait)
しぬ - しに - しにます
(to die)
よむ - よみ - よみます
(to read)
つくる - つくり - つくります
(to make)
およぐ - およぎ - およぎます
(to swim)
えらぶ - えらび - えらびます
(to choose)
In the casual form, the verbs will stay in their infinitive form.
In the casual negative form, the 〜う sound will shift to a 〜あ sound.
かく - かか - かかない
(do not write)
はなす - はなさ - はなさない
(do not speak)
まつ - また - またない
(do not wait)
しぬ - しな - しなない
(do not die)
よむ - よま - よまない
(do not read)
つくる - つくら - つくらない
(do not make)
およぐ - およが - およがない
(do not swim)
えらぶ - えらば - えらばない
(do not choose)
The case of verbs ending in 〜う like あう (to meet) and かう (to buy)
Before we go too far, I just wanted to talk about these cases.
We saw that these verbs in the 〜ます form the 〜う was replaced with 〜い, like あいます and かいます. Following the examples above, we should expect these verbs to be written as ああない and かあない when in the casual negative form... but no, this isn't the case.
For these verbs, the 〜う will turn into 〜わない.
あわない
かわない
This is because we do not have the sound wi, we, and wu, anymore. We used to have them in Japanese. Thus, verbs like かう were written 'kawu'. That is why in the negative form, they all change into a 'wa'. Although they didn't keep their original sound in the infinitive, we kept the original pronunciation in the casual negative.
Godan verbs disguised as ichidan verbs
You thought there wasn't any exceptions in Japanese?
There are some verbs that are written like ichidan verbs (so, having the ending 〜る), but are behaving as godan verbs. Such verbs include つくる (to make), わかる (to understand), おる (to fold) and のる (to ride). You can easily find them, because they take the 〜い sound in their 〜ます form: つくります, わかります, おります and のります.
So, these verbs will behave like godan verbs in the negative form.
つくらない
わからない
おらない
のらない
In the past casual form, the godan verbs behave differently than ichidan verbs.
Relying on their 〜ます form, we should be expecting them to behave the same way, but, again, that is not the case. Why making it simple when making it more difficult is more fun.... right?
So, here's where it becomes more difficult.
あう - あった
(met)
かく - かいた
(wrote)
はなす - はなした
(spoke)
まつ - まった
(waited)
しぬ - しんだ
(died)
よむ - よんだ
(read)
つくる - つくった
(made)
およぐ - およいだ
(swam)
えらぶ - えらんだ
(chose)
So, this means that verbs ending in 〜う will shift into 〜った.
Verbs ending in 〜つ will shift into 〜った.
Verbs ending in 〜る will shift into 〜った.
Verbs ending in 〜す will shift into 〜した.
Verbs ending in 〜く will shift into 〜いた.
Verbs ending in 〜ぐ will shift into 〜いだ.
Verbs ending in 〜ぬ or 〜む will shift into 〜んだ.
Verbs ending in 〜ぶ will shift into 〜んだ.
And of course, we cannot forget the verb 'to go' いく, because this one will be the exception amongst the exceptions.
いく -- いった
This will also be the case of the 〜て form (present tense).
We saw in an earlier lesson that 'teimasu' was the present tense. The pattern of godan verbs in the present tense follow the pattern of godan verbs in the past.
あう - あって（います）
(is meeting)
かく - かいて（います）
(is writing)
はなす - はなして（います）
(is speaking)
まつ - まって（います）
(is waiting)
しぬ - しんで（います）
(is dying)
よむ - よんで（います）
(is reading)
つくる - つくって（います）
(is making)
およぐ - およいで（います）
(is swimming)
えらぶ - えらんで（います）
(is choosing)
Again, for the verb いく, it will have this ending いっています.
Keep in mind that this form of the verb 'to go' works differently than in English. For now, try to avoid it. In any case, it isn't really used.
Try to make yourself a diagram (I unfortunately cannot do it on this blog) to help you remember these endings.
And finally, how to say the past negative in the casual form, well... we go back to when we learned that the 〜う sound turns into a 〜あ sound.
あう - あわ - あわなかった
かく - かか - かかなかった
はなす - はなさ - はなさなかった
まつ - また - またなかった
しぬ - しな - しななかった
よむ - よま - よまなかった
つくる - つくら - つくらなかった
およぐ - およが - およがなかった
えらぶ - えらば - えらばなかった
We are not done with the verbs, unfortunately. We still haven't seen the irregular verbs する and くる.
In the 〜ます form, they become します and きます.
In the negative casual form, they become しない and こない.
In the past casual form, they become した and きた.
In the past negative casual form, they become しなかった and こなかった.
I do believe this lesson is already a lot to remember, but be assured that it is normal to not remember all of this in one day. Even for us, it is quite difficult to remember. But at the very least, Japanese verbs are quite straightforward and once you know them, you know them.
We are still not done. There is one verb we haven't seen.
The verb です in the casual present form won't be its infinitive form である.
In the casual present form, it is だ.
In the negative form, it is じゃない.
In the past form, it is だった.
And in the negative past form, it is じゃなかった.
This has become more difficult now.
But take you time. In the meantime, let's learn something else to give our brain a break!
If you want more information on how to conjugate all verbs in all forms and tenses, check out this article All about verbs in Japanese. It will help you to have a better understanding of verbs, since in this lesson, we have other things to see.
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Talking about our intentions
Are you tired with the verbs yet? Let's talk about something else!
One construction that will become useful for you is to express your intentions. For this, and this is why I made you learn the verbs at the infinitive form, we will have to put the verb in the infinitive and add the expression つもりです. つもり means 'intention', so you literally say 'this is my intention to...'
You can use it with a verb or a noun.
VERB (inf.) + つもり + です
I have the intention (I am planning) to go to Japan next year.
らいねん、にほんにいくつもりです。
Rainen, nihon ni iku tsumori desu.
I intend on making a delicious cake.
おいしいケーキをつくるつもりです。
Oishii keeki o tsukuru tsumori desu.
NOUN + の + つもり + です
I intend it to be a tent. (I mean it to be a tent)
テントのつもりです。
Tento no tsumori desu.
*つもり actually denotes that you have made a decision a while ago. If your decision is made on the spot, you don't use つもり.
つもり marks short-term or long-term plan, but it can also denote something that is difficult to attain.
For instance, if you have a dream of becoming a singer one day, you can use つもり.
One day, I will become a singer.
いつか、かしゅになるつもりです。
Itsuka, kashu ni naru tsumori desu.
It not only shows that you want to become a singer, but that you are also determined to become one.
Note, however, that you cannot use つもり for someone else! If you want to talk about the intentions of someone who is not there, you will need to add らいい (which can roughly be translated to 'I have heard...') It is because it is somewhat rude to state the intentions of someone else, because you can never be sure of someone else's real intentions. We will thus be less direct about it but stating that we have heard that it was their intentions.
I've heard this guy is committed to becoming a singer.
あいつはかしゅになるつもりらいいです。
Aitsu wa kashu ni naru tsumori raii desu.
Most commonly, つもり is attached to verbs and this is because in most cases, you will state that you have the intention to do something.
Note that it is possible to change this construction to the casual form by changing です to だ, although it can be dropped altogether in the casual form. In this case, you will only be using つもり.
I intend to go to Japan.
にほんにいくつもり。
Nihon ni iku tsumori.
To ask a person what their intentions are, you can use つもり since you don't know their intentions yet.
Where do you have the intention to go?
どこにいくつもりですか？
Doko ni iku tsumori desu ka?
〜ないつもりです
〜 For something that you intent to not do or be 〜
This is used when you intent not to do something. This is when knowing the verbs in their casual form comes in handy.
I do not intend to go to Japan next year.
らいねん、にほんにいかないつもりです。
Rainen, nihon ni ikanai tsumori desu.
Even if the verb is in casual form, the sentence is still in the polite form, because of です.
〜つもりでした
〜 For something you intended to do, but failed to do 〜
When つもり is used in the past tense, it shows that you had the intention to do something, but you couldn't or it is no longer your intention to do so.
I was really going to marry you.
ほんとうにけっこんするつもりでした。
Hontou ni kekkon suru tsumori deshita.
In this sentence, you had the intention of marrying someone, but something happened that made you change your mind.
I was going to go on a diet, but...
ダイエットするつもりでしたけど。。。
Daietto suru tsumori deshita kedo...
In this case, you thought about going on a diet, but you are uncertain about it now.
We will see this construction a lot with けど, which, if you remember, meant 'but', because they are suspended sentences. 'I was going to go on a diet, but...' but something happened that made you not go on a diet.
〜たつもりです
〜 For something you believe you have achieved 〜
If you believe you have achieved your intention, then the verb will be put in the past to show that you have achieved doing something.
I believe I have studied enough.
じゅうぶんべんきょうしたつもりです。
Juubun benkyou shita tsumori desu.
This kind of construction however is often used with けど, as most of the time, it will also explain the uncertainty of things.
I believe I have studied enough, but...
じゅうぶんべんきょうしたつもりですけど。。
Juubun benkyou shita tsumori desu kedo...
If you end up failing your exam, you will change です for でした.
I thought I had studied enough.
じゅうぶんべんきょうしたつもりでした。
Juubun benkyou shita tsumori deshita.
Having no intention whatsoever
You learned that 〜ないつもりです was to express that you had no intention of doing something. But when you have no intention at all, you will rather use 〜つもりはありません.
I have no intention of selling this shop!
このみせをうるつもりはありません！
Kono mise o uru tsumori wa arimasen!
However, as we already saw, you cannot use this construction to talk about someone else's intentions. In this case, you will use this construction instead.
〜つもりはないようです
This construction express the intentions of others not to do something, like the form つもりらいい, but in the negative.
They appear to have no intention of selling this shop.
このみせをうるつもりはないようです。
Kono mise o uru tsumori wa nai you desu.
よう denotes that you have heard or that it appears they do not want to sell this shop. よう somewhat acts as the word 'appear' in this case.
Note that you can all put these sentences in the casual form by changing です/でした/じゃありません/じゃありませんでした to their casual form, だ/だった/ない/なかった, or by dropping the verb 'to be' altogether.
I have the intention of going to Japan next year.
らいねん、にほんにいくつもり（だ）。
Rainen, nihon ni iku tsumori (da).
I thought I had studied enough.
じゅうぶんべんきょうしたつもりだった。
Juubun benkyou shita tsumori datta.
Be careful of the construction you are using, because you could change the meaning of the sentence. These small differences can affect what you mean, depending on which verb you put in the past or negative.
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Want to do something
When you want to express that you want to do something, it is pretty simple.
Simply change the 〜ます form into 〜たいです (〜たい attached to verbs mean 'want').
VERB (base form) + たい + です
I will go to Japan next year.
らいねん、にほんにいきます。
Rainen, nihon ni ikimasu.
I want to go to Japan next year.
らいねん、にほんにいきたいです。
Rainen, nihon ni ikitai desu.
This construction is only used with verbs. To express desires of wanting something, we will use another construction that we will see in the next lesson, Desire ほしいです (hoshii desu) + Already done 〜ことがある (〜koto ga aru) + Be able to 〜ことができる (〜koto ga dekiru).
I want to read a book.
ほんをよみたいです。
Hon o yomitai desu.
I want to live in America.
アメリカにすみたいです。
Amerika ni sumitai desu.
To make this construction in the casual form, most of the time, です will be omitted.
Ooohh, I want to go too!
いいな、わたしもいきたい！
Ii na, watashi mo ikitai!
To say 'I don't want to', the ending 〜たい will act exactly as a い-adjective. We will see adjectives soon, but you can view them here Adjectives い and な and their conjugation + To like and to dislike.
For the negative, remove い and add くない (です).
I don't want to go!
いきたくないです！
Ikitakunai desu!
For the past, remove い and add かった (です).
Aaah, I wanted to go.
もう、いきたかったです。
Mou, ikitakatta desu.
Finally, for the past negative, remove い and add たくなかった (です).
Meh, I didn't want to go.
まあ、いきたくなかったです。
Maa, ikitakunakatta desu.
If you want to put all these sentences in the casual form, you simply remove the verb です altogether. As you can see, です is often omitted in casual speech.
Again, it is the 〜たい attached to the verb that will determine if the sentence is affirmative, negative, or in the past, not the verb です. As mentioned, です is volatile and will be used in a number of constructions that have nothing to do with the verb 'to be'.
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Wow, you went through lesson 10 like it was nothing!
Congratulations!
There is a lot to unpack in this lesson. But now, maybe you will be able to understand anime a little bit better. Next lesson will be less overloaded, so have a rest!
Here is the table I promised to do for the different verb conjugations! I will do one example for each verb ending.
Ichidan verbs
たべる
(to eat)
たべます / たべません / たべました / たべませんでした
(polite form: eat, do not eat, ate, did not eat)
たべる / たべない / たべた / たべなかった
(casual form)
おきる
(to wake up)
おきます / おきません / おきました / おきませんでした
(polite form: wake up, do not wake up, woke up, did not wake up)
おきる / おきない / おきた / おきなかった
(casual form)
Godan verbs
かう
(to buy)
かいます / かいません / かいました / かいませんでした
(polite form: buy, do not buy, bought, did not buy)
かう / かわない / かった / かわなかった
(casual form)
きく
(to listen, to hear)
ききます / ききません / ききました / ききませんでした
(polite form: hear, do not hear, heard, did not hear)
きく / きかない / きいた / きかなかった
(casual form)
はなす
(to speak)
はなします / はなしません / はなしました / はなしませんでした
(polite form: speak, do not speak, spoke, did not speak)
はなす / はなさない / はなした / はなさなかった
(casual form)
まつ
(to wait)
まちます / まちません / まちました / まちませんでした
(polite form: wait, do not wait, waited, did not wait)
まつ / まちない / まった / まちなかった
(casual form)
しぬ
(to die)
しにます / しにません / しにました / しにませんでした
(polite form: die, do not die, died, did not die)
しぬ / しなない / しんだ / しななかった
(casual form)
よむ
(to read)
よみます / よみません / よみました / よみませんでした
(polite form: read, do not read, read, did not read)
よむ / よまない / よんだ / よまなかった
(casual form)
わかる
(to understand)
わかります / わかりません / わかりました / わかりませんでした
(polite form: understand, do not understand, understood, did not understand)
わかる / わからない / わかった / わからなかった
(casual form)
およぐ
(to swim)
およぎます / およぎません / およぎました / およぎませんでした
(polite form: swim, do not swim, swam, did not swim)
およぐ / およがない / およいた / およがなかった
(casual form)
えらぶ
(to choose)
えらびます / えらびません / えらびました / えらびませんでした
(polite form: choose, do not choose, chose, did not choose)
えらぶ / えらばない / えらんだ / えらばなかった
(casual form)
*いく
(to go)
いきます / いきません / いきました / いきませんでした
(polite form: go, do not go, went, did not go)
いく / いかない / いった / いかなかった
(casual form)
*する
(to do)
します / しません / しました / しませんでした
(polite form: do, do not do, did, did not do)
する / しない / した / しなかった
(casual form)
*くる
(to come)
きます / きません / きました / きませんでした
(polite form: come, do not come, came, did not come)
くる / こない / きた / こなかった
(casual form)
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You have completed lesson 10!
レッシュン10ができました！
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