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おしごとからいえまであるきました。
Oshigoto kara ie made arukimashita.
I walked from work to home.
Past tense
We saw the form 〜ます of verbs, which was the future or a habitual action, in earlier lessons. We also said that 〜ません was the negative ending of verbs in the 〜ます form.
It is now time to learn the past tense with 〜ました. To do so, we just replace 〜ます with 〜ました.
In December, I went to Canada.
じゅうにがつにカナダにいきました。
Juunigatsu ni Kanada ni ikimashita.
What did you eat?
なにをたべましたか？
Nani o tabemashita?
I ate poutine.
プーティンをたべました。
Puutin o tabemashita.
Japanese does not make a distinction between simple past and past perfect. In English, these sentences 'I went to Mexico' and 'I have gone to Mexico' are different, but in Japanese, there is no such thing.
We can, however, turn the past to past continuous with the 〜て form of verbs, 〜ていました.
Look at this sentence, for instance:
When my mother came home, I was studying.
ははがかえってきたとき、わたしはべんきょうしていました。
Haha ga kaette kita toki, watashi wa benkyou shiteimashita.
We can't use the simple past here. Think of this tense as 'was ...ing'.
To say that we have already done something in the past, such as 'I have been to Mexico before', we will use a different construction in Japanese. This construction will emphasise our experience of having done something before. We will see this construction later.
In the case of the verb です, the past form is でした.
It was a black cat.
くろいねこでした。
Kuroi neko deshita.
To put the past in the negative, change 〜ません to 〜ませんでした.
I did not go to Canada in December.
じゅうにがつにカナダにいきませんでした。
Juunigatsu ni Kanada ni ikimasen deshita.
We use the verb でした to make the past negative. This maybe sounds weird for English people. It is because です in reality is a versatile verb and will not only mean 'to be', but it will also work with other constructions that have nothing to do with the verb 'to be'.
It is the same way for the verb 'to be' in the past negative form.
It is not a black cat.
くろいねこじゃありません。
Kuroi neko ja arimasen.
It was not a black cat.
くろいねこじゃありませんでした。
Kuroi neko ja arimasen deshita.
Do not confuse this sentence as being affirmative just because there is でした. The ending 〜ません always represents the negative. でした will only tell you that it is in the past.
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Particles から and まで
These particles means 'from A to B'. から means 'from' and まで means 'to' or 'until'.
I walked from the company to the bank.
かいしゃからぎんこうまであるきました。
Kaisha kara ginkou made arukimashita.
I will play games until my birthday.
おたんじょうびまでゲームをします。
Otanjoubi made geemu o shimasu.
I will walk from the Ikebukuro Station.
いけぶくろのえきからあるきます。
Ikebukuro no eki kara arukimasu.
They are not always together as you can see.
From March to May, you can see the cherry blossoms in Japan.
にほんにはさんがつからごがつまでさくらをみえます。
Nihon ni wa sangatsu kara gogatsu made sakura o miemasu.
から can also be used to say where we are from.
I come from the United States.
アメリカからきました。
Amerika kara kimashita.
The verb きました means 'to have come' and in this case, it is always used in the past when we say where we are from.
I come from Australia. I am Australian.
オーストラリアからきました。オーストラリアじんです。
Oosutoraria kara kimashita. Oosutoraria jin desu.
To say you are of one ethnicity, the word じん (jin) which means 'person' is used.
にほんじん (nihonjin) - Japanese
カナダじん (Kanadajin) - Canadian
アメリカじん - Amerikajin) - American
ちゅうごくじん - Chuugokujin) - Chinese
かんこくじん (Kankokujin) - Korean
インディアじん - Indiajin) - Indian
ドイツじん (Doitsujin) - German
イギリスじん (Igirisujin) - British
This construction is not used a lot, however. Normally, to state where you are from, even though we do say 'Amerika kara kimashita', we will be more inclined to say 'Amerika shusshin desu'. 'Shusshin' is like 'the state of' or 'the country of'.
から can also mean 'from' as in 'from someone', if you receive a gift.
I received chocolate from my mother!
ははからチョコレートをもらいました！
Haha kara chokoreeto o moraimashita!
To say 'to' as in 'to someone', we can say に.
I gave chocolate to my father.
ちちにチョコレートをあげました。
Chichi ni chokoreeto o agemashita.
In a letter, we will mostly address the addressee with へ and end it with より.
To Sakura....
.... from Tomoyo
さくらへ。。。
。。。ともよより
Sakura he....
..... Tomoyo yori
Don't forget that the particle へ is pronounced 'e' and not 'he'.
This construction is only used in letters or messages (i.e. emails).
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Conjunction が
We saw が as a particle, but が can also act as the conjunction 'but'. There are other ways to say 'but', but this one is the standard one. It will be used in more polite setting.
I am a little bit sleepy, but I am okay.
ちょっとねむいですが、だいじょうぶです。
Chotto nemui desu ga, daijoubu desu.
ちょっと means 'a little bit' and ねむい means 'sleepy'.
As you can see, が is attached to the first sentence as opposed to the second one like in English.
This pizza in this restaurant is expensive, but delicious.
このレストランでのピザはたかいですが、おいしいです。
Kono resutoran de no piza wa takai desu ga, oishii desu.
Uuh, sorry to be rude, but I have a question.
あの、しつれいですが、しつもんがあります。
Ano, shitsurei desu ga, shitsumon ga arimasu.
あの in this sentence means something like a 'uuhh' or a hesitation.
I eat with chopstick, but I am not very good at it.
はしでたべますが、ちょっとへたです。
Hashi de tabemasu ga, chotto heta desu.
Be careful with が as it can be a particle or a conjunction. Most of the time, the context itself will be obvious, so you shouldn't confuse them.
There is another word we can use for 'but' and it is けど (kedo). In fact, you may have heard this one more often in anime. It works the same way as が.
I am a little bit sleepy, but I am okay.
ちょっとねむいですけど、だいじょうぶです。
Chotto nemui desu kedo, daijoubu desu.
I would say that が is really formal, whereas けど is more conversational. Both work with the keigo form, so you won't sound rude to someone if you decide to use けど. が is not really used in casual speech, since it is so formal.
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とにかく - Anyway
それに - Beside
ちなみに - By the way (on a side note)
そして - Also, furthermore
しかし - However
ちらずに - In no time
かならず - Always
ずっと - All the time
きっと - Surely
やっぱり - On second thoughts, now that I think about it...
ぜひ - Be sure to..., please
まずは - First of, firstly
つまり - In other words
ばっかり - All the time
ばかり - Just, approximately
いつも - Always
ときどき - Sometimes
でも - But
ちょっと - A little bit
あまり - Not really
とても - Very
すごく - Very
よく - Often
ほんとう - Really
ほとんど - Nearly, largely, almost
さいごに - Lastly
そうですか？ - Ah, really?
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You have completed lesson 8!
レッシュン8ができました！
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