Japanese verbs go at the end of the sentence and change form depending on tense and polarity. Sounds intimidating? In polite speech (です/ます style), it's actually very systematic — just learn the four variations of ます and you're set.
Verbs Go Last
Here's an iron rule of Japanese: the verb always goes at the end.
私は勉強します。 → I study.
English: "I + study." Japanese: "I は + study します" — the verb します comes last. No matter how long the sentence gets, the verb is always at the end.
The Four ます Variations
ます is the polite verb ending. All tense and polarity changes happen to this ます part:
| Positive | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Non-past (present/future) | ~ます | ~ません |
| Past | ~ました | ~ませんでした |
Using 勉強します (study) as an example:
| Positive | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Non-past | 勉強します | 勉強しません |
| Past | 勉強しました | 勉強しませんでした |
That's it — the front part of the verb stays the same, only the ます part changes.
What Is "Non-past"?
Japanese tense has only two categories: past and non-past.
- Past: Something that already happened → ました / ませんでした
- Non-past: A current habit or future plan → ます / ません
English distinguishes "present" and "future," but Japanese doesn't — "I study every day" and "I'll study tomorrow" both use 勉強します. Context tells you which.
毎日勉強します。 → I study every day. (habit) 明日勉強します。 → I'll study tomorrow. (future)
Both use します. No difference in the verb form.
Example Sentences
Positive Non-past (ます)
私は毎日六時に起きます。 → I wake up at 6 every day.
授業は九時に終わります。 → Class ends at 9.
Positive Past (ました)
私は昨日勉強しました。 → I studied yesterday.
昨日授業は九時に終わりました。 → Class ended at 9 yesterday.
Negative Non-past (ません)
明日は勉強しません。 → I won't study tomorrow.
日曜日は働きません。 → I don't work on Sundays.
Negative Past (ませんでした)
昨日の晩、勉強しませんでした。 → I didn't study last evening.
先週は働きませんでした。 → I didn't work last week.
Questions and Answers
Add か to the end to make a question. Answer with はい (yes) or いいえ (no):
昨日の晩、勉強しましたか。 → Did you study last evening?
はい、勉強しました。 → Yes, I studied.
いいえ、勉強しませんでした。 → No, I didn't study.
Note: The negative answer uses ませんでした (past negative) because the question asks about "last evening" (past).
Common N5 Verbs
These are the most common verbs at the N5 level. All of them follow the same four-form pattern:
| Japanese | Reading | English | ます form |
|---|---|---|---|
| 起きる | おきる | Wake up | 起きます |
| 寝る | ねる | Sleep | 寝ます |
| 食べる | たべる | Eat | 食べます |
| 飲む | のむ | Drink | 飲みます |
| 行く | いく | Go | 行きます |
| 来る | くる | Come | 来ます (きます) |
| 働く | はたらく | Work | 働きます |
| 勉強する | べんきょうする | Study | 勉強します |
| 終わる | おわる | End | 終わります |
How verbs transform into their ます form (e.g., 飲む → 飲みます) involves verb classification (godan/ichidan/irregular), which is the next topic to learn. For now, just memorize each ます form as a unit.
Summary
- Japanese verbs go at the end of the sentence, using ます form for polite speech
- Four variations: ます (positive non-past), ました (positive past), ません (negative non-past), ませんでした (negative past)
- "Non-past" = present habits + future plans — context determines which
- Add か for questions; answer with はい / いいえ
Practice Questions
Q1. Change 「勉強します」 to mean "studied yesterday."
Show answer
昨日勉強しました。
"Yesterday" is past tense → ます becomes ました. Add 昨日 for the time reference.
Q2. What does 「日曜日は働きません。」 mean?
Show answer
I don't work on Sundays.
日曜日 (Sunday) は + 働きません (don't work). ません = negative non-past, expressing a habitual action.
Q3. Someone asks you 「昨日の晩、勉強しましたか。」 and you didn't study. How do you answer?
Show answer
いいえ、勉強しませんでした。
Start with いいえ (no), then use the past negative form ませんでした, since the question is about "last evening" (past).