Happy Sunday Japanophiles, Herewith is the 49th issue of the Hai Japan Newsletter — your Weekly Dose of Japan!

Today, we’re simply going through some grammar:

〜た (Past, Plain Form) From tofugo.com

The 〜た suffix turns plain form verbs into the past tense. It tells us that an action has been completed or happened in the past.

Grammar at a Glance

Verb Form

• Godan Verbs: う, つ, る → った | む, ぬ, ぶ → んだ | く → いた | ぐ → いだ | す → した

• Ichidan Verbs: Drop 〜る → Add 〜た

• Irregular Verbs: Unique patterns

The Basics

What is 〜た?

The 〜た suffix marks past tense verbs in plain form. It’s used in phrases like:

• 食べた (tabeta) = ate

• 行った (itta) = went

• 住んだ (sunda) = lived

You’ll also see 〜た in:

• Past tense adjectives: 〜かった (e.g., 大きかった = was big)

• Polite verbs: 〜ました (e.g., 見ました = saw)

• The past tense of だ and です: だった / でした

Conjugating Verbs to 〜た

Godan Verbs

Godan verbs conjugate to 〜た based on their ending:

1. う, つ, る → った

   • 会う (au) → 会った (atta) = met

   • 立つ (tatsu) → 立った (tatta) = stood

   • 割る (waru) → 割った (watta) = broke

2. む, ぬ, ぶ → んだ

   • 休む (yasumu) → 休んだ (yasunda) = rested

   • 死ぬ (shinu) → 死んだ (shinda) = died

   • 学ぶ (manabu) → 学んだ (mananda) = studied

3. く → いた

   • 書く (kaku) → 書いた (kaita) = wrote

4. ぐ → いだ

   • 泳ぐ (oyogu) → 泳いだ (oyoida) = swam

5. す → した

   • 写す (utsusu) → 写した (utsushita) = copied

Ichidan Verbs

For ichidan verbs, remove 〜る and add 〜た:

• 食べる (taberu) → 食べた (tabeta) = ate

• 見る (miru) → 見た (mita) = saw

Irregular Verbs

There are only two truly irregular verbs:

• する (suru, to do) → した (shita) = did

• 来る (kuru, to come) → 来た (kita) = came

行く (iku, to go) behaves irregularly here:

• 行く (iku) → 行った (itta) = went

Uses of 〜た

1. Describing Past Events

Use 〜た to talk about actions that happened in the past:

• 本を買った。
  Hon o katta.
  I bought a book.

• 昨日、映画を見た。
  Kinou, eiga o mita.
  I watched a movie yesterday.

• 2年前、日本に来た。
  Ni nen mae, Nihon ni kita.
  I came to Japan two years ago.

2. Completed Actions

Use 〜た for things that are completed or achieved:

• 日本語が上手になったね。
  Nihongo ga jouzu ni natta ne.
  You’ve gotten good at Japanese.

• やっと分かった！
  Yatto wakatta!
  I finally understood!

3. Realizations

Use 〜た for sudden realizations:

• あ、あった！
  A, atta!
  Oh, there it is!

Beyond the Basics

〜た in the Middle of Sentences

When used at the end of a sentence, 〜た is casual. In the middle of a sentence, politeness depends on the ending, not 〜た itself.

Examples:

• フグを食べたことがありますか。
  Fugu o tabeta koto ga arimasu ka.
  Have you ever eaten blowfish? (polite)

• フグを食べたことがある？
  Fugu o tabeta koto ga aru?
  Have you ever eaten blowfish? (casual)

• 日本にいた時、フグを食べましたか。
  Nihon ni ita toki, fugu o tabemashita ka.
  Did you eat blowfish while in Japan? (polite)

• 日本にいた時、フグを食べた？
  Nihon ni ita toki, fugu o tabeta?
  Did you eat blowfish while in Japan? (casual)

Learning 〜た is essential for forming past tense sentences and understanding how to describe actions that already happened. Practice with different verbs and see how smoothly it fits into your conversations!

That’s all folks!

Let me know if you enjoyed this simple grammar run-through :)

Have a great Sunday!