こんにちは (Konnichiwa) Japanophiles! Herewith the 59th issue of the Hai Japan Newsletter — your Weekly Dose of Japan!

Today, we’re simply going through some grammar:

📩 Learn Japanese Grammar: だった (datta) – The Plain Past Tense Marker

In today’s issue, we’re breaking down a super useful grammar point: だった (datta).

It’s the plain past tense version of だ and です—used mainly with nouns and な-adjectives.

Let’s see how it works, when to use it, and how it might even show up in questions or present/future situations!

📚 Table of Contents

• What is だった?

• How to Form だった

• Where You’ll See だった

  • At the End of a Sentence

  • In the Middle of a Sentence

• Beyond the Basics

  • だった in Questions

  • だった for Present or Future Meaning

🎯 What is だった?

だった (datta) is used when something was a certain way in the past.
It’s the casual/plain past form of だ (da), the informal version of です.

Examples:

📌 先生だった。
(せんせい だった。)
Sensei datta.
➡ "Was a teacher."

📌 大変だった。
(たいへん だった。)
Taihen datta.
➡ "It was rough."

Like だ, だった is casual, so avoid using it in formal situations. Use でした (deshita) for polite past tense.

🛠 How to Form だった

It’s easy:
だ + った = だった

That’s it! Just like how English changes “is” to “was,” Japanese changes だ to だった.

📝 Where You’ll See だった

✅ At the End of a Sentence (Plain/Casual Past)

📌 締め切りは昨日だった。
(しめきり は きのう だった。)
Shimekiri wa kinou datta.
➡ "The deadline was yesterday."

🧑‍💼 In a formal setting:
📌 締め切りは昨日でした。
Shimekiri wa kinou deshita.
➡ Same sentence, more polite.

🧩 In the Middle of a Sentence

だった can appear in the middle of sentences for two main reasons:

1️⃣ Describing a Noun (as an adjective would)

📌 綺麗だった花
(きれい だった はな)
Kirei datta hana
➡ "Flowers that were beautiful"

📌 とても綺麗だった花が急に枯れた。
(とても きれい だった はな が きゅうに かれた。)
Totemo kirei datta hana ga kyuuni kareta.
➡ "The flowers, which were so beautiful, suddenly wilted."

2️⃣ Connecting Clauses (Using a conjunction like から)

📌 それは子供の時からの夢だったから、一所懸命頑張りました。
(それ は こども の とき から の ゆめ だった から、いっしょけんめい がんばりました。)
Sore wa kodomo no toki kara no yume datta kara, isshoukenmei ganbarimashita.
➡ "Because it was my dream since childhood, I gave it my all."

Note: Even though だった is casual, the final verb decides the overall politeness. In this case, 頑張りました is polite.

🚀 Beyond the Basics

❓ だった in Questions

To ask a question using だった, you don’t need to add か (ka).
Just use a rising intonation:

📌 宿題、大変だった？
(しゅくだい、たいへん だった？)
Shukudai, taihen datta?
➡ "Was the homework tough?"

📌 その漫画どうだった？
(その まんが どう だった？)
Sono manga dou datta?
➡ "How was that manga?"

Adding か is possible but gives a masculine, assertive tone.

⏰ だった for Present or Future Situations?

Yes, really! Sometimes, だった is used when something is happening now or will happen—but the speaker already knew about it before.

📌 今日休みだった！
(きょう やすみ だった！)
Kyou yasumi datta!
➡ "Today is a day off!" (Realization)

📌 明日テストだった！
(あした テスト だった！)
Ashita tesuto datta!
➡ "The exam is tomorrow!" (Just remembered)

📝 These sentences use past tense to show you remembered something you already knew.

🧠 だった + っけ for “I should know this…”

Use だった with っけ (kke) to softly ask about something you should probably remember:

📌 誕生日いつだったっけ？
(たんじょうび いつ だったっけ？)
Tanjoubi itsu datta kke?
➡ "When was your birthday again?"

This adds a friendly, familiar feel to the question. It shows a sense of closeness between speaker and listener.

🔁 Recap

🎉 Wrapping Up

Now you can confidently use だった in casual past tense sentences, express realizations, and ask questions like a native speaker.

That’s all folks!

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

Have a great Sunday!