Structure
Examples:
食べる
洗う
Details
Verb
Dictionary Form
Standard
About Verbs (Non-past)
In Japanese, the non-past form of verbs is identical to the dictionary form/casual form. Unlike English, this form of verbs is able to be used in several cases where conjugation/different constructions would be required in English.
In these examples, we can see the three forms of English verbs that are covered by the single non-past form of Japanese verbs. These are verbs ending with -s (sees, hears, goes), verbs requiring will (will see, will hear, will go), and verbs that do not require conjugation (see, hear, go).
Due to this one form of verbs covering several different nuances, it is often important to use expressions of time in the sentence, so that the meaning becomes clear.
If there is no word distinguishing 'time' in the sentence, the nuance will be that of stating a general fact about something that is true at any time.
From all of these examples, we can see that the non-past form can be thought of as expressing one of three basic ideas. General facts, habits, or future events.
Caution
In books, the non-past form will regularly be used for events that are happening 'in the moment', but without any time word being used. In these cases it is usually obvious from context that it is happening then and there.
Related
Examples
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鳥は飛ぶ。
鳥は飛びます。Birds fly. (the verb is used as a general truth)
ロックを時々聞く。
ロックを時々聞きます。I listen to rock sometimes. (habit)
私は九時にバナナを食べる。
私は九時にバナナを食べます。I will eat a banana at 9 o'clock. (future event)
ヴァンパイアは血を飲む。
ヴァンパイアは血を飲みます。Vampires drink blood. (general truth)
たなかさんは毎週車を洗う。
たなかさんは毎週車を洗います。Tanaka-san washes the car every week. (habit)
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Verbs (Non-past) – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (3 in total)
Foguinho3007
I didn’t understand one thing about this topic, that means tha those verbs doenst’t have past form? Or just doesn’t need it?
BreadmanNin
When a verb is referred to as non-past, it simply means that it is not in the past form. All verbs have a past form and a non-past form. The non-past form can be used for various purposes, most commonly for things that are happening now or things that will happen in the future.
For example:
パンを食べる。This can mean “I eat bread” or “I will eat bread”.
店へ行く。 This can mean “I go to the shop” or “I will go to the shop.”
This is called the non-past form.These verbs (all verbs) also have a past form:
パンを食べた。I ate bread.
店へ行った。I went to the shop.
This is called the past form or the た-form.When doing reviews, sometimes you’ll see that Bunpro gives you a hint saying “non-past”. That’s a hint to tell you you should use the non-past form of the verb.
Foguinho3007
Ty, it was much easier to understand with these examples
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