~ません(か)
I mean, they're just so repetitive.
This is basically what we're doing:
Verb becomes Verbaba in past tense. OK, ready?
Verbaba. Verbaba. Verbaba. Verbaba. Verbaba. Verbaba. Verbaba. Verbaba. Verbaba. Verbaba. Verbaba. Verbaba. Verbaba. Verbaba. Kill me.
But studying Japanese won't always be like this. If you can just get through all of the basic conjugations, we can study things like "How to ask where the bathroom is," "How to offend people," "How to talk to friends," "How to make fun of friends," etc.
Until then, it's Verbaba city.
So, without further ado:
~ません
~ません is the negative ending of ~ます.
食べます(たべます // eat)
食べません(たべません // not eat; don't eat; won't eat)
飲みます(のみます // drink)
飲みません(のみません // not drink; don't drink; won't drink)
If you've been studying our recent lessons, this will be a breeze.
Specifically, you want to master our last two lessons covering ~ます before taking on ~ません.
Get you some.
Step #1: Learn how to conjugate verbs into ~ます form using the lessons I just mentioned.
Step #2: Change ~ます to ~ません.
That's it.
List City
1) Godan Verbs // Group I Verbs // u-verbs
Take the final kana, which ends in a 'u' sound, and change it so that it ends in an 'i' sound.
-ます Form: After we change the ending to an 'i" sound, we add -ます to the end of it.
-ません Form: After we change the ending to an 'i" sound, we add -ません to the end of it.
-う (-u) → -います (-imasu) → -いません (-imasen)
-く (-ku) → -きます (-kimasu) → -きません (-kimasen)
-ぐ (-gu) → -ぎます (-gimasu) → -ぎません (-gimasen)
-す (-su) → -します (-shimasu) → -しません (-shimasen)
-つ (-tsu) → -ちます (-chimasu) → -ちません (-chimasen)
-ぬ (-nu) → -にます (-nimasu) → -にません (-nimasen)
-ぶ (-bu) → -びます (-bimasu) → -びません (-bimasen)
-む (-mu) → -みます (-mimasu) → -みません (-mimasen)
-る (-ru) → -ります (-rimasu) → -りません (-rimasen)
And now let's look at (1) Dictionary Form, (2) -ます Form, and (3) -ません Form:
(Reminder: These are godan verbs.)
買う(かう // kau // to buy)
買います(かいます // kaimasu // buy)
買いません(かいません // kaimasen // not buy)
行く(いく // iku // to go)
行きます(いきます // ikimasu // go)
行きません(いきません // ikimasen // not go)
脱ぐ(ぬぐ // nugu // to take off [e.g. shoes])
脱ぎます(ぬぎます // nugimasu // take off [e.g. shoes])
脱ぎません(ぬぎません // nugimasen // not take off [e.g. shoes])
押す(おす // osu // to push; to press)
押します(おします // oshimasu // push; press)
押しません(おしません // oshimasen // not push; not press)
立つ(たつ // tatsu // to stand)
立ちます(たちます // tachimasu // stand)
立ちません(たちません // tachimasen // not stand)
死ぬ(しぬ // shinu // to die)
死にます(しにます // shinimasu // die)
死にません(しにません // shinimasen // not die)
遊ぶ(あそぶ // asobu // to play)
遊びます(あそびます // asobimasu // play)
遊びません(あそびません // asobimasen // not play)
飲む(のむ // nomu // to drink)
飲みます(のみます // nomimasu // drink)
飲みません(のみません // nomimasen // not drink)
座る(すわる // suwaru // to sit down)
座ります(すわります // suwarimasu // sit down)
座りません(すわりません // suwarimasen // not sit down)
Next, let's look at ichidan verbs (↓).
2) Ichidan Verbs // Group II Verbs // ru-verbs
Drop -る (-ru) and add -ます (-masu) or -ません (-masen):
食べる(たべる // taberu // to eat)
食べます(たべます // tabemasu // eat)
食べません(たべません // tabemasen // not eat)
起きる(おきる // okiru // to get up; to wake up)
起きます(おきます // okimasu// get up; wake up)
起きません(おきません // okimasen// not get up; not wake up)
Finally, the irregular verbs...
3) Irregular Verbs // Group III Verbs
する(suru // to do; to make)
します(shimasu // do; make)
しません(shimasen // not do; not make)
来る(くる // kuru // to come)
来ます(きます // kimasu // come)
来ません(きません // kimasen // not come)
Level-Up City
Enough lists! Let's learn something useful.
In the last lesson, we talked about how か is added to the end of questions when using ~ます.
We also use か after ~ません when forming negative questions, giving us ~ませんか.
Now, this is really useful because this is one way to (very politely) invite people to do things:
一緒に食べませんか?
いっしょに たべません か?
Would you like to eat together?
Literally: “together (=same/together + に) + won’t eat + か?”
Since it says 食べませんか, this could more literally be translated as, "Won't you eat together (with me)?" or something like that.
This isn't really something you would say to a friend or family member, but maybe to a coworker or a teacher or something, since it's quite formal.
I'd list more sentences where we do this, but that activity will be a lot more fun once we've gotten a few more grammatical patterns and vocabulary under our belt.
Something to look forward to...
Noticed any typos we've missed or other issues?
Report them here at this link.
Have questions about something in this lesson? Something not quite clicking yet? Join our discord community and discuss any questions / comments with us and fellow students.
You can join by heading to this link.