Verbs, Adjectival Verbs, Auxiliary Verbs

This page introduces Japanese verbs of existence. To understand verbs of existence is very important in order to understand the copulas and adjectival verbs.

Existence

Japanese has two types of verbs in order to express existence. One is "aru", which is classified into strong verbs, for motionless objects the other is "iru", which is classified into weak verbs, for motional objects including human beings. The negation of "aru" is replaced with "na-i", which is classified into adjectival verbs. On the other hand, the negation of "iru" is derived into "ina-i", which is the negative derivative verb. However, "na-i" and "ina-i" are mainly used as basic forms. Some polite negation forms are expressed by the inflections of the polite verb "-masu".

The Polite Present

How to Make The Polite Present
dictionarypresent participlepolite verbpolite present
steminflectionaffirmativenegative
motionlessaru ar + i →ari + masu → ari-masu ari-masen
motional iru i i + masu → i-masu i-masen
How to use the polite present forms
Case 1a
  • (K): ナイフが キッチンに あります。
  • (J): Naifu ga kitchin ni ari-masu.
  • (E): A knife is in the kitchen.
Case 1b
  • (K): ナイフが キッチンに ありません。
  • (J): Naifu ga kitchin ni ari-masen.
  • (E): A knife is not in the kitchen.
Case 1c
  • (K): ナイフが キッチンに ありますか。はい、あります。いいえ、ありません。
  • (J): Naifu ga kitchin ni ari-masu ka? Hi, ari-masu. Iie, ari-masen.
  • (E): Is a knife in the kitchen? Yes, it is. No, it isn't.
Case 1d
  • (K): なにが キッチンに ありますか。ナイフが あります。
  • (J): Nani ga kitchin ni ari-masu ka? Naifu ga ari-masu.
  • (E): What is in the kitchen? A knife is.
Case 1e
  • (K): ナイフが どこに ありますか。キッチンに あります。
  • (J): Naifu ga doko ni ari-masu ka? Kitchin ni ari-masu.
  • (E): Where is a knife? It is in the kitchen.
Case 2a
  • (K): リサが リヴィングルームに います。
  • (J): Risa ga rivingu-ruh'mu ni i-masu.
  • (E): Lisa is in the living room.
Case 2b
  • (K): リサが リヴィングルームに いません。
  • (J): Risa ga rivingu-ruh'mu ni i-masen.
  • (E): Lisa is not in the living room.
Case 2c
  • (K): リサが リヴィングルームに いますか。はい、います。いいえ、いません。
  • (J): Risa ga rivingu-ruh'mu ni i-masu ka? Hi, i-masu. Iie, i-masen.
  • (E): Is Lisa in the living room? Yes, she is. No, she isn't.
Case 2d
  • (K): だれが リヴィングルームに いますか。リサが います。
  • (J): Dare ga rivingu-ruh'mu ni i-masu ka? Risa ga i-masu.
  • (E): Who is in the living room? Lisa is.
Case 2e
  • (K): リサが どこに いますか。リヴィングルームに います。
  • (J): Risa ga doko ni i-masu ka? Rivingu-ruh'mu ni i-masu.
  • (E): Where is Lisa? She is in the living room.

The Polite Past

How to Make The Polite Past
dictionarypresent participlepolite verb (past)polite past
steminflectionaffirmativenegative
motionlessaru ar + i →ari + mashita → ari-mashitaari-masen deshita
motional iru i i + mashita → i-mashita i-masen deshita
How to use the polite past forms
Case 1a
  • (K): ナイフが キッチンに ありました。
  • (J): Naifu ga kitchin ni ari-mashita.
  • (E): A knife was in the kitchen.
Case 1b
  • (K): ナイフが キッチンに ありませんでした。
  • (J): Naifu ga kitchin ni ari-masen deshita.
  • (E): A knife was not in the kitchen.
Case 1c
  • (K): ナイフが キッチンに ありましたか。はい、ありました。いいえ、ありませんでした。
  • (J): Naifu ga kitchin ni ari-mashita ka? Hi, ari-mashita. Iie, ari-masen deshita.
  • (E): Was a knife in the kitchen? Yes, it was. No, it wasn't.
Case 1d
  • (K): なにが キッチンに ありましたか。ナイフが ありました。
  • (J): Nani ga kitchin ni ari-mashita ka? Naifu ga ari-mashita.
  • (E): What was in the kitchen? A knife was.
Case 1e
  • (K): ナイフが どこに ありましたか。キッチンに ありました。
  • (J): Naifu ga doko ni ari-mashita ka? Kitchin ni ari-mashita.
  • (E): Where was a knife? It was in the kitchen.
Case 2a
  • (K): リサが リヴィングルームに いました。
  • (J): Risa ga rivingu-ruh'mu ni i-mashita.
  • (E): Lisa was in the living room.
Case 2b
  • (K): リサが リヴィングルームに いませんでした。
  • (J): Risa ga rivingu-ruh'mu ni i-masen deshita.
  • (E): Lisa was not in the living room.
Case 2c
  • (K): リサが リヴィングルームに いましたか。はい、いました。いいえ、いませんでした。
  • (J): Risa ga rivingu-ruh'mu ni i-mashita ka? Hi, i-mashita. Iie, i-masen deshita.
  • (E): Was Lisa in the living room? Yes, she was. No, she wasn't.
Case 2d
  • (K): だれが リヴィングルームに いましたか。リサが いました。
  • (J): Dare ga rivingu-ruh'mu ni i-mashita ka? Risa ga i-mashita.
  • (E): Who was in the living room? Lisa was.
Case 2e
  • (K): リサが どこに いましたか。リヴィングルームに いました。
  • (J): Risa ga doko ni i-mashita ka? Rivingu-ruh'mu ni i-mashita.
  • (E): Where was Lisa? She was in the living room.

The Polite Subjunctive Present

How to Make The Polite Subjunctive Present
dictionarypresent polite subjective present
steminflection affirmativenegative
affirmativemotionlessaru ar + u → aru aru deshou
motional iru i + ru →iru iru deshou
negative motionlessna-i na + i → na-i na-i deshou
motional ina-i ina + i → ina-i ina-i deshou
How to use the polite subjective present forms
Case 1a
  • (K): ナイフが キッチンに あるでしょう。
  • (J): Naifu ga kitchin ni aru deshou.
  • (E): A knife is probably in the kitchen.
Case 1b
  • (K): ナイフが キッチンに ないでしょう。
  • (J): Naifu ga kitchin ni na-i deshou.
  • (E): A knife is not probably in the kitchen.
Case 2a
  • (K): リサが リヴィングルームに いるでしょう。
  • (J): Risa ga rivingu-ruh'mu ni iru deshou.
  • (E): Lisa is probably in the living room.
Case 2b
  • (K): リサが リヴィングルームに いないでしょう。
  • (J): Risa ga rivingu-ruh'mu ni ina-i deshou.
  • (E): Lisa is not probably in the living room.

This list does not introduce the interrogative sentences with the subjunctive forms, because they are not simple correspondence to the indicative sentences. They contain courteous nuance.

The Polite Subjunctive Past

How to Make The Polite Subjunctive Past
dictionarypast polite subjective past
steminflection affirmativenegative
affirmativemotionlessaru ar + ta → atta atta deshou
motional iru i + ta → ita ita deshou
negative motionlessna-i na + katta →na-katta na-katta deshou
motional ina-i ina + katta →ina-katta ina-katta deshou
How to use the polite subjective past forms
Case 1a
  • (K): ナイフが キッチンに あったでしょう。
  • (J): Naifu ga kitchin ni atta deshou.
  • (E): A knife was probably in the kitchen.
Case 1b
  • (K): ナイフが キッチンに なかったでしょう。
  • (J): Naifu ga kitchin ni na-katta deshou.
  • (E): A knife was not probably in the kitchen.
Case 2a
  • (K): リサが リヴィングルームに いたでしょう。
  • (J): Risa ga rivingu-ruh'mu ni ita deshou.
  • (E): Lisa was probably in the living room.
Case 2b
  • (K): リサが リヴィングルームに いなかったでしょう。
  • (J): Risa ga rivingu-ruh'mu ni ina-katta deshou.
  • (E): Lisa was not probably in the living room.

This list does not introduce the interrogative sentences with the subjunctive forms, because they are not simple correspondence to the indicative sentences. They contain courteous nuance.

The Polite Imperative and Intent Mood

Motional objects have their own will. They can have imperative and intent moods.

How to Make The Polite Imperative Mood
dictionarypresent participle polite imperative mood
steminflection affirmativenegative
affirmativemotional iru i + te → ite ite kudasai
negative motional ina-i ina + i de →ina-i de ina-i de kudasai
How to use the polite imperative forms
Case 1a
  • (K): リサさん、リヴィングルームに いて ください。
  • (J): Risa-san, rivingu-ruh'mu ni ite kudasai.
  • (E): Lisa, please stay in the living room.
Case 1b
  • (K): リサさん、リヴィングルームに いないで ください。
  • (J): Risa-san, rivingu-ruh'mu ni ina-i de kudasai.
  • (E): Lisa, please do not stay in the living room.
How to Make The Polite Intent Mood
dictionarypresent participlepolite verb (subjunctive)polite intent mood
steminflectionaffirmativenegative
motional iru i i + mashou → i-mashou i-masu-mai
How to use the polite intent forms
Case 1a
  • (K): リサさん、リヴィングルームに いましょう。
  • (J): Risa-san, rivingu-ruh'mu ni i-mashou.
  • (E): Lisa, let's stay in the living room.
Case 1b
  • (K): リサさん、リヴィングルームに いますまい。
  • (J): Risa-san, rivingu-ruh'mu ni i-masu-mai.
  • (E): Lisa, let's not stay in the living room.

A Summary

The following table shows you a chart of the tenses.

A chart of the tenses of "aru" (a strong verb)[ Kana Table ]
tenses moods English Japanese Polite Ref. Japanese Plain
A
F
F
I
R
M
A
T
I
V
E
presentindicative certain am/are/is ári-màsu àru
uncertainam/are/is probably àru deshou àru darou
subjunctive would be
past indicative certain was/were ári-màshita
àtta desu(*)
àtta
uncertainwas/were probably àtta deshou àtta darou
subjunctive would have been
future indicative certain will be ári-màsu àru
uncertainwill be probably àru deshou àru darou
N
E
G
A
T
I
V
E
presentindicative certain am/are/is not ári-masèn
-i desu(*)
-i
uncertainam/are/is not probably-i deshou -i darou
subjunctive would not be
past indicative certain was/were not ári-masèn deshita
-katta desu(*)
-katta
uncertainwas/were not probably -katta deshou -katta darou
subjunctive would not have been
future indicative certain will not be ári-masèn
-i desu(*)
-i
uncertainwill not be probably -i deshou -i darou
A chart of the tenses of "iru" ( a weak verb ) [Kana Table]
tenses moods English Japanese Polite Ref. Japanese Plain
A
F
F
I
R
M
A
T
I
V
E
presentindicative certain am/are/is í-màsu í
uncertainam/are/is probably írù deshou írù darou
subjunctive would be
intent let's be í-mashòu íyòu
imperative Be íte kudasài í
past indicative certain was/were í-màshita
ítà desu(*)
í
uncertainwas/were probably ítà deshou ítà darou
subjunctive would have been
future indicative certain will be í-màsu í
uncertainwill be probably írù deshou írù darou
N
E
G
A
T
I
V
E
presentindicative certain am/are/is not í-masèn
ínà-i desu(*)
ínà-i
uncertainam/are/is not probablyínà-i deshou ínà-i darou
subjunctive would not be
intent let's not be í-masu mài íru mài
imperative Don't be ínà-i de kudasai írù na
past indicative certain was/were not í-masèn deshita
ínà-katta desu(*)
ínà-katta
uncertainwas/were not probably ínà-katta deshou ínà-katta darou
subjunctive would not have been
future indicative certain will not be í-masèn
ínà-i desu(*)
ínà-i
uncertainwill not be probably ínà-i deshou ínà-i darou