Home Forums The Japanese Language た form verbs

This topic contains 2 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by  jasenko 6 years, 11 months ago.

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  • #50210

    jasenko
    Member

    Hi guys,

    I am not sure if this question was answered before (search is useless) but was hoping for some clarity around た form and verbs in general.

    I guess the rules are very clear about converting the dictionary form verbs into た form.

    I was wondering if there are any tricks to figure them out once they are in た and convert them back. For example, I am doing some reading and want see it says きった are there any tricks to figure their dictionary form. I am only talking about the ones that could convert back into multiple forms.
    うつる → った and むぶぬ → んだ
    Knowing enough about Japanese by now, and how logical it is, I am pretty sure there is a way. My thinking was (but no actual proof for that) that every verb has or should have a kanji. That would always give us the idea what the verb is. But maybe there are other tricks.

    Also, in the lesson for “Too Much” (http://www.textfugu.com/season-5/sugi/8-3/) it says that we have to use dict.stem + すぎる. I reviewed all the lessons and could not find the term “dict.stem” so I am guessing it is probably a typo and should say verb.stem or something like that. If dict.stem is a valid term, maybe it shouldn’t be used here on Textfugu as we were taught to get the stem from the polite form.

    Thanks….

    #50213

    Joel
    Member

    This pretty much just comes down to knowing the vocabulary. And context – you’re not ever going to be expected to back-convert a verb in a vacuum. And yeah, as you said, the kanji also helps, if you’re seeing it in writing.

    Here’s an example: とんだ in dictionary form could be either 飛ぶ (to fly) or 富む (to be rich), but 飛んだ is only ever going to be 飛ぶ. And again, ひこうき が とんだ (the airplane flew) can only be 飛ぶ.

    In the case of きった, it’s easy – there are no verbs of the form きつ or きう. =)

    If you don’t have kanji or context, the next trick is to start with the most common verb and work your way backwards, but it can get really tricky without kanji or context. For example, かった is more likely to be 買う (to buy) than 刈る (to cut hair), but it could also be 勝つ (to win), or even 飼う (to keep a pet).

    And yeah, the すぎる ending attaches onto the ます-stem. 買う -> 買いすぎる

    #50215

    jasenko
    Member

    Thanks heaps…

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