PAST TENSE DICTIONARY VERB FORM
“What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now.”
This chapter is the “last” chapter for a lot of things. First of all, this is the last “dictionary form verb” chapter. Secondly, it’s the last chapter before “the story” starts. Third (and last), this is the last chapter before you start getting into the really conversational elements of Japanese. That’s right, your foundation is almost built up enough for you to start focusing on conversation, and strangely enough, you’ll finally learn how to say “hello.”
“Past Tense Dictionary Form Verbs,” also known as “ta-form” verbs, basically allow you to turn the more formal ました verbs into less casual ました verbs. As you can probably gather from the “ta-form” reference up above, ta-form verbs end with a た (or in some cases だ). They’re shorter and easier to say, too.
た-form can be a bit difficult, though. Even though the た-form verbs are simpler themselves, converting them can be a little challenge. There are quite a few rules associated with them all, which means you’ll be doing a decent amount of puzzle building in the early stages. In the long run it’s just better to learn and practice the verbs in た-form until you feel comfortable. That will come with practice.
た-form rules can be broken into three parts (I hope by now you can guess what those three parts are): Group 1, Group 2, and Irregular verbs. As usual, we’ll start with Group 1.
GROUP 1 VERBS
Group 1 verbs, as usual, are the trickiest. To convert a verb into た-form, we’ll have to take a look at the verb in dictionary form first. From here, all you need to do is replace the last kana with one of the following:
う → った
Example 1: 買う（かう）→ 買った（かった）
Example 2: 洗う（あらう）→ 洗った（あらった）
つ → った
Example 1: 待つ（まつ）→ 待った（まった）
Example 2: 持つ（もつ）→ 持った（もった）
る → った
Example 1: 切る（きる）→ 切った（きった）
く → いた*
Example 1: 歩く（あるく）→ 歩いた（あるいた）
Example 2: 書く（かく）→ 書いた（かいた）
*Big Exception! 行く（いく）does not become いいた. Instead, 行く becomes 行った (いった). This verb is used all the time, so make sure you remember this exception!
ぐ → いだ
Example 1: 急ぐ（いそぐ）→ 急いだ（いそいだ）
Example 2: 泳ぐ（およぐ）→ 泳いだ（およいだ）
む → んだ
Example 1: 飲む（のむ）→ 飲んだ（のんだ）
ぶ → んだ
Example 1: 遊ぶ（あそぶ）→ 遊んだ（あそんだ）
Example 2: 飛ぶ（とぶ）→ 飛んだ（とんだ）
ぬ → んだ
Example 1: 死ぬ（死ぬ）→ 死んだ（しんだ）
す → した
Example 1: 話す（はなす）→ 話した（はなした）
Example 2: 直す（なおす）→ 直した（なおした）
Most likely, you’re going to have to refer to this page or some kind of cheat sheet you make in order to remember all the different conversions properly. There are quite a few, but after you get some practice with them, they’ll fall into place and you won’t have to think about rules rules rules anymore.
GROUP 2 VERBS
As usual, Group 2 Verbs are extremely easy. Since all Group 2 verbs end with る, there is only one “rule” to remember.
る → た
Example 1: 食べる（たべる）→ 食べた（たべた）
Example 2: 見る（みる）→ 見た（みた）
Example 3: 寝る（ねる）→ 寝た（ねた）
Example 4: 忘れる（わすれる）→ 忘れた（わすれた）
Example 5: 出る（でる）→ 出た（でた）
As you can see, very easy to do… as long as you know which verbs are Group 2 verbs. If you don’t? Well, you can at least assume that anything with a る on the end is fair game.
IRREGULAR VERBS
And last but not least, Irregular verbs. As usual, it’s just best to memorize them, because otherwise your brain might explode.
する → した
来る（くる） → きた
ある → あった
Before You Move On:
- Study the Group 1 rules for turning a dictionary form verb into a た-form verb
- Study the Group 2 rule… shouldn’t take you all that long
- Study the irregular verbs. You can handle it.
- Complete this worksheet.
- Go back and review (if needed) the other verb conjugations.
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