“I don’t need time, I need a deadline.” – Duke Ellington
Verbs themselves aren’t too complicated… it’s the tenses that muck things up.
v.dict + 時
v.dict.past + 時
That’s all nice and simple, but there’s a little more to it.
v.dict + 時 → This action takes place before you do this verb.
v.dict.past + 時 → This action takes place after you’ve done this verb.
Here’s some examples:
a ご飯を食べる時に「いただきます！」を言う。
I will say “itadakimasu!” before eating my meal.
a ご飯を食べた時に「ごちそうさまでした」を言う。
I will say “gochisosamadeshita” after I’ve eaten my meal.
a ご飯を食べる時に「いただきます！」を言った。
I said “itadakimasu” before I ate my meal.
a ご飯を食べる時に「ごちそうさまでした」を言った。
I said “gochisosamadeshita” after I ate my meal.
It gets kind of confusing with all the tenses you have to work with when it comes to verbs. In fact, in the third sentence the tenses change to past tense even though 食べる時 is present tense. Granted, it’s confusing. One thing that will make things easier is to assume the whole thing is past tense if it ends in past tense. That’s what I would recommend.
Alright, let’s wrap everything together into one practice!