Lesson 17
Base 1 + nai — The Plain Negative Form

We will now look at Base 1, which is mainly used for creating negative verb endings.

Ichidan are easy to convert into Base 1 because you just knock off the ru. In other words, Bases 1 and 2 are the same. Verbs in the yodan group are changed so that they end in a: iku changes to ika, matsu to mata, yomu to yoma, and etc. If the verb ends in u with another vowel before it, like kau, just change the u to wa; so kau becomes kawa. The irregular kuru changes to ko, and suru to shi, just like its Base 2 form.

The following tables should help clarify the way the three types of verbs are converted into Base 1 from their plain Base 3 forms, with Base 2 thrown in for review and comparison. Please note the changes carefully.

Yodan verbs:

Ichidan verbs:

Irregular verbs:

Now what we want to do is use Base 1 + nai to change some verbs into their plain negative form: kau (to buy) becomes kawanai (will not buy); kariru (to borrow) becomes karinai (will not borrow); kuru (to come), konai (will not come); and suru (to do), shinai (will not do).

Look at these example sentences:

• John wa kasa o kawanai. (John isn't going to buy an umbrella.)
• Jim wa manga o yomanai. (Jim doesn't read comic books.)
• Ojii-san wa sugu kaeranai. (Grandpa isn't going to return soon.)
• Watashi wa terebi o minai. (I'm not going to watch TV.)
• Sachiko wa konai. (Sachiko won't be coming.)

Notice how this ending can be used to mean "not going to do (something) for the time being" as well as "don't do at all" as a matter of personal policy. For example, Jim wa manga o yomanai could mean that Jim never reads comic books, or that he just isn't going to read a comic book now or in the near future. As in English, Japanese used in actual conversation would be modified as needed in order to make meanings clear.

Please remember that the ending nai by itself is plain, and should only be used in informal settings. Depending on the situation, you may want to upgrade it to a polite form, like Base 2 + masen, which we already covered in Lesson 4, or by simply adding desu on the end after nai :

• John wa kasa o kaimasen. / John wa kasa o kawanai desu.
• Jim wa manga o yomimasen. / Jim wa manga o yomanai desu.

Can you get a good feel for the changeover between Base 2 + masen and Base 1 + nai here?

Word Check

kasa: umbrella
kau: to buy
manga: a comic book, comics; cartoons
yomu: to read
ojii-san: grandfather
sugu: soon
kaeru: to return
kuru: to come

(Verbs are shown in their plain form.)

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