Lesson 59
Te Form + inai
As mentioned in the last lesson, iru is an ichidan verb meaning "to be; to exist." As such, it can be changed into a negative and take the various negative Base 1 endings just like other verbs. While there are some negative endings that cannot be used when it's combined with the Te Form, which makes them present or past progressive, there are many that can. First let's do some plain negative examples, which are based on those used in the last lesson:
- Sam wa koko ni inai. (Sam's not here.)
- Karera wa zasshi o yonde inai. (They aren't reading a magazine.)
- Watashitachi wa Okayama ni sunde inai. (We don't live in Okayama.)
- Bill wa nihongo o benkyou shite inai. (Bill isn't studying Japanese.)
- Tabete inai ko wa Shizuko desu. (The child who isn't eating is Shizuko.)
Remember to use masen for polite speech:
- Sam wa koko ni imasen. (Sam's not here.)
- Karera wa zasshi o yonde imasen. (They aren't reading a magazine.)
- Watashitachi wa Okayama ni sunde imasen. (We don't live in Okayama.)
We can easily apply nai deshou and nakereba, which were covered in the Base 1 endings:
- Kodomotachi wa benkyou shite inai deshou. (The kids probably aren't studying.)
- Benkyou shite inakereba, nani o shite iru deshou ka. (If they're not studying, what are they doing?)
Now please look at the following examples, carefully noting and confirming the differences between plain and polite, present and past, infinitive and progressive:
- Watashi wa ringo o tabenakatta. (I didn't eat an apple. [plain])
- Watashi wa ringo o tabemasen deshita. (I didn't eat an apple. [polite])
- Watashi wa tabete inai. (I'm not eating [now]. [plain])
- Watashi wa tabete imasen. (I'm not eating [now]. [polite])
- Sono toki tabete inakatta. (I wasn't eating then. [plain])
- Sono toki tabete imasen deshita. (I wasn't eating then. [polite])
- Bob wa benkyou shite inakereba yakyuu o yaru koto ga dekiru deshou. (If Bob wasn't studying we could play baseball.)
- Bob wa benkyou shite inakattara yakyuu o yaru koto ga dekita deshou. (If Bob hadn't been studying we could have played baseball.)
Please remember that Japanese lets you leave out the subject when it's understood (or thought to be), which can be convenient at times, though vague and troublesome at others. The last two above are good examples of this. In either, "we could" could be "he could," depending on the actual situation. To make the meaning perfectly clear, we would have to add watashitachi wa or kare wa before yakyuu.
Dekita, which appears in the last example, is the Ta Form of dekiru (can; to be able). We'll get into the Ta Form after covering the Te Form endings.
Another handy use for the Te Form + inai is to express "not yet," as in:
- Watashi wa mada tabete inai. (I haven't eaten yet.)
- Seiko wa mada kaimono ni itte inai. (Seiko hasn't gone shopping yet.)
- Yumi ni mada denwa shite inai no? 1 (Haven't you called Yumi yet?)
You'll notice mada used in these examples, which is normally used in negative constructions to convey "not yet."
Word Check
toki: time (usually a specific time)
yakyuu: baseball
mada: yet (used with negatives for "not yet")
kaimono: shopping
denwa suru: to telephone (someone)
(Verbs are shown in their plain form.)
Notes
1. No at the end of sentences plays the same role as ka. It's for asking questions, and goes especially well with plain ones.
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