Lesson 73
Ta Form + Combinations Shared With Base 3
Now that we've seen how the Ta Form works, the rest really isn't too difficult. There are a few "ta form only" combinations, but there are many more that we have already become familiar with back in the Base 3 section.
I trust you remember that Base 3 is the plain, root form of Japanese verbs. (If necessary, please see Lesson 1 for a quick review.) You could think of the Ta Form as a very close relative, the major difference being that while it expresses the plain past, Base 3 is used for the plain present or future. Due to this, these two share many add-ons and endings. Since we have already covered these, I feel that separate lessons just to show them in the past tense are unnecessary. Instead, I've decided to cover some of them here along with corresponding Base 3 plain future constructions, which will serve as a nice review.
Again, these are not all of the verb add-ons and endings shared by Base 3 and the Ta Form. They are some of the more useful ones which have already been introduced in the Base 3 lessons. Each one will have an example of a Base 3 form for the plain future tense, and the same form converted to the Ta Form for plain past. Carefully note the similarities and differences. For a more detailed review, please click the lesson links.
» deshou (Lesson 24):
- Yumiko wa Kyoto ni iku deshou. (Yumiko will probably go to Kyoto.)
- Yumiko wa Kyoto ni itta deshou. (Yumiko probably went to Kyoto.)
» hazu (Lesson 25):
- Kare wa rokuji ni kuru hazu. (He's supposed to come at six.)
- Kare wa rokuji ni kita hazu. (He was supposed to come at six.)
We already know that desu can be added to various structures to make them polite, and one of the examples in Lesson 25 included it. And, because deshita is the past form of desu, it is easy to make the mistake of adding it to past tense sentences although it is unnecessary. Where the action verb is changed to the Ta Form to make the structure past tense, as in the last example above, use desu to make it polite, not deshita. One past tense element is enough.
» hou ga ii (Lesson 26):
- Kyou densha de iku hou ga ii. (It would be better to go by train today.)
- Kyou densha de itta hou ga ii. (It would be better to go by train today.)
That's right, whether you use present or past with hou ga ii, the meaning — the tense of the meaning — is the same. Please take careful note of this. The bottom example above might be mistaken for expressing regret: "It would have been better if..." Please don't make this mistake. To express regret, use Base 4 + ba yokatta: Kyou densha de ikeba yokatta. (I should have taken the train today.)
Please also note that the past (Ta Form) with hou ga ii is used more often in daily conversation than the present (Base 3).
» ka dou ka (Lesson 27):
- Kare wa dekiru ka dou ka kikimashou. (I'll ask him whether or not he can do it.)
- Kare wa dekita ka dou ka kikimashou. (I'll ask him whether or not he was able to do it.)
» kamo shirenai / shiremasen (Lesson 28):
- Konban, Jun wa The Lord of the Rings o miru kamo shirenai. (Jun might see The Lord of the Rings tonight.)
- Kinou no ban, Jun wa The Lord of the Rings o mita kamo shirenai. (Maybe Jun saw The Lord of the Rings last night.)
» kara (Lesson 29):
- Beth wa itsumo okureru kara sensei ga okoru. (The teacher gets angry because Beth is always late.)
- Beth wa okureta kara sensei ga okotta. (The teacher was angry because Beth was late.)
» noni (Lesson 41):
- Hayaku okiru noni mainichi okureru. (Even though I get up early, I'm late every day.)
- Hayaku okita noni okureta. (Even though I got up early, I was late.)
» sou desu (Lesson 42):
- Takada-san wa yameru sou desu. (I heard that Mr. Takada's quitting.)
- Takada-san wa yameta sou desu. (I heard that Mr. Takada quit.)
Please remember that this sense of sou is not used without desu.
» to omoimasu (Lesson 45):
- Bob wa goji ni kaeru to omoimasu. (I think Bob will come back at five o'clock.)
- Bob wa goji ni kaetta to omoimasu. (I think Bob came back at five o'clock.)
» mitai (you desu) (Lesson 47):
- Ame ga furu mitai. (It looks like it's going to rain.)
- Ame ga futta mitai. (It looks like it rained.)
Word Check
kyou: today
dekiru: can; to be able to (do something)
konban: this evening (kon [now, the present] + ban [evening])
itsumo: always
sensei: teacher
okureru: to be late
okoru: to get angry
hayaku: (adverb) quickly; early
okiru: to get up
mainichi: every day (mai [every] + nichi [day]; mai is used with units of time, not with people or objects.)
yameru: to quit a job; to quit or end a task
furu: to fall as precipitation (rain, snow, etc.)
(Verbs are shown in their plain form.)
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