Making the Plain Past Form for Japanese verbs

Japanese Verbs

The simple past form is also known as the た form since, well, all verbs end with た (except a few that end in だ, but those are pretty easy to pick up). This form is occasionally used for other purposes making it extremely important for the beginner to learn.

Japanese verbs fall into three groups:

• Group 1 (also known as “u-verbs” or “godan verbs” or otherwise known as “the hardest group!”),
• Group 2 (also known as “ru-verbs” or “ichidan verbs” or otherwise known as “the pretty easy group!”), and
• Group 3 (also known as “irregular verbs” or otherwise known as “I just have to memorize them group”).

Each group has a different way to construct the simple past た form, but the good news is it’s the same as constructing the て form for all verbs. In other words, once you form the past, you can just change the た to a て and the だ to a で. If you want to learn more about the て form, see the lesson page here.

Group 1: U-verbs or Godan verbs

These are verbs that end with an う-sound syllable in their dictionary form, except most of those ending in 「いる」 or 「える」, which are generally Group 2 verbs.

Group 1 verbs are the trickiest. If memorizing fairly complex grammar rules isn’t your thing, don’t worry. You’ll eventually get the hang of it as you learn words and phrases. However, I would still recommend going through the following rules and at least begin familiarizing yourself with the forms.

To convert a Group 1 verb to its た form, follow these rules depending on the verb ending:

■ If the verb ends with う, つ, or る, replace the ending with った.

For example:

• 待(ま)つ (to wait) becomes 待(ま)った
• 帰(かえ)る (to return home) becomes 帰(かえ)った

■ If the verb ends with む, ぶ, or ぬ, replace the ending with んだ.

For example:

• 飲(の)む (to drink) becomes 飲(の)んだ
• 遊(あそ)ぶ (to play) becomes 遊(あそ)んだ
• 死(し)ぬ (to die) becomes 死(し)んだ

■ If the verb ends with く, replace it with いた.

For example:

• 聞(き)く (to listen) becomes 聞(き)いた
• 書(か)く (to write) becomes 書(か)いた

■ If the verb ends with ぐ, replace it with いだ. (This is similar to the verbs above ending in く, but since it is ぐ, the result is だ and not た.)

For example:

• 泳(およ)ぐ (to swim) becomes 泳(およ)いだ

■ If the verb ends with す, replace it with した.

For example:

• 話(はな)す (to speak) becomes 話(はな)した

Group 2: Ru-verbs

These are (much easier) verbs that end with 「いる」 or 「える」. To convert a Group 2 verb to its た form, simply drop the る at the end of the verb and add た.

For example:

• 食(た)べる (to eat) becomes 食(た)べた
• 見(み)る (to see) becomes 見(み)た

That’s it for Group 2 verbs!

Group 3: Irregular Verbs

There are only two irregular verbs in modern Japanese: する (to do) and 来(く)る (to come). Their た forms are irregular and simply need to be memorized.

• する (to do) becomes した (notice the す changes to し when conjugated)
• 来(く)る (to come) becomes 来(き)た (notice the reading changes from く to き when conjugated)

Now that you know how to conjugate, let’s practice. Feel free to refer to the rules above when needed.

Click Here to Practice the て form