Four endings that cover most polite speech
The masu form has four shapes you will use constantly. Masu is the non-past, which covers both habits and the future because Japanese has no separate future tense. Masen is the negative. Mashita is the past. Masen deshita is the past negative.
Because the ending does all the work, the verb itself never changes between these four. Learn one verb in all four and you have learned the pattern for every verb.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 毎朝コーヒーを飲みます。 | Maiasa kōhī o nomimasu. | I drink coffee every morning. |
| 明日は会社に行きます。 | Ashita wa kaisha ni ikimasu. | I am going to the office tomorrow. |
| お酒は飲みません。 | Osake wa nomimasen. | I do not drink alcohol. |
| 昨日は早く寝ました。 | Kinō wa hayaku nemashita. | I went to bed early yesterday. |
| 週末は何もしませんでした。 | Shūmatsu wa nani mo shimasen deshita. | I did not do anything at the weekend. |
The stem is the part you will reuse most
Take masu off and what remains is the masu stem: tabe from tabemasu, nomi from nomimasu, iki from ikimasu, shi from shimasu. That stem is far more useful than it looks, because a large family of patterns attaches directly to it.
Once you can find the stem quickly, wanting to do something, doing two things at once, and saying something is easy, hard or too much all become one small step rather than a new conjugation to learn.
| Stem plus | Meaning | Example in English |
|---|---|---|
| tai | Want to do | I want to eat |
| nagara | While doing | While walking |
| yasui | Easy to do | Easy to read |
| nikui | Hard to do | Hard to hear |
| sugiru | Do too much | Ate too much |
| ni iku | Go in order to do | Go to buy something |
Several of these have their own guides on this blog. The point here is that the stem you already use for masu is the key to all of them.
The stem in real sentences
Seeing the same stems carry different meanings is the fastest way to stop treating each pattern as a separate thing to memorise.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 寿司が食べたいです。 | Sushi ga tabetai desu. | I want to eat sushi. |
| 音楽を聞きながら勉強します。 | Ongaku o kikinagara benkyō shimasu. | I study while listening to music. |
| この本は読みやすいです。 | Kono hon wa yomiyasui desu. | This book is easy to read. |
| 昨日は食べすぎました。 | Kinō wa tabesugimashita. | I ate too much yesterday. |
| コンビニに飲み物を買いに行きます。 | Konbini ni nomimono o kai ni ikimasu. | I am going to the convenience store to buy a drink. |
Inviting and offering with mashō and masen ka
Three small changes to the ending turn statements into social moves. Mashō proposes doing something together and expects agreement. Mashō ka offers to do something for someone, or checks whether you should do something together. Masen ka invites, and because it is phrased as a negative question it leaves the other person room to decline.
Masen ka is the gentlest of the three and the best default when you are not sure the answer will be yes. Mashō works well once plans are already half agreed.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 一緒に昼ご飯を食べませんか。 | Issho ni hirugohan o tabemasen ka. | Would you like to have lunch together? |
| じゃあ、駅で会いましょう。 | Jā, eki de aimashō. | Okay, let us meet at the station. |
| 窓を開けましょうか。 | Mado o akemashō ka. | Shall I open the window? |
| 荷物を持ちましょうか。 | Nimotsu o mochimashō ka. | Shall I carry your bag? |
| そろそろ始めましょうか。 | Sorosoro hajimemashō ka. | Shall we get started? |
Why masu is the right place to start
Masu is the register you need with shop staff, station staff, neighbours, colleagues you have just met, and anyone older than you whom you do not know well. That covers most of the conversations a learner actually has in the first year.
It is also forgiving. Speaking in masu to someone who would have accepted casual speech is at worst a little formal. Speaking casually to someone who expected masu can sound rude. When in doubt, masu is the choice that does not go wrong.
- Strangers, shops, restaurants and public offices: masu.
- New colleagues and anyone senior: masu, with keigo for customers and managers.
- Teachers and host families at the start: masu until they invite you to relax.
- Close friends and people your age who already speak casually to you: plain form.
When masu starts to sound too stiff
The same politeness that protects you with strangers creates distance with friends. If a friend says tabeta? and you answer tabemashita, the mismatch is noticeable, a little like replying to a text from a close friend in formal letter style.
Masu also tends to disappear inside longer sentences even in polite speech. Only the final verb usually carries masu; clauses before it often use plain forms. Saying every verb in a long sentence with masu sounds laboured.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 昨日、何食べた？ | Kinō, nani tabeta? | What did you eat yesterday? (casual) |
| ラーメン食べた。 | Rāmen tabeta. | I had ramen. (casual reply) |
| 駅に着いたら電話します。 | Eki ni tsuitara denwa shimasu. | I will call you when I get to the station. |
| 行くと思います。 | Iku to omoimasu. | I think I will go. |
In the last two lines only the final verb is polite. That is normal polite Japanese, not a mixture of registers.
Making the four endings automatic
Knowing the endings and producing them in real time are different skills. The gap shows up when someone asks what you did last weekend and you need mashita and masen deshita instantly, without assembling them.
Short daily drills close that gap: pick five verbs, say each in all four endings, then build one true sentence with each. After a week, move to questions and answers, because answering a question is where the negative forms really get used.
- Say five verbs a day in masu, masen, mashita and masen deshita.
- Answer three questions about yesterday out loud, including one negative.
- Make one invitation with masen ka and one offer with mashō ka.
- Record yourself and check that the final u in masu stays light.