Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 4: 8/13

う-Verb (Past)う - Verbs (Past tense)

Structure

Examples:
[る5]Verb(すわ) + った
[う]Verb(うた) + った
[つ]Verb() + った

[く]Verb(ある) + いた
[ぐ]Verb(およ) + いだ

[ぬ]Verb() + んだ
[ぶ]Verb() + んだ
[む]Verb(やす) + んだ

[す]Verb(はな) + した

Exceptions:
()く → ()った
するした
くるきた
()う → ()うた
()う → ()うた

Details

  • Verb

  • Auxiliary Verb

  • Standard

About う-Verb (Past)

To make the past form of a う-Verb in Japanese, just like all other conjugations of う-Verbs, you will need to change the last kana, before adding the auxiliary verb た (casual), or ました (polite). This change in kana is a bit different to other conjugations of う-Verbs, so let's take a look at them for the casual form.

As can be seen in these examples, the changes consist of った, いた, いだ, んだ, した (the same as the changes for て form, but using た instead). For the conjugations using だ in place of た, this is simply a sound change in the language that happened over the course of history, to make words easier/smoother to say. It is not the auxiliary verb .

For the polite past form of う-Verbs, the change in sound is far more consistent. This only requires a change from the う sound, to the い sound within the same column (from う to い, or from く to き, for example).

When た is added to verbs (or any other word), it can have one of three possible meanings.

Past: 過去(かこ) - Happened at some point in the past. (Did/Was)

Completion: 完了(かんりょう) - An action that has finished 'happening'. (Done)

Continuation: 存続(そんぞく) - A new state of something that is continuing. (Has been done)

Caution

With う-Verbs, there are a few verbs that are exceptions to the regular conjugation rules. Please check the structure guide for these.

Topics

It's All in the Past

N5 Topic

In this Topic, we're going to learn how to talk about things we 'did' by learning how to use verbs in the past tense. In Japanese, the past tense is surprisingly simple and versatile, so mastering this early will pay off quickly.



Antonyms



Vocab Coverage

All Bunpro Vocab that appears on this item.

Examples

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  • 昨日(きのう)(ほん)()んだ
    昨日(きのう)(ほん)()みました

    I read a book yesterday.

  • 牛乳(ぎゅうにゅう)()んだ
    牛乳(ぎゅうにゅう)()みました

    I drank milk.

  • ロンドン()んだ
    ロンドン()びました

    I flew to London.

  • (わたし)たちチーム()った
    (わたし)たちチーム()ちました

    Our team won!

  • メアリー日本(にほん)(かえ)った
    メアリー日本(にほん)(かえ)りました

    Mary returned to Japan.

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う-Verb (Past) – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (26 in total)

  • nadoles

    nadoles

    For anyone who struggles with memorizing all the conjugations for this grammar point, put this song on loop until you just absorb everything: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh8SWMYBeus. It’s the most effortless way to learn them.

  • Nightscotsman

    Nightscotsman

    This is excellent and super helpful - thanks!

  • fidgety3089

    fidgety3089

    I hate this so much. It’s going to be stuck in my head forever. So mission accomplished, but at what cost?

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