つもりだTo plan to, To intend to

Structure

Verb［る］ + つもり + だ
Verb［ない］+ つもり + だ^(*)
Verb + つもり + は⁽¹⁾ + ない^(**)

⁽¹⁾ が
^(*) To intend not to
^(**) To have no intention of

Details

Part of Speech
Noun
Word Type
Auxiliary Verb
Register
Standard
Rare Kanji
積もり

About つもりだ

つもりだ (or です) is a grammar point that can have several meanings in Japanese, but is often translated simply as 'intend to (A)', or 'plan to (A)'. It can be used after the plain (dictionary) form of verbs, or after the ない form.

In the last two sentences, there is quite a large difference in nuance, and can be thought of as similar to the difference between 'to intend not to' ないつもり, and 'to have no intention of' つもりはない in English. The former will mean that (A) is being actively avoided, while the latter will indicate that one simply has no plans to (A).

Fun Fact

The literal meaning of つもり comes from the verb 積(つ)もる, which means 'to pile up', or 'to load'. Due to this, つもり is regularly used to describe people that are doing something that is out of character for them, meaning that they have 'piled up' whatever feeling was required to act that way.

In this example, the nuance of つもり is 'so you're really going to act like you're apologizing?!' However, the literal meaning is closer to 'so you've really piled up enough (nerve) in order to act like that's an apology?!'

Caution

The は in つもりはない is interchangeable with が or じゃ (usually では is not used). The difference in nuance is that が gives the impression of being 'uninterested' in (A), while じゃ simply expresses that (A) is not the intended result.

Examples

--:--

日本(にほん)に行(い)くつもりだ。

I intend to go to Japan.

日本語(にほんご)を勉強(べんきょう)するつもりだ。

I intend to study Japanese.

明日(あした)早(はや)く起(お)きるつもりです。

I intend to wake up early tomorrow.

車(くるま)で行(い)くつもりです。

I intend to go by car.

スポーツが上手(じょうず)になるつもりだった。

I intended to become good at sports.

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つもりだ – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (17 in total)

Jake
plan to・intend to
Structure
- Verb + つもり + Optional だ
- Verb + つもり で + はない
- Verb + つもり → (I) intend to
- Verb[ない] + つもり → (I) intend not to
- Verb + つもりはない → (I) do not intend to
- Verb[ない] + つもりはない → (I) do not intend not to
つもりではない

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MissDagger
I have a question about this review question:
mrnoone
Hey

Considering the last verb uses casual form, why is it つもりでした instead of つもりだった?

That was an error on our side and thanks to you it has been fixed. However it will take a bit for new audio to be uploaded.

Thank you for notifying us about it.

Question 2: How many review sentences are for the other forms (intend not to, not intend to, not intend not to)? I can’t remember seeing any of them yet and I’m up to SRS 6.

There are two examples with negation.

By the way, it is a bit hard to express with translation but remember th...
MissDagger

mrnoone:

Thank you for notifying us about it.

You don’t know how happy this made me! This means I’ve started to understand Japanese grammar enough that what I think is strange can actually be an error and not just me lacking enough grammar!
Isurandil492

風邪を引くつもりはなかった。

The で is dropped. As じゃ is a contraction of では it seems plausible that じゃなかった is wrong (just had that in a cram session). On the other hand, a Google search for ‘“つもりじゃなかった”’ yields 800k+ results.

Any explanation for that?
piperaislinn
I’m also wondering about why つもりじゃなかった is not accepted? I know じゃない is a contraction of ではない, but maybe the ない in つもりはない is the negative form of ある instead? If not, why is the で dropped?
Lamster

Jake:

つもりではない

Is there an explanation as to why we can’t use で?

Also, the hint “didn’t intend” is a little misleading.
nekoyama
My limited understanding is this:
〇〇つもりだ normal way to say “I intend to”
〇〇つもりはない normal way to say “I don’t intend to” (there is no 〇〇つもり)
And this is all the grammar point is concerned with.

With では instead of は it’s contrastive:
〇〇つもりではない … is not what I intend to do (it’s not a 〇〇つもり, but rather…)

E.g.
そんなつもりではなかった。 That’s not what I meant to do.
そんなつもりではないでしょうが、 … I know that’s not their/your intention, but…
shary
I see that there is no exemple of sentence using つもりだ with a verb in past tense like this:

そのケーキを食べたつもりだ。

Which, I believe, means something like “I thought I ate that cake.”

Another example: https://tangorin.com/sentences/77031

Do you think it would be a good idea to add more sentences with a verb in paste tense or make another grammar point based on this?
matt_in_mito
Hmm, I’ve never seen this before… interesting. This would probably have to be a different grammar point entirely since the meaning is different and it is probably aimed at a different JLPT level. Interesting though, thanks for the link.
nekoyama
This is actually covered to some extent in the つもりで grammar point much later in N2. But maybe that one could use some examples closer to what you wrote too.
mrnoone
@shary
@matt_in_mito
@nekoyama

When つもり is used with a verb in a past form (and sometimes with a verb in non-past form, depending on context) it expresses the speaker’s conviction or belief. Generally, it is contrary to reality. You can use this construction when defending yourself when blamed for something, or just show how strongly you believed for something to be the case (for example when having a deja vu). Often followed by けど、が、のに.

そのケーキを食べたつもりだ。
I am convinced I ate the cake. (but it’s here somehow, maybe deja vu, or someone put it here again, or I didn’t eat it at all)

《車の鍵を捜している》引き出しの中に置いたつもりだったけど・・・
look
When looking for a key (and being under the pressure of someone waiting):
I am convinced I put them inside the drawer, but (they are not there).

《上司に》すでに修正版をお送りしたつもりですが
To a...
shary
Thanks for the detailed explanation.

You are always very quick to respond and seem open to improve this already very exhaustive grammar data base.

I appreciate that.
Savannah
So why is there a warning sign next to “つもりではない”? Is that supposed to indicate that it’s incorrect? And if it’s incorrect, then why is it incorrect when “つもりじゃない” is apparently acceptable?
Daru
Hey there! It’s basically because it would be a bit redundant.

つもり with just で comes off kinda like ‘the intention of ~ I’m intending’, whereas つもりはない and つもりじゃない just negate the つもり, so it’s ‘no intention of ~’.

Hope this clears it up!
jugglenutz
When using a -する noun/verb, should するbe included or omitted?
Ex: 自転車屋を連絡（する？）つもりです
Fuga
Hey @jugglenutz !

Since this grammar point is used after verbs and ない forms, you do need to include する after する verbs!

Ex:自転車屋に連絡するつもりです。

Using つもり right after nouns will make the sentence sound very unnatural.

Ex:自転車屋に連絡つもりです。(Unnatural)

I hope this answers your question!
jugglenutz
Perfect, thanks so much.