I Didn't Do It

In this Topic, we're going to learn how to make the negative-past form of verbs. As usual, the polite and the standard forms are different. Upon learning this, we will have covered the complete set of tenses (past and non-past) and polarities (positive and negative) for verbs.

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る-Verb (Negative-Past)
る - Verbs (Negative-past tense)
In order to form the negative past form of る-Verbs, you will need to remove the る, and then follow it with the auxiliary verb ない (or ます), conjugated into their past forms. This will either be なかった (casual), or ませんでした (polite).
A semi-polite form may also be used. This is constructed by using なかった, and then simply adding です. This form is not grammatically correct, but is so common that most sources (and native speakers) would consider it correct.
N5 文法
う-Verb (Negative-Past)
う - Verbs (Negative-past tense)
In order to make the negative past form of う-Verbs, you will need to change the last kana of the verb into the あ sound kana from the same column (or わ if the original kana was う). After this, the あ sound kana will be followed by ない (or ます), conjugated into their past forms. This will either be なかった (casual), or ませんでした (polite).

For the ませんでした (polite) form, rather than the final kana changing to the あ sound kana from the same column, it will change to the い sound kana from the same column.

The negative past form is used to convey that something 'did not happen', or 'was not'.
A semi-polite form may also be used. This is constructed by using なかった, and then simply adding です. This form is not grammatically correct, but is so common that most sources (and native speakers) would consider it correct.
ある is an exception to the regular conjugation rules of う-Verbs. The casual past-negative is not あらなかった, but simply なかった. However, the polite past-negative form conjugates in the same way as would be expected for う-Verbs. ありませんでした.
N5 文法

詳細

Let's take a look at the conjugation charts to confirm our understanding.

The Regulars

For the standard negative past, we add ない to the appropriate ending and then conjugate ない to take the past auxiliary た. The auxiliary verb です can be added to create the semi-polite form. And for the polite past negative, we simply add the negative form of ます (that is, ません) to the stem form of the verb, and follow it with でした (the past tense of です). Altogether, it looks like ませんでした.

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