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In my notes I have the following example:

私は　仕事を　止めない　つもり　です。 - I expect my work will not stop.

Does anybody know the rule for using つもり? Is it just verb plain form e.g.

今月　家を買う　つもりです - This month I expect to buy [the] house

Some guidance would be appreciated. Many thanks!

EDIT: I've found this example which indicates my notes may be wrong (first example)

これから10年働いて、35くらいまで結婚しないつもりだ。 I'm going to work now for 10 years and I won't get married until I'm 35 or something.

So have we decided that つもり is to express an intention, rather than an expectation that something will happen? If that is so, then how do we say we expect something to happen? e.g. "I am expecting to pass the exam"

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    私は仕事を[辞]{や}めないつもりです means "I am not going to quit my job".
    – user1016
    Jul 14, 2014 at 8:39
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    As a native English speaker, I find the use of the word "expect" there strange. I think "intend" is the more normal word choice (but that makes it sounds more formal than the Japanese equivalent).
    – virmaior
    Jul 14, 2014 at 9:05
  • @virmaior The context would be that something is in the process of happening, and you are expecting the named result. So... I am 90% through the house-buying process, I "expect" it to complete this month. My company keeps accepting change requests, so I "expect" my work won't stop/ever be completed.
    – VictorySaber
    Jul 14, 2014 at 10:31
  • Then I think you're misunderstanding the meaning of つもり
    – virmaior
    Jul 14, 2014 at 10:34
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    I think you can use 「合格すると思います」 to express "I think I will pass (I expect that I will pass)". If you want even stronger expectation, you can use はず, but that would be translated as "I will surely/definitely pass" --> Definitely expecting to pass.
    – Steel
    Jul 16, 2014 at 12:39

1 Answer 1

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I'm a bit uncertain where the question "is it just verb plain form" is coming from here, since つもり functions as a regular noun/nominal grammatically.

It means something like intention or expectation, where the specifics of the intention modify the つもり by coming before it.

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    I think they mean: "is it just verb plain form [that I put before つもり]"
    – user1478
    Jul 14, 2014 at 9:47
  • Yes as snailboat says.
    – VictorySaber
    Jul 14, 2014 at 10:32

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