What's behind the ta form

Question

I was wondering how the ta form is viewed in japanese. I know that in the west one learns that it s the past tense for verbs etc. However there are certain things I can t wrap my head around. For example the grammar form:[ ~ ta hou ga ii ] to give advise. Another example is its use in if/when: [ ~ taRA, ... ]. Or [~ ta mama ...]. What is the connection here to the past tense ? Maybe I dont understand what hou really means.

Answer 1

I’m a native speaker and I don’t particularly see it as the past form of a verb in those expressions. Having said that, I think I can try to provide some analysis as to why the so-called "past" tense is used in them, perhaps taking the risk of over-analysis.

Among those, 〜たら seems the easiest to explain. It's because by the time the act or event of the main clause (after たら) happens, the act or event of the subordinate clause (before たら) has already happened. That’s pretty much the definition of 〜たら. It is only natural that this idea is expressed with the "past" tense in a language whose tense system is relative, such as Japanese.

〜たまま can be understood in a similar way. For something to be left in a particular state, the act that results in that state has to have been completed by then. For example, a door can become 開けたまま only after the act of 開ける is completed.

〜た[方]{ほう}がいい is a bit tricky. It could be that the speaker is imagining a situation where the act or event of the verb has been completed in order to assess its result in comparison to other alternatives. Actually, 〜する方がいい is also grammatical. It just sounds like the speaker is stating their own preference in general terms, rather than giving advice about a specific situation. If it is used to give advice, the speaker would sound a bit self-righteous as if they are forcing their own opinion upon others. 〜た方がいい, on the other hand, talks about a specific situation, just like 〜たら.

Of course, native speakers don’t think about these things when we speak.