Questions tagged [past]
The past tag has no usage guidance.
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Usage of 「書かない」referring to famous authors
In Yorushika's song "Hitchcock"'s lyrics appears the sentence:
ニーチェもフロイトもこの穴の埋め方は書かないんだ
Which is translated as "Neither Nietche nor Freud wrote about how to fill this hole" by ...
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Can we use ~た form to make a verb an adverb?
I've got this phrase:
コンタクトすると目が乾いた感じになって、目が赤くなります。
Which means:
When I use contacts, my eyes feel dry and become red.
Pretty easy, but there's a little thing with the usage of the ~た form which I ...
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Using the Perfect Tense to Talk about Something Timeless
I was trying to read a Japanese kanji dictionary for grade school (小学校) and I came across a construction that left me a bit puzzled.
In explaining the Kanji for "right", the dictionary says: ...
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What's behind the ta form
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 ...
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て form of past negative sentence with ちゃう
So I know that to use ちゃう we use the て form a verb and delete the て and add ちゃう, however; how would this work for example with 話す as in
話す->話さない->話さなかった
If to say "I'm not speaking" is ...
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Why「なっていた」is used here?
I was reading a manga about a boy who turned into a girl. I found this odd line.
つまり... 目が覚めたら突然女の子になっていた... という事でいいですか?
When the girl-boy arrived at school, his kouhai didn't recognize him at first....
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How to ask if an action in the past was permissible?
I'm familiar with the てもいい form to ask for permission to do something in the future. For instance:
Is it okay if I eat the candy?
菓子を食べてもいいか。
How would I ask if something I did already in the past ...
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Why is 登録した the past tense of 登録?
I am just a beginner, and I am reading Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese. My questions are:
Why is the past tense of 登録, 登録した?
Is 登録 (register) a noun or a verb?
In the following example, the word should ...
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Standard Formula for Past Counterfactual Conditional (what is the role of -te iru?)
What is the standard formula for making a counterfactual conditional sentence that talks about the past? That is, English conditionals that have this pattern: "If ..... had ..... , ..... would ...
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Meaning of た form + なら
What I've studied is that in Japanese, you don't use past tenses in conditional sentences to express a lower probability (like if I were instead of if I am). I know there's a conditional formed with た ...
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Aren't there two ways of putting a sentence with an i-adjective into past tense? かった and でした?
今日ヨガは最も難しいことです。
今日ヨガは最も難しかったことです。
今日ヨガは最も難しいことでした。
Are both sentences correct? What are the different implications?
I haven't worked with 最も yet, I would try to use 一番 here instead. What I perceive ...
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When a verb in the present expresses the past, is it CORRECT to conjugate it to the past and still nothing changes?
If
あの子どもは、それを口に入れるや、吐き出した
is correct, is
あの子どもは、それを口に入れたや、吐き出した
also correct? If yes, has the meaning changed at all?
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Usage of している in cases of talking about experience
I have a doubt regarding the use of している in cases of punctual verbs. I inferred it out that the difference between た form i.e. the Japanese past form and ている (When it is used in Perfectual Sense) it ...
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Question about past tense with noun
I'm having trouble with past tense + noun.
For example "弟の言うことを聞いたばかりにひどい目にあった" Or "この教授はしゃべるのが速すぎて、誰も言っていることを理解出来なかった"
Why is used 言うこと instead of 言ったこと / 言っている instead of 言っていた?
In this ...
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Main usages of the た-Form
A couple of weeks ago I learned in my course the usage of the て-Form which were:
Chaining verbs together , all of which are written in the で-Form and the last one is written with the polite form. The ...
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Past tense and continuous tense of verb (持った・持っている)
I was watching a Japanese video and it seems it is more accurate to say 傘を持った
rather then 傘を持っている to indicate that I am holding an umbrella. For example if someone asks "傘を持った？" the grammatically ...
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What does the ~たものか mean in どうやって彼らを誤魔化したものか?
I stumbled upon this sentence:
どうやって彼らを誤魔化したものか──と思案するように、ヒューイは愛想笑いを浮かべた。
and I was told that I should understand it as
どうやって彼らを誤魔化せばいいだろうか──と思案するように、ヒューイは愛想笑いを浮かべた。
However I can't find in any ...
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Is there a difference between 行くった and 行った or is the first one grammatically wrong?
When I want to write ‘Today I went to Nagoya.’ Which one is correct?
今日は名古屋に行くった。
Or
今日は名古屋に行った。
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Confusion on use of だった with sentence that uses nominalized verb
I'm reading a book and have come across this sentence
アニーが指さしているのは、一本のなわばしごだった。
I know this sentence translates to something like
Annie was pointing to a long rope ladder.
But what I truly don'...
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When to use te form and past tense
Was going through my Genki book and saw an example sentence of te form verb but it ended in past tense. (言う いってた) Why use the te form at all and not just past tense
「あきらさんは何て言ってた？」
「...
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Is there a distinction between ‘did" and "have done" in Japanese?
According to internet sources and my Chinese friend living in Japan, there isn't. However, can someone provide more evidence on this issue? If there is no grammatical distinction, how can we ...
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Why 入った and not 入た past tense
I've learned that ru verbs should drop る and replace it with た.
But 入る becomes 入った and I'm not sure why.
The same goes for
食べる → 食べた
しゃべる → しゃべた
Are these irregulars or am I misunderstanding ...
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Meaning of ジョンさんはきのう五時間しか寝ませんでした 。 [duplicate]
So I saw this one in one my books and was wondering how it gets translated into
John slept five hours yesterday.
ジョンさんはきのう五時間しか寝ませんでした.
Any kind of explanation is appreciated, my book maybe covers ...
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Can the て-form be used as a た-form substitute?
I've been reading manga by myself for some time, and I've been noticing sentences where the て-form takes the role of a past tense marker (that is, the role of the た-form). At first I was letting it ...
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Chaining sentences, and past form
I knew that you were/are an angel
I thought about using the te-form and then simply chain the two sentences "I knew" and "you are an angel" together.
(私は)知りまして、君は天使です
I'm not ...
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Question about using the past form verb 「まった」 in this sentence
It is a situation that a boxing fight will begin very soon. Suddenly, a trainer of a boxer thought that his man could be knocked out very easily. He then said the following sentence. Anyway, the ...
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Negative Past Tense
I was reading a book and ran into the following sentence:
「 聞こえたか聞こえないかというくらいの音だ。」
It's supposed to mean something along the lines of "The sound was so quiet that I wasn't even sure if I heard it or ...
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Does ばかり (meaning 'just happened') have to be a voluntary action (like たところ?)
Is ばかり the same as たところ in the sense that the action must be voluntary? e.g. Winter just ended, could you use ばかり？
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past tense conjugation これ以上は 死タからその 前に殺さナいと
これ以上は 死タからその 前に殺さナいと
I find it perplexing that 死タからそ is conjugated in the past tense. It being the reason (-から) for 殺さナいと, shouldn't it be in present tense? Or am I mixing it up and (-と) takes ...
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Negative present endings translated as past tense
I've seen certain translations where I feels like there's a shift in the tenses.
Ex: なぜ早く言わない!？ translated to "Why didn't you say so sooner!?"
In fact, I've experienced a lot of cases where a ...
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How to express feelings about a performed action?
I am wondering how I express my feelings about an action that has already occurred/been performed.
For example, how would I state the following:
I am happy to have returned home.
I am sad that I ...
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Differences between た/てた
Context: From Yotsuba&, they went gathering chestnuts and one of them had a bug in it so they threw it away. But here the young girl is eating from the rest and her sister is saying that there ...
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How do you say: "it could have been avoided" The correct way?
I tried, but ended up with this:
それは避けられたかもしれない。
But, I do not know if it is right to say it that way
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what is the difference between oshieta and oshiete kureta?
oshieta is the plain past tense of oshieru and oshiete kureta is usually translated as the past tense of oshieru too. What is the difference between them?
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Using とる to say I took a picture of my dog in the park
I see the を particle is used with the verb, but I don't know how it works in the sentence. Is it:
わたしはこうえんでわたしのいぬのしゃしんをとりました。
Or:
わたしはこうえんでわたしのいぬをとりました。
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what form 死ねたのに is?
I've come across this phrase
今の一撃を素直に食らっておけば、楽に死ねたのにね
and I think it translates to something like: "if you had taken that attack obediently, you would have died in peace", but I can't really ...
user18767
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相対テンス -- ①ハワイへ行く時、帽子を買う。 ②ハワイへ行く時、帽子を買った。 ③ハワイへ行った時、帽子を買う。 ④ハワイへ行った時、帽子を買った。
http://blog.livedoor.jp/robinsonrobin/archives/8036910.html
ハワイへ行く時、帽子を買う。
ハワイへ行く時、帽子を買った。
ハワイへ行った時、帽子を買う。
ハワイへ行った時、帽子を買った。
If I completely understand these, will I have undertood half of all the ...
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past / future -- "抜けたら" -- 「国境の長いトンネルを抜けると雪国であった」
Other uses of the particle と: トンネルを抜けると雪国であった
「国境の長いトンネルを抜けると雪国であった」
抜ける looks like present (but we know it's past) -- What is the usual explantion for this ?
「国境の長いトンネルを抜けたら雪国であった」 <--- Here ...
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Expressing 'likeness' and using ku Verbs in the past tense
I'm trying to say "I drew an original character in the NEWGAME! style"
俺はオリギナル、カラクターを描いたNEWGAME!みたい
That is the way I formulated my sentence but it seems off; can someone help?
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The past tense casual form of iru and iku
In the question and similar ones:
Nihon e itta koto ga aru?
How can one know whether itta is the past tense of iku or iru?
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How to say 'I had never been before'
I understand forming the past tense like 'I have not been' but I'm unsure as to how to phrase this as it is something that was true but now is not. If that makes sense. It's the 'had' part that's ...
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plain + とき + plain or polite?
If I use the plain past tense of a verb before とき, do I have to use the plain past tense in the sentence that comes after it, or is it okay to use the polite past tense? For example, I'm trying to say,...
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Connective だって and use of せっかく
It's hard to tell where the following breaks up as it's in one bubble.
まあまあ
せっかくだから[買]{か}いに[行]{い}ったらどうだ
[山田]{やまだ}だって[必要]{ひつよう}だろ
Anyway. My attempt at (somewhat literal) translation here is:
...
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Infinitive form + た or た form
兄ちゃんも行きたいって言ってたし。
I'm pretty sure it's 言. The only difference is the top mark is horizontal. Every time time I analyze it, though, I wind up with 言.
Anyway, my question regards the 行きた. According ...
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だったら as an interjection
だったらさ！
だった is the completed tense of だ, ら is a rough indicator, and さ is an assertion. The completed existential verb with the rough indicator would seem to say something like "Things having been ...
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atteita vs atteimashita
I am learning Japanese and I'm always mixing these two. Can someone explain what's the difference between them and how are they used?
My only understanding is the first is verb+tte+ita which is kinda ...
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Future II Simple in Japanese
How can you express something like "Tomorrow I will have finished my work" or "Because I have to do hard word tomorrow, I will be very tired in the evening"?
明日、仕事を絶対終えたようとする。 ？
明日、にくい仕事があるから、...
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ムダ足だった == useless leg?
When I look up the phrase 無駄足だった, I see it translated as "It was a Wild goose chase." I found this bizarre, since it seems like it would mean "It was a useless foot/leg." is this some sort of figure ...
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Usage of「次第に」with the past tense
I am confused as if I should put the verb preceding 「次第に」 at the past tense or just use the dictionary version:
ランチを食べた次第に帰った
Or
ランチを食べる次第に帰った
Also, if this grammar is not appropriate in this ...
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