Questions tagged [past]

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past verb + ところだった= Major difference from るところだった?

おや もう到着ですか 空想を楽しんでいたところだったのに How does たところだった here work? I understand るところだった is "I almost did x" but how does it work with the past version then? https://nihongonosensei.net/?p=12827 This ...
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Past continous with adverbs of time

当時私は母が入れ物に入れた餌を自分で動物たちに与えた I would have expected the above sentence to use てい form (与えていた) as it seems like a repeated action in the past. The speaker is talking about their childhood chores, so I ...
Bronwyn Young's user avatar
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Why is the past form of 来た in this sentence? About something that is coming next?

The character is watching a firework show. From what I gather from the next sequence, the fireworks are shot in sequence (連発) BEFORE the sequence itself happens, the character says this: 連発来たかも! My ...
Bluegate's user avatar
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Past vs present tense in relative clause

I found this thread that was really useful, but I'm still have some doubts, especially because this other thread seems to suggest that there isn't significative difference between using one or the ...
Gianni Trattore's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
107 views

The usage of past and present verbs simultaneously

I was reading this 小説 and i noticed that the author uses the past and the present tense of the verbs simultaneously (sorry for the length, but it's for the purpose examples). 「あなたの余命は残り三千メートルです」 ...
Jacopo Ziroli's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
523 views

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 ...
Tennouji's user avatar
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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 ...
onizukaek's user avatar
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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: ...
Alex's user avatar
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2 answers
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Why った after a noun デコった?

Is it just an abbreviation for だった? Any nuance or just laziness?
Simon's user avatar
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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 ...
RZA Chris's user avatar
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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 ...
Bondalton's user avatar
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1 answer
232 views

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....
Jimmy Yang's user avatar
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3 answers
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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 ...
Nick Ulle's user avatar
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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 ...
Hoang Vu's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
537 views

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 ...
Esoppant's user avatar
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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 ...
Fernando's user avatar
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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 ...
Near E. Fox's user avatar
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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?
raruna's user avatar
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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 ...
APK's user avatar
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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 ...
Pokled's user avatar
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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 ...
ASD_ASD's user avatar
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2 answers
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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 ...
Newbie's user avatar
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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 ...
永劫回帰's user avatar
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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。
GXM.Verhoef's user avatar
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1 answer
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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'...
Tylersanzura's user avatar
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1 answer
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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?」 「...
boldantpro's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
3k views

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 ...
Zeyuan's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
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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 ...
Raymond's user avatar
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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 ...
oozeman's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
256 views

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 ...
A. Iron's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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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 ...
AnotherStudent's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
462 views

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 ...
George's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
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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 ...
Nikujin's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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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?
lois.e's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
229 views

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 ...
Cetagandane's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
446 views

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 ...
Asprius's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
379 views

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 ...
Jon D's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
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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 ...
TheComputerist's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
619 views

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
user22213's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
9k views

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?
Pablo's user avatar
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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。
mostlyfabulous's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
158 views

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 ...
user avatar
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2 answers
441 views

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 ...
HizHa's user avatar
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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 ...
HizHa's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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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?
user36606's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
709 views

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?
Oskar K.'s user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
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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 ...
esta's user avatar
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1 answer
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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,...
BJ Dela Cruz's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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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: ...
johnnd's user avatar
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1 answer
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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 ...
johnnd's user avatar
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