Questions tagged [tense]
時制. Questions relating to that property of verbs which allows them to refer to events in the past, present, or future.
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1answer
278 views
Why is it correct to use ～た in this sentence, even though we're talking about next week?
This is how we filled in the blank in class, but I am still having a hard time seeing why or how it would be correct. Here is the sentence,
来週の日曜日、ほかの学生たちといっしょに先生の家にしょうたいされました。
I was thinking that,...
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1answer
102 views
Why is 燃える + ゴミ = burnable? But the verb is not in ta-form
I saw this in the book.
管理人{かんりにん}: 燃{も}える ごみは 月{げつ}・水{すい}・金{きん}の 朝{あさ} 出{だ}して ください。
I remember that If we want to use a verb as an adjective, we need to change a verb into the Ta-form, but this ...
0
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1answer
122 views
What should I use 来ません or 来ません でした
What is correct answer for the question もう ジョンさんは 来ましたか。
いいえ, まだ ジョンさんは 来ません。
or
いいえ, まだ ジョンさんは 来ません でした。
0
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1answer
101 views
How to say “a few years in the future” / “a few years from now”
I'd like to express the idea that maybe a few years from now things would work out better. But I can't figure out how that would be said in Japanese. I know that if it were past tense, it could be ...
5
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1answer
98 views
What is the reason leading to the difference in tense used for affirmative and negative statements in the construction V~ほうがいい
In the construction of a suggestion statement with V~ほうがいい, the past (perfect) tense is used for the affirmative (according to this and this, the present tense can also be used for general advice), ...
3
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1answer
76 views
Raishuu ni natta or naru?
I found the following sentence in Minna No Nihongo:
すみませんが、出張は来週になったと伝えていただけませんか
Sumimasenga, Shucho wa raishu ni natta to tsutaete itadakemasenka?
'Please, Could you tell him that the ...
2
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1answer
119 views
Progressive form of movement verbs (or other stative verbs)
This is a fork from the question What's the progressive form of 来る, 帰る and 行く.
So the question explained that when ている is conjugated with these movement verbs (or other verbs that are more or ...
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1answer
551 views
The past tense for the quoting particle って
I have this sentence in front of me
耳元で男の人の声がするのが耐えられないって
which is translated as:
she said she couldn't stand hearing a male voice near her ear.
If I am right, here, って is actually translated ...
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2answers
324 views
How can 若い時 and ずっと work in this sentence?
I'm trying to write
"I have wanted to study Japanese from a young age"
And I have
"若い時に私は日本語をずっと勉強したいです."
Does this work? How can I make it more correct?
3
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1answer
129 views
What does てくる mean when used with 選ぶ?
I don't understand what the difference is between this sentence:
おいしそうなカップ麺を選んできます。
and this sentence:
おいしそうなカップ麺を選ぶ。
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2answers
149 views
Past tense …でする vs. past tense copula です confusion
Maybe this is a stupid question, because very likely it is possible for advanced learners to distuiguish this. However, in the present tense ...でする (particle で) and ...です (copula) are distinct, while ...
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1answer
292 views
「卒業して以来」と「卒業した以来」どちらが正しいですか？
I got the wrong answer when playing the 'JLPT Taisen' japanese game.
The question is: "田中さんとは、学校を_____以来、会っていない".
I think the answer is "卒業した", but "卒業して" is correct.
Please teach me why?
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1answer
166 views
Can みたい refer to a clause in the past?
I was thinking the other day that one of the differences between みたい and そう (meaning "it seems") is that the first can be bound to a sentence in the past while the second forces the verb of the ...
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2answers
64 views
そうです or そうでした for sentences that end with でしたか
山下先生のせんこうはれきしでしたか。
To answer the above sentence, would the sentences below be acceptable?
はい、そうでした。
はい、そうです。
Is 1 the only acceptable answer since the question is in past tense?
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2answers
750 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 ...
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1answer
100 views
Confused with verb form ( I am eating vs I was eating, vs I haven’t eaten (yet))
So i came across this question and I can’t seem to get my head around it! Sorry if it’s obvious.
I learned that the progressive form for a verb (-ing ) is the ーて form + (-いる/-います） .
So I am eating ...
5
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1answer
109 views
Usage of the verb 続く in past tense
From this article
日本では、スポーツの選手がコーチなどから暴力やパワーハラスメントを受ける問題が続きました。
The problem of sportsmen receiving violence and harassment from coaches in Japan continued.
I don't understand why 続く is written ...
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1answer
251 views
Does the tense of the final verb ALWAYS dictate the tense of an earlier て form verb?
So I was always taught in my textbooks that the last verb in a sentence dictates the whole tense of the sentence, e.g:
神戸に行って、映画を見ました。
I WENT to Kobe and WATCHED a movie.
However, I've started ...
3
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1answer
131 views
“I have become sleepy, because I did not sleep much last night”textbook wrong translation?
"I have become sleepy, because I did not sleep much last night"
What in the textbook:
きのうの夜あまり寝なかったから、眠くなりました。
What I think is right:
きのうの夜あまり寝なかったから、眠くなります。
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1answer
241 views
How does one differentiate between future tense (will) and present tense?
How do I differentiate between future tense and present tense. For example, the sentence:
私は魚を食べる
If I am not mistaken, the above sentence can either mean "I will eat fish" or "I eat fish".
...
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1answer
72 views
When to use ところ / て+いるところ / た+ところ
In this sentence:
「もしもし、今、駅に向かって（_______）ところです。 あと５、６分でつきます。」
What should be the correct tense of the verb 歩く? Should I base my answer on the word 今 or the てform of 向かう?
If there is 今 does that ...
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1answer
132 views
Sentence in the present tense when the text is in the past tense?
ゲームをやめるとグループから外されるんじゃないかといつも不安でした。不安になった日の翌朝は、友だちにすごく優しくするんです。
そうやって友だちに奉仕して、関係を無理矢理にでもうまくつなごうとしていました。いつの間にか友だちづきあいに疲れてしまっていましたね(source)
I don't understand why the past tense isn't used for 優しくする(=>...
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1answer
118 views
Which verbal tense is used in the sentence ビールを飲んで運転するのはダメだ。 for the verb nomu?
I'm trying to understand which verbal tense is used for the verb nomu in this sentence.
ビールを飲んで運転するのはダメだ。
According to http://www.japaneseverbconjugator.com/VerbDetails.asp?txtVerb=%E9%A3%B2%E3%82%...
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2answers
186 views
past tense na adjective + noun
I have two sentences that im using to try to understand how na adjectives are conjugated in Japanese.
私の友達は綺麗な人 - My friend is a beautiful person
私の友達は綺麗だった人 - My friend was a beautiful person
In ...
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1answer
60 views
What's the difference between 食べていよう and 食べましょう?
From a glance I'm guessing て + いる (~ていよう) is the volitional casual and ~ましょう is the polite form of it?
Are these the same meaning? "Let's eat" or am I making a wrong assumption?
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3answers
242 views
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 ...
4
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2answers
358 views
When to use するほうがいい instead of したほうがいい in order to mean “Should do”?
So, I was in hello talk writing about how eating ramen everyday might not be healthy:
(I will number the sentences)
1 - ...だから、時々ラーメンを食べたほうがいいね
Then, a native speaker corrected my sentence to:
...
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0answers
91 views
perfective aspect vs resultative present progressive vs resultative past progressive
Firstly, I am not a linguist and will probably use linguistic terminology inappropriately. よろしくお願いします。
What is the difference in meaning between verbs in the perfective aspect (～た), present ...
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1answer
318 views
What is the difference between するはずだった andしたはずだった
I have confusion with the past tense of verb combined with the past tense of はず したはずだった
From what I understand:
するはず - Supposed to do verb at some point in the future (don't know
outcome yet)
したはず -...
8
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1answer
204 views
Question regarding Zutto and Datta in the same clause
I'm still just learning Japanese,so forgive me if this is a silly question. I'm confused... How can something be "zutto" and "datta" at the same time?
(A) ずっと好きだった (zutto suki datta)
Which I ...
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1answer
106 views
What does this sentence mean exactly?
I've started playing a visual novel and came across this sentence in the first minute of, in lack of a better term, gameplay.
学校【がっこう】の軍隊【ぐんたい】が出陣【しゅつじん】してもう二週間【にしゅうかん】たったけれど、全然【ぜんぜん】戻ってくる【もどってくる】...
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1answer
101 views
Meaning of 疑問を胸に取材を進める
The sentence in question:
そんな疑問を胸に取材を進めると、改めて、おんぶの魅力を知ることになりました。
For full context:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/web_tokushu/2018_0521.html?utm_int=news_contents_tokushu_004
My attempt at translation:
...
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1answer
132 views
A consistent explanation about the various forms of ていくand てくる?
I don't know if my question will be well received but I searched a pretty long time and didn't found a good answer so I try.
I was trying to read this NHK article and I found this form:
「いや、実はそもそも、...
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1answer
93 views
[Tense]: Present tense and continuous tense
I met a strange usage of tenses (辞書 and ている form) like:
「あいつは変わらないと言うべきか、変わってないと言うべきか」
I guess that it might be some kind of word play by using different tenses (future and present continuous) ...
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1answer
122 views
Kao wa oboeta: remembered or memorized?
Does this mean that the person remembered the person's face from seeing it somewhere before this moment or that he had his face memorized just now? There isn't context to it so I'm not sure. Can it ...
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2answers
322 views
Is おいしそうだった grammatical?
In my grammar dictionary, it gives the example
あのステーキはおいしそうだった
but under the notes it goes on to say that 「そうだ」 can not be used with regards to past events or states.
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2answers
147 views
Convert to Ta-Form when followed by a noun [duplicate]
Original sentence :
解雇がないため、一生安定した職業になります。
My question is, why not :
一生安定する ?
When do we need to convert the verb to Ta-Form ?
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votes
2answers
230 views
The different usage of「知っている」and「知っていた」
I am curious about the tense of ”知る” because both present and past tenses are often used.
来月、このビルが壊されます。知っていましたか。(present, past)
彼女がどこへ行ったか知っていますか。(past, present)
〇〇ってどこにあるか知っていますか。(present, ...
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1answer
303 views
i am confusesd as to what historical present tense is, when it is used, etc
I understand that historical present tense is basically a tense that uses
"present tense to describe past events/actions more vividly and lively..." - Chocolate
Doing my own research into possible ...
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1answer
153 views
Questions relating to連体修飾
I know it's hard to explicate , so please just tell me the nuance and may be the difference.I am really confused with 「連体修飾」. I even don't know when should I use 「辞書形」 and 「タ」，after I know 「タ」is not ...
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1answer
251 views
思っています・思います・思いました
Q.この日記を書いた人は、数学のテストについてどう思いましたか。
A.この日記を書いた人は、数学のテストはとてもむずかしかったと思いました。
This is a test question and a sample of a student response to it. I am wondering if the form 思いました used with この日記を書いた人 clearly ...
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2answers
376 views
Difference between 好きだった and 好きになった
In this sentences I am referring to a book:
１年前に読んで、本が好きだった。
１年前に読んで、本が好きになった。
Are both of them correct? What's the difference between だった and になった in this case? I would like to say "I read it one ...
3
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1answer
413 views
How does one say “It was probably enough”?
To say it will probably be enough, one might say 「十分でしょう」. But what if you wanted to refer to something in the past? でしょう or だろう cannot be inflected to indicate any temporal information, can it? How ...
4
votes
2answers
514 views
行っています versus 行きました
The 1993 4級 test had this vocabulary question:
ちちは いま、しんぶんを ＿＿＿＿ いって います。
１ ぬぎに ２ よびに ３ ききに ４ かいに
Am I right to say that the answer is 4, かいに, with the sentence as My dad went to buy a ...
4
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2answers
226 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 ...
3
votes
2answers
135 views
Help with understanding quoting in this passage, and past events or future?
I'm reading a story in Japanese (a short novel in digital format) and here's two lines from the end of the chapter I'm reading:
後に、争乱の全てを知ったガーディアンの一人が口にした。
そんな彼だからこそ、健二郎というガーディアンだからこそ、...
2
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1answer
66 views
Isn't the った part unnecessary in …たのだった?
I was reading the book Spice and Wolf and I saw a sentence like this:
…尻尾を左右に振っていたのだった。
I have never seen this kind of "double past tense" before. All the past tense sentences I have seen that ...
8
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2answers
565 views
Why does 疲れた translate to the present tense
疲れた= I’m tired
1) Why is 疲れた used to indicate a present state? (Is there a logic behind these types of verbs or is it easier to remember these verbs?)
2) What is the difference between 疲れたand 疲れている? ...
2
votes
2answers
116 views
What is the correct tense for translating 繰り返すんだな?
I'm trying to translate this video -> link
and the following is the transcription
At 1:42
千秋楽を迎えると、なんかこう、
始まりと、こう、終わりを繰り返すんだなって、
こう、改めて実感するというか、
顔合わせから今日千秋楽まで、えーとなんかこう、
すごい、...
4
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1answer
1k views
What is the past tense of suru (do), which would be did?
I was writing a story for Wattpad, in which the two main characters spoke both Japanese and English, when I wanted one to say "You did no better than I". I looked it up in my dictionary, and I could ...
