Activity 1

The past is in the past!

In English, when we talk about something in the past, we often add ‑ed (for example, I walk and I walked). In Japanese, you’d change the ‑ます (masu) in the verb to ‑ました (mashita).

勉強します。
benkyō shimasu.
(I) study.

勉強しました。
benkyō shimashita.
(I) studied.

For something you didn’t do in the past, you change the ‑ません (masen) to ‑ませんでした (masendeshita)!

勉強しません。
benkyō shimasen.
(I) do not study.

勉強しませんでした。
benkyō shimasendeshita.
(I) did not study.

For sentences with the verb です (desu), change it to でした (deshita) when you want to describe how something was.

昨日は仕事でした。
Kinō wa shigoto deshita.
I worked yesterday.
Literal: Yesterday was work.

Work Hard, Play Hard

In English we sometimes say things like do work, do yoga, and so on. Similarly, many Japanese verbs are made by adding します (shimasu) to nouns.

平日は仕事（を）します。
heijitsu wa shigoto (o) shimasu.
(I) work on weekdays.

昨日は勉強（を）しませんでした。
kinō wa benkyō (o) shimasendeshita.
(I) did not study yesterday.

おとといはパーティー（を）しました。
Ototoi wa pātī (o) shimashita.
(I) had a party the day before yesterday.

Note that with these noun and verb combinations, を(o) is optional!

Days of Our Lives

In English, we say on Monday. In Japanese, you put に after days of the week to show when you do something.

月曜日に仕事へ行きます。
Getsuyōbi ni shigoto e ikimasu.
(I) go to work on Monday.

You can use also は after the day. This shows that you’re talking more about that day itself, as opposed to what you’re doing on that day.

火曜日は忙しいです。
kayōbi wa isogashī desu.
(I) am busy on Tuesday.
Literal: Tuesday is busy.

But words like あした or 今日 can’t be followed by に (ni)! Instead, use は (wa)!

おとといは友だちと話しました。
Ototoi wa tomodachi to hanashimashita.
(I) talked with my friends the day before yesterday.

Notice that in addition to と (to) meaning and, you can also use と (to) to say who you do something with!