Japanese - Grammar Points
Verb Negatives - Irregulars
Verb Negatives - Irregulars
Negative meaning of the verb
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to form the past tense (過去形) of Japanese verbs to talk about actions or states that have already happened. Specifically, we will take a look at irregular verbs.
Here are the negative forms of irregular verbs. These verbs are used very frequently, so you will master them quickly.
Dictionary | Negative Form |
|---|---|
する do | しない don't |
来る come | 来ない don't come |
行く go | 行かない don't go |
ある exist | ない don't exist |
Now, let's look at some examples in sentences.
彼はテニスをしない。
He doesn’t play tennis.
友達がパーティーに来ない。
My friend isn’t coming to the party.
日本語の辞書がない。
I don’t have a Japanese dictionary.
私は明日学校に行かない。
I’m not going to school tomorrow.
Special Note
行く go and ある to exist are not listed as irregular verbs in most textbooks, but as their most used forms behave irregularly, we count them as such.