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Grammar Book

GrammarBook N5: Plain Past Form in Japanese

  • 29 Jan, 2026
  • Com 0

N5-G-050

Plain Past Form (Casual Past)

Supporting / Casual Speech

👀 Layer A: Visual Guide (直感理解)

📝 Quick Summary (まとめ)

友達との会話で使う「過去形(~た)」です。「タ形(Ta-form)」とも呼ばれます。作り方は「テ形(Te-form)」と同じです。
This is the casual past form used with friends. It is also known as the “Ta-form”. It follows the exact same conjugation rules as the “Te-form”. Just change “te” to “ta”.

Polite: 食べました (Tabemashita)
Casual: 食べた (Tabeta)

🔗 Connected Grammar (関連文法):

  • N5-G-022: ~てください (Te-form rules apply here!)
  • N5-G-049: Plain Present Form (Casual Present)

🔍 Layer B: Deepening (深掘り)

💡 Raya’s Hack (攻略法)

「テ」を「タ」にするだけ!
動詞の活用を新しく覚える必要はありません。「テ形」の語尾を変えるだけです。
* 食べ**て** (Tabete) → 食べ**た** (Tabeta)
* 飲ん**で** (Nonde) → 飲ん**だ** (Nonda)
* 行っ**て** (Itte) → 行っ**た** (Itta)
これだけ!簡単でしょ?

You don’t need to learn new rules. Just take the “Te-form” and swap the final “TE” with “TA” (or “DE” with “DA”). That’s it!

🚧 Joy’s Mistake (よくある間違い)

Scene: Joy asks his boss about yesterday.

Joy: 「社長、昨日 来た?」
(Shachou, kinou kita?)

❌ Too Casual!

Why?

社長(目上の人)にタメ口(普通形)を使ってはいけません。「来ましたか?」と丁寧に言いましょう。
友達になら「昨日 来た?」でOKです。

Never use Plain Form with your boss. It sounds very rude. Use “Kimashita ka?”. Only use “Kita?” with friends.

🔥 Layer C: Practice Loop

Now it’s time to test your learning through the next 10 practice drills!

Level 1: Te-form -> Ta-form

Q1. Tabete (Eat)

答え: 食べた (Tabeta)

(Change te to ta)

Q2. Nonde (Drink)

答え: 飲んだ (Nonda)

(Change de to da)

Q3. Itte (Go)

答え: 行った (Itta)

(Change te to ta)

Q4. Shite (Do)

答え: した (Shita)

(Change te to ta)

Q5. Kite (Come)

答え: 来た (Kita)

(Change te to ta)

Level 2: Casual Conversation (Q&A)

Q6. Convert to Casual: “Kinou tabemashita ka?” (Did you eat yesterday?)

答え: 昨日 食べた? (Kinou tabeta? ⤴)

(Drop Mashita ka -> Ta?)

Q7. Convert to Casual: “Hai, tabemashita.” (Yes, I ate.)

答え: うん、食べた。 (Un, tabeta. ⤵)

(Hai -> Un / Tabemashita -> Tabeta)

Q8. Convert to Casual: “Doko e ikimashita ka?” (Where did you go?)

答え: どこへ 行った? (Doko e itta? ⤴)

(Ikimashita ka -> Itta?)

Q9. Convert to Casual: “Benkyou shimashita ka?” (Did you study?)

答え: 勉強した? (Benkyou shita? ⤴)

(Shimashita ka -> Shita?)

Q10. Convert to Casual: “Kinou wa isogashikatta desu.” (I was busy yesterday.)

答え: 昨日は 忙しかった。 (Kinou wa isogashikatta.)

(Drop desu for Past Adjective)


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Related posts:

GrammarBook N5 : AはBです (A is B) GrammarBook N5: The Particle も (also) GrammarBook N5: い-adjectives GrammarBook N5: ~たいです
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