I can say what I do — eat, drink, watch, buy — and ask the other person about it, putting the verb at the end of the sentence.
What I do: を and the verb at the end
What I do: を and the verb at the end
The goal of this lesson: say what you eat, drink, watch, read, and buy.
A Japanese verb has one form for everyone: no -s, no am / is / are. 「のみます」 is “I drink” and “Tanaka-san drinks”. Who does it is shown by the topic with は.
Three endings of one verb: のみます — yes, のみません — no, のみますか — a question. Short answers: 「はい、のみます。」 and 「いいえ、のみません。」
The thing the action is done to takes the particle を and comes before the verb: 「みずをのみます。」 The particle goes after the word, not before it like an English preposition.
The verb always comes last, not second as in “I drink water”. The topic and the object can swap places; the predicate can't move.
There's no future tense: 「テレビをみます。」 is “I watch TV” and “I'll watch TV”. A time word shows when; those words come in module 4.
Common mistakes:
• NOT 「みずがのみます。」 — the object of a verb takes を.
• NOT 「のみますみずを。」 — the verb goes at the end.
• NOT 「のみませんです。」 — a verb doesn't take です.
Three endings of one verb
One form for every person: only the ending changes.
| What you say | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yes | のみます | みずをのみます。 |
| no | のみません | みずをのみません。 |
| question | のみますか | みずをのみますか。 |
Word order
The topic and the object can swap places; the verb always comes last.
| Who (topic with は) | What (object with を) | Action (verb) |
|---|---|---|
| わたしは | てんぷらを | たべます。 |
Lesson notes
What I do: を and the verb at the end
The goal of this lesson: say what you eat, drink, watch, read, and buy.
A Japanese verb has one form for everyone: no -s, no am / is / are. 「のみます」 is “I drink” and “Tanaka-san drinks”. Who does it is shown by the topic with は.
Three endings of one verb: のみます — yes, のみません — no, のみますか — a question. Short answers: 「はい、のみます。」 and 「いいえ、のみません。」
The thing the action is done to takes the particle を and comes before the verb: 「みずをのみます。」 The particle goes after the word, not before it like an English preposition.
The verb always comes last, not second as in “I drink water”. The topic and the object can swap places; the predicate can't move.
There's no future tense: 「テレビをみます。」 is “I watch TV” and “I'll watch TV”. A time word shows when; those words come in module 4.
Common mistakes:
• NOT 「みずがのみます。」 — the object of a verb takes を.
• NOT 「のみますみずを。」 — the verb goes at the end.
• NOT 「のみませんです。」 — a verb doesn't take です.