The Plain Form

Please remember that all Japanese verbs end in u, but to be more precise, it's the last syllable of the plain form that ends in u. Let's take the verb aruku, which means "to walk," for example: it ends in ku, not u. Keeping this in mind will make further study much easier. There are 3 types of verbs in Japanese: yodan, ichidan, and irregular.1 First we will look at only some simple yodan verbs, which can end in u, ku, gu, su, tsu, nu, bu, mu, or ru:

kau (to buy) aruku (to walk) isogu (to hurry) kasu (to lend) matsu (to wait) shinu (to die) asobu (to play) yomu (to read) kaeru (to return)

Now let's try some in sentences:

Mama wa mise de banana o kau. (Mom buys/will buy bananas at the store.) Jim wa manga o yomu. (Jim will read a comic book.) Ojii-san wa sugu kaeru. (Grandpa will return soon.)

Ichidan verbs all end in either eru or iru. Some frequently used ones are:

taberu (to eat) kimeru (to decide) miru (to look, watch) kariru (to borrow)

Here are a couple of example sentences:

Watashi wa ringo o taberu. (I'll eat an apple.) Naomi wa terebi o miru. (Naomi will watch TV.)

This is very simple Japanese, and also very juvenile or "familiar." Only kids or people speaking with family or friends would use this plain form.

Yodan Verbs with Base + masu

The first ending you'll want to master is the polite form masu. Since masu requires the Base 2 form, yodan verbs are changed so they end in i their "Base 2" form before the masu ending is added. Notice how the following yodan verbs, which were introduced in Lesson 1, change in order to add masu, the present polite ending. Especially notice how verbs ending in su and tsu change: Plain Verb kau (to buy) aruku (to walk) isogu (to hurry) kasu (to lend) matsu (to wait) shinu (to die) asobu (to play) yomu (to read) kaeru (to return) Base 2 Form kai aruki isogi kashi machi shini asobi yomi kaeri Polite Verb Form kaimasu arukimasu isogimasu kashimasu machimasu shinimasu asobimasu yomimasu kaerimasu

Now we are ready to speak polite, "adult" Japanese. Let's convert the plain yodan verb example sentences used in Lesson 1 to polite sentences by converting them to Base 2 and adding masu:

Mama wa mise de banana o kaimasu. (Mom buys/will buy bananas at the store.) Jim wa manga o yomimasu. (Jim will read a comic book.) Ojii-san wa sugu kaerimasu. (Grandpa will return soon.)

Ichidan Verbs with Base 2 + masu

Ichidan verbs are a snap, because you change them to Base 2 by just dropping the ru at the end. Look carefully at these ichidan verbs and how they conjugate, and notice how they differ from the yodan group. Plain Verb taberu (to eat) oboeru (to remember) Base 2 Form Polite Verb Form tabe tabemasu oboe oboemasu

kimeru (to decide) deru (to leave, come out) kariru (to borrow) miru (to look, watch) Here are some examples:

kime de kari mi

kimemasu demasu karimasu mimasu

Watashi wa ashita kimemasu. (I'll decide tomorrow.) Jerry wa sugu heya kara demasu. (Jerry will come out of the room soon.) Ayako wa mainichi terebi o mimasu. (Ayako watches the TV every day.)

Now, you are probably thinking: How can I tell ichidan verbs from yodan? True, there are also yodan verbs that end in eru or iru, but with practice and experience they will gradually be mastered. A mistake made from not knowing whether a verb is yodan or ichidan is a very minor one, and should not be worried about at this stage.

Base 2 + nasai
Here is a real simple one, but you will want to be careful how you use it. For simple commands, add nasai to verbs in the Base 2 form:

Tabenasai! (Eat!) Minasai! (Look!) Yominasai! (Read it!) Iinasai! (Tell me!) Suwarinasai! (Sit down!) Koko ni kinasai! (Come here!)

Irregular Verbs kuru and suru

If you noticed that while kuru looks like a yodan verb, it conjugated like an ichidan. It is now time to introduce the irregular verbs kuru and suru.

We have already practiced using yodan and ichidan verbs. Besides these are the irregulars, but the good news is that there are only two: kuru, which means "to come"; and suru, which means "to do." These two have their own set of rules when it comes to conjugating, but since both are used frequently they can be mastered quickly and naturally. The Base 2 form of kuru is just ki. Let's use it to review some of the endings already learned:

Bob wa kimasu. (Bob will come.) Sue wa kimasen. (Sue won't come/won't be coming.) John wa kimashita. (John came.) Ken wa kimasen deshita. (Ken didn't come.) Yumi wa kitai desu. (Yumi wants to come.)

Suru is not only a handy "stand alone" verb, but is also used to make countless nouns into verbs: benkyou suru (study), shimpai suru (worry), chuumon suru (place an order), yakusoku suru (promise). The Base 2 form of suru is shi. Look at these examples:

Watashi wa shimasu. (I'll do it.) Kare wa shimasen. (He won't do it.) Bill wa ashita benkyou shitai desu. (Bill wants to study tomorrow.) Anata wa yakusoku shimashita. (You promised.) Hiromi wa shimpai shimasen deshita. (Hiromi didn't worry.)

This should be enough about kuru and suru for the time being. Now that they have been introduced you will see them pop up from time to time in future lessons. Just remember that they are irregular and do not follow the same rules as the other verbs.

Base 2 + ni iku / ni kuru

Now that we are familiar with the verbs iku (go) and kuru (come), let's learn two useful Base 2 endings that use them. Simply convert your reason for coming or going into Base 2, then add the relevant one:

Watashi wa kasa o kai ni iku. (I'm going to go buy an umbrella.) Miki wa watashi no atarashii PC o mi ni kuru. (Miki is coming over to see my new PC.)

Because these are left in their plain form, as explained in Lesson 1, we'll add endings to clean them up or change the tense:

Watashi wa kasa o kai ni ikimasu. (I'm going to go buy an umbrella.) Miki wa watashi no atarashii PC o mi ni kimashita. (Miki came over to see my new PC.) 4

And here are some more good ones:

Chuuka ryouri o tabe ni ikimashou. (Let's go out and eat Chinese food.) Watashi wa kouen ni asobi ni ikitai. (I want to go play in the park.) Rob wa jitensha o kari ni kimasen deshita. (Rob didn't come to borrow the bicycle.) Asobi ni kite ne. (Come over for a visit, okay?) 1

Base 2 + nikui / yasui

These two are very handy. Use them to show that something is hard or easy to do. Use nikui for "hard to do":

Kono budou wa tabenikui. (These grapes are hard to eat.) Kono kanji wa yominikui. (These kanji are hard to read.) Sono tatemono wa minikui. (That building is hard to see.) 1

And use yasui for "easy to do": 2

Kono PC wa tsukaiyasui. (This PC is easy to use.) Kanojo no namae wa oboeyasui. (Her name is easy to remember.) Kono kanji wa kakiyasui. (This kanji is easy to write.)

Base 2 + sugiru
Sugiru is a verb which means "to pass by; to go too far." It teams up nicely with other verbs in the Base 2 form to mean to "overdo" something. As with any other verb, changing it to its Base 2 form with masu, sugimasu, makes it polite. Here are some examples:

Kare wa itsumo nomisugiru. (He always drinks too much.) Kimiko wa tabesugimashita. (Kimiko ate too much.)

Kodomotachi wa terebi o misugiru. (The kids watch too much TV.)

Sugiru is sometimes shortened in familiar conversation to sugi. For example, you could say kodomotachi wa terebi o misugi.

Base 2 + nagara
When you need to say that someone is doing something while doing something else, nagara comes in handy. Add it to verbs in Base 2 to mean "while (doing something)...." Note how the action connected with nagara comes before it:

Bob wa hatarakinagara ongaku o kiku. (Bob listens to music while he works.) Kimiko wa benkyou shinagara terebi o mimasen. (Kimiko doesn't watch TV while studying.) Hanashinagara sanpo shimashou. (Let's take a walk while we talk.)

Base 1 + nakereba
Base 1 + nakereba is used to make negative conditional sentences what will happen if something doesn't happen. Look at these examples:

Ojii-san ga sugu kaeranakereba watashi wa makudonarudo ni ikimasu. (If Grandpa doesn't return soon I'm going to McDonald's.) Miki ga heya o tsukawanakereba Junko wa tsukaitai desu. (If Miki isn't going to use the room Junko wants to use it.) Naoko wa kasa o karinakereba (kanojo wa) koukai suru deshou. 1 (If Naoko doesn't borrow an umbrella she'll probably regret it.)

Base 1 + nakereba narimasen

This verb ending is not only a long one, it's a bit of a tongue twister. It is used quite a lot because it means "must do." Let's take iku (to go), change it to Base 1 ika, and add nakereba narimasen to make this simple example sentence: Watashi wa ikanakereba narimasen. (I have to go.) Looking at it literally, the nakereba means "if one does not...," as you will remember from Lesson 20, and narimasen means "will not become"; so in the example above you are saying "If I don't go it won't do." Here are some more examples: 6

Jim wa ima kaeranakereba narimasen. (Jim has to return now.) Laura wa kasa o kawanakereba narimasen. (Laura has to buy an umbrella.) Kodomotachi wa tabenakereba narimasen. (The children must eat.)

You have probably noticed that the polite negative ending masen is stuck on the end here. Yes, this is a verb within a verb ending: naru (to become) is the root word here, which is in its Base 2 form with masen added on (narimasen). If we were to use the plain negative form of naru (naranai) instead, the ending becomes nakereba naranai, which changes the whole sentence to its plain form. This can be handy when adding other endings, like deshou. Let's use this ending with the three examples above and see how the meanings are "softened":

Jim wa ima kaeranakereba naranai deshou. (Jim probably has to return now.) Laura wa kasa o kawanakereba naranai deshou. (Laura probably needs to buy an umbrella.) Kodomotachi wa tabenakereba naranai deshou. (The children probably need to eat.)

As you grow accustomed to Japanese verb usage and ending patterns, you will see how the entire meaning or "feeling" of a sentence can be adjusted or "fine tuned" at will by combining the right ending components as you finish the sentence up. Good luck with nakereba narimasen. I already mentioned that it's a tongue twister. More than memorizing its meaning, mastering a clean, clear pronunciation of it is usually the most difficult part.

Base 1 + seru / saseru

These are used when you want to let/have/make someone do something. In English we fortunately have three different words which allow us to easily adjust the meaning to the one we want to convey. Accordingly, "I'll let him go to the store," "I'll have him go to the store," and "I'll make him go to the store" all have different nuances. In Japanese, however, seru, for yodan verbs, and saseru, for the others, are used for all of these. By the overall context and by using other "helper" words the different meanings, or feelings, as in "let him" vs. "make him," can be conveyed. The important thing to remember is that yodan verbs use seru, like this:

Obaa-san wa kodomotachi ni soto de asobaseru. (Grandma lets the children play outside.) 7

Okaa-chan wa Kimiko ni kasa o kawaseru. (Mom will have Kimiko buy an umbrella.) Sensei wa gakusei ni mainichi shimbun o yomaseru. (The teacher makes the students read the newspaper every day.)

And ichidan verbs and the irregular kuru use saseru:

Roku ji ni kodomotachi ni yuushoku o tabesaseru. (I'll have the kids eat dinner at 6:00.) John ni raishuu made ni kimesaseru. (I'll have John decide by next week.) Kare ni ashita kosaseru. (I'll have him come tomorrow.)

With suru verbs, suru is simply replaced with saseru:

Otou-san wa Bob ni benkyou saseru. (Dad will make Bob study.) Kanojo ni saseru. (I'll have her do it.)

As you can see, in these constructions the person being let or made to do something becomes the indirect object, which is signified by adding ni after it. One tricky thing is that there are some verbs which already have a "set form" to convey this meaning, and do not follow the above rules. A good example is miseru, which means "to show" or "to let see," as in:

Kare wa karera ni mainichi terebi o miseru. (He lets them watch TV every day.)

So, although miru is an ichidan verb, you won't hear or see "misaseru." As you get used to more and more natural Japanese expressions, you will know which verbs are conjugated as outlined above and which have their own set forms which are used instead. Now for the easy part: Since seru and saseru end in eru, they can be conjugated further like any other ichidan verb, making it easy to apply what has been learned in the previous lessons in order to make them negative, past tense, polite, and etc. For example:

Ritsuko wa Kumi ni pen o kawasemashita. (Ritsuko had Kumi buy a pen.) Ojii-san wa kodomotachi ni ame o tabesasemasen. (Grandpa won't let the children eat candy.) Watashi wa Kenji ni eigo o benkyou sasetai desu. (I want to have Kenji study English.) John ni mise ni ikasemashou. (Let's have John go to the store.) Kodomotachi ni terebi o misemashou ka. (Shall we let the kids watch TV?)

Base 1 + zu ni
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Use zu ni with Base 1 to say that someone did something without doing something else which was expected. Yes, that's a tad confusing, but these examples should make it clear:

Kare wa yuushoku o tabezu ni nemashita. (He went to bed without eating dinner.) Kyou Shizuka wa kyoukasho o motazu ni gakkou ni kimashita. (Today Shizuka came to school without her textbook.) Bob wa maemotte denwa sezu ni John no ie ni ikimashita. (Bob went to John's house without calling first.)

Please note that in some cases the ni after the zu may be omitted, especially when no particular emphasis needs to be applied.

Base 3 + hazu
When something is "supposed to be," "ought to be," or "planned to be," we use the Base 3 form of the verb with hazu (plain) or hazu desu (polite) added on:

Raishuu watashi wa Osaka ni iku hazu desu. (I'm supposed to go to Osaka next week.) John wa sugu kuru hazu. (John should be coming soon.)

Hazu can also be added to some conjugated forms:

Bob mo ikitai hazu. (Bob will probably also want to go.)

Base 3 + hou ga ii
This one is used for "should do," "had better do," "would rather do." Actually, the hou means "way" or "method," and ii means "good" or "better," so when you use hou ga ii you are literally saying "...way is good/better." Examples:

Kanojo ni denwa suru hou ga ii. (I/we should call her.) Watashitachi wa sukoshi yasumu hou ga ii. (We had better rest a little.) Anata wa motto nihongo o benkyou suru hou ga ii. (You should study Japanese more.)

Hou ga ii is especially fitting when expressing a preferred choice or method:

Kyou densha de iku hou ga ii. (It would be better to go by train today.) Raishuu suru hou ga ii. (It would be better to do it next week.) Ato de taberu hou ga ii. (It would be better to eat later.)

When showing personal preference, you can skip the verb and use hou ga ii right after a noun with no:

Yakiniku no hou ga ii. (I'd rather have a barbeque.) Inu no hou ga ii. (I'd rather get a dog.) Hawaii no hou ga ii. (I'd rather go to Hawaii.)

As with most verb endings, and according to the grammar books, desu can be added to hou ga ii to make it more polite, but, frankly, I have yet to actually hear hou ga ii desu in daily conversation. When you hear it, the sentence will usually end with hou ga ii, which makes it easier to catch than many other endings. If there is any confusion between hou ga ii and hazu, which was covered in the last lesson, just remember that hou ga ii is generally active: should do, prefer; while hazu is more passive: should be, should happen.

Base 3 + ka dou ka
Ka dou ka is the Japanese equivalent of the English "whether or not." It's straightforward enough and easy to use:

Kare wa dekiru ka dou ka kikimashou. (I'll ask him whether or not he can do it.) Watashitachi wa iku ka dou ka mada wakarimasen. (I don't know if we are going yet.) Hideki wa ashita yasumu ka dou ka wakarimasu ka. (Do you know if Hideki has tomorrow off?)

As you can see in the examples above, ka dou ka does not end a sentence, but connects two phrases which contain verbs. It's like using "whether or not" in English, only the component order is opposite in Japanese.

Base 3 + keredomo
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Keredomo is used for "although" or "but," so, as you can imagine, it is used a lot. Like "but" in English, it comes between the contrasting phrases. Let's try some examples:

Kare wa nihongo o hanasu keredomo, heta desu. (He speaks Japanese, but he's not good at it.) Keiko wa piano o yoku renshuu suru keredomo, jouzu ni narimasen. (Keiko practices the piano a lot, but she doesn't get any better.) Jack wa kenkou ni ki o tsukeru keredomo, yoku byouki shimasu. (Although Jack is careful about his health, he gets sick a lot.)

Keredomo is easy to master because you'll hear it used often, as well as its shorter forms, keredo and kedo

Base 3 + koto ga dekimasu

Koto ga dekimasu is a long one, and is added to the plain (Base 3) form of a verb to simply show ability to do that verb. But first, in order to make this lesson as uncomplicated as possible, let's take a look at each part. First is koto. No, this is not the well-known instrument of Japanese classical music. This is the mundane koto that gets lots of daily wear and tear changing Japanese verbs into nouns. Well, it really doesn't change the verb, but is added after the verb so that it can be used like a noun. In English, we add ing to make a noun out of a verb, like reading in the sentence I like reading. (Remember studying "gerunds" in school?) Anyway, in Japanese we do the same thing by adding koto after a plain verb form. Like our ing, koto has no practical use by itself. If you have to have a translation, "the thing of" is probably the closest you can get. Better than all this talk would be an example. Watch carefully: yomu (to read) + koto (the thing of) = yomu koto (the thing of reading; reading as a noun [gerund]), as in:

Watashi wa yomu koto ga suki. (I like reading.)

The literal translation of the above example would be "I like the thing of reading; I like reading as a thing to do." Next, the verb dekiru means "can" or "be able to (do something)." In this lesson it is shown in its polite form dekimasu, but dekiru is also fine when you don't need to be polite. (If you need to review ichidan verbs with masu go back to Lesson 3.) Finally, the particle ga is what you use to join koto and dekimasu. Just think of koto ga dekimasu as a set phrase. Here are some examples: 11

Watashi wa nihongo o yomu koto ga dekimasu. (I can read Japanese.) Keiko wa piano o hiku koto ga dekimasu. (Keiko can play the piano.) Ashita Jack wa Tokushima ni iku koto ga dekimasu. (Jack can go to Tokushima tomorrow.)

Now, for kicks no, actually for review let's try some other endings with dekiru, and see what happens:

Watashi wa furansugo o yomu koto ga dekimasen. (I can't read French.) Bob wa Junko ni denwa suru koto ga dekimashita. (Bob was able to call Junko.) Richard wa ika o taberu koto ga dekimasen deshita. (Richard couldn't eat the squid.)

And let's throw in one with a plain ending:

(one boy to another) Boku wa jitensha ni noru koto ga dekiru! (I can ride a bicycle!)

Yes, it's a long ending for just "can," but there are a few shortcuts and alternatives. With "suru verbs," like denwa suru used in one of the above examples, you can drop the suru and just add dekiru. For example, "Bob wa Junko ni denwa suru koto ga dekimashita" can be shortened to "Bob wa Junko ni denwa dekimashita." Denwa is a noun, and adding the suru makes it a verb, so instead of adding koto to turn it back into a noun again, you can just omit suru. Here are a couple more:

Furansugo o nihongo ni honyaku dekimasu. (I can translate French into Japanese.) Kinou, John wa benkyou dekimasen deshita. (John wasn't able to study yesterday.)

Either way, long or short, both versions are used, but the shorter version is more common in daily conversation. Again, dekiru or one of its forms can directly follow a noun only if it is one that uses suru to change it to a verb. In that case the suru is omitted. After other verbs you add koto ga before dekiru. There is a short alternative for other verbs, but that will have to wait until we get into the Base 4 endings. One last thing: I described the meaning of koto as "the thing of," but please don't think that koto can mean any "thing." It generally means intangible "things" like ideas, essences, meanings, expressions, actions, etc. It means "thing" as used in the sentence saving money is a good thing. It is generally not used for physical things or objects. It does not mean "thing" in money is a good thing to have. There is another word in Japanese which is used for physical things, and that is mono.

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Base 3 + made
This one is very easy. Made means "until," and is added after the plain form of a verb:

Yukiko ga kuru made taberu koto wa dekimasen. (We can't eat until Yukiko comes.) Bob ga denwa suru made matanakereba narimasen. (We have to wait until Bob calls.) Shukudai ga owaru made terebi o misemasen. (I won't let you watch TV until your homework is finished.)

As in English, made may be used with nouns which refer to times, periods, or seasons:

Yuushoku made machinasai. (Wait until dinner.) Natsu yasumi made, ato ni shuu kan desu. (It's two weeks until summer vacation.) Haru made matsu hou ga ii deshou. (It'll probably be best to wait until spring.)

Base 3 + nara
This is one of several ways to make conditional sentences sentences with "if." We have already covered negative conditionals in Lesson 20. Now let's use nara to make some positive ones:

Isogu nara, tsugi no densha ni noru koto ga dekiru yo. (If we hurry we'll be able to make the next train.) Dekakeru nara, kasa o motte ikinasai. (If you go out, take an umbrella.) Ame ga furu nara, shiai o enki shinakereba naranai. (If it rains we'll have to put off the game.) Tabako o suu nara, soto de suinasai. (If you're going to smoke, do it outside.) Kodomotachi wa ima sunakku o taberu nara, yuushoku o tabenai deshou. (If the kids eat a snack now, they probably won't eat dinner.)

Sooner or later you will run into naraba, which is just a slight variation. They are used the same way and mean the same thing, but nara is more common.

Base 3 + (any noun)

In English we have what are officially called relative pronouns: words that connect a noun to an action. For a quick review, they are like which in "This is the dictionary which 13

I'll buy for my brother's birthday present," where in "Kobe is where she will take the exam," and who in "There's the man who I saw in the station yesterday." In Japanese, there are no "relative pronouns." (This is why teaching about these pesky words and the grammar related to them is so difficult in Japan. And, to make matters worse, the way English grammar books used in the schools here are written gives the impression that mastering all aspects and usages of relative pronouns is the most important thing one needs to learn about English. But, that's another story...) All you do is simply add the noun in question to the plain form of the verb in question. Let's look at these simple phrases:

watashi ga noru densha (the train I'll take) kare ga iku tokoro (the place he'll go) kanojo no deru jikan (the time she'll leave) watashitachi ga au kyaku (the customer we'll meet)

Now, as I sit here and look at these four phrases, which are examples involving a thing, a place, a time, and a person, respectively, I can see several things which need to be explained things I'd like to explain, but can't without going off on a tangent which would require a completely new and lengthy page. For example, a new learner may well ask: why ga after the subjects above, instead of the usual wa? Why no after kanojo instead of ga? Well, to offer very general, but hopefully sufficient for the present, explanations, we'll go off on just a tiny tangent here: Wa indicates the main subject or topic of the whole sentence, and is handled by the final verb. For example, the entire phrase watashi ga noru densha above could be the subject in Watashi ga noru densha wa hachi ji ni demasu. (My train leaves at eight o'clock.) In this sentence, densha (train) is the main subject, and deru (to leave) tells us what it will do; watashi ga noru just gives us more information about the train watashi ga noru densha simply pinning it down as the "train I will take" or "my train." Ga indicates a subject within a phrase, a "sub-subject," you might say, or a noun which needs emphasis. Continuing with the above example, ga tells us who will take the train. No is often used in place of ga, especially in informal spoken Japanese, which is why I decided to leave it as it is in the example above. Ga or no could be used here, so I feel that the learner may as well get used to both, since he or she will surely be hearing both. Please remember that no also has another job as the indicator for possessives, like our ['s], as in Sore wa Kimiko no kasa desu. (That is Kimiko's umbrella.) 1 Now, to get back to the lesson, let's translate one of the examples used at the beginning of the lesson:

Kore wa watashi no otouto no tanjoubi purezento ni kau jisho desu. (This is the dictionary I'll buy for my little brother's birthday present.)

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Since this is natural Japanese, the watashi (I) telling who will buy the dictionary is obviously understood as the speaker, and therefore omitted. The watashi in the sentence is actually a part of the possessive pronoun watashi no (my). If you can keep these things straight now it will really be a big help later. Now let's do another example:

Kobe wa kanojo ga shiken o ukeru tokoro desu. (Kobe is where she'll take the exam.)

In this one, the English "where," as a relative pronoun, automatically designates a place, but since Japanese has no equivalent, a substitute noun must be used. Kobe is a place, so tokoro is used after the verb. As you may have noticed, a truer English translation would be, "Kobe is the place where she'll take the exam," but "the place" is redundant and unnecessary in English, and so it would most likely be omitted. Tokoro and where are roughly equivalent here in only a grammatical sense; they do not mean the same thing. As you can see, both English and Japanese have their own set of rules concerning what and when something unnecessary can be omitted. The problem is that the rules are totally different for each language. As a general, semi-accurate rule, English and Japanese are on opposite ends from each other on the "language spectrum"; what applies to one doesn't necessarily apply to the other, and vice versa; and when trying to make sense of one, you must forget all the rules of the other. Finally, here is one last example:

Haru wa atarashii inochi o motarasu kisetsu desu. (Spring is the season that brings new life.)

This one is pretty straightforward, and should not be too difficult.

Base 3 + no ni
No ni is added to plain verb forms to mean "in order to" (do whatever). There is nothing really tricky about it, except that instead of being found at the end of a sentence, it's usually found somewhere near the middle, where it helps to establish certain conditions concerning the verb in question. As usual, a look at some examples would probably be the best way to see how it works:

Kono tegami o okuru no ni ikura desu ka? (How much will it cost to send this letter?) Tokyo yuki no densha ni noru no ni asu hayaku okinakereba narimasen. (We'll have to get up early tomorrow in order to make the train for Tokyo.) Hitsuyou na kanji o subete oboeru no ni daibun jikan ga kakaru. (It takes quite a long time to learn all of the necessary kanji.) 15

Please keep in mind that there is also a noni, meaning "in spite of," which we will cover later on. These are easy to keep straight when used in context.

Base 3 + no wa
Do you remember koto, which was introduced back in Lesson 31? The no in no wa plays the same role, and is the easiest way to make a noun out of a verb: yomu (to read) + no (wa) (the thing of) = yomu no wa ([the thing of] reading [is]). Wa is the subject indicator. Look at these examples:

Yomu no wa tanoshii desu. (Reading is enjoyable.) Nihongo o hanasu no wa kantan desu. (Speaking Japanese is easy.) Hayaku okiru no wa tokidoki muzukashii desu. (Getting up early is sometimes difficult.) Kasei ni sumu no wa mada fukanou desu. (Living on Mars is not yet possible.) Hawaii ni iku no wa saikou desu! (Going to Hawaii is great!)

Please remember that there are other no's, mainly the one used for possessives, like our ['s], as in:

Jim no jisho wa ao de, boku no wa aka desu. (Jim's dictionary is blue; mine is red.)

and the one used with aru or nai to show the existence or non-existence of something, as in:

Hontou ni mondai no nai tabi deshita. (It really was a problem-free trip.)

Base 3 + noni
As promised in Lesson 38, here is a short lesson about noni, which is used to mean "in spite of":

"Yamenasai" to iu noni, kanojo wa kikimasen. (Despite my telling her to stop, she won't listen.) Hayaku okita noni okureta. (I was late even though I got up early.)

Noni is also put at the end of sentences to express aggravation at an unexpected or undesirable outcome:

Annani doryoku shita noni! (After all my efforts!) Asoko ni "iku na" to itta noni! (And after I told him not to go there!)

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Noni is used a lot. Keep an ear out for it and you'll catch it.

Base 3 + sou desu

Use sou desu after Base 3 for things you've heard, understand to be, rumors, etc. For example:

Hiru kara ame ga furu sou desu. (I hear it's going to rain in the afternoon.) Kayo wa raishuu kara resutoran de baito o hajimeru sou desu. (I heard that Kayo's going to start working part-time at a restaurant next week.) Takada-san wa yameru sou desu. (I heard that Mr. Takada's quitting.)

Please remember that sou desu by itself has nothing to do with hearsay. It means "that's right" and often follows hai, as in "Hai, sou desu." (Yes, that's right.)

Base 3 + tame ni
When you hear tame, it usually means "for the purpose of; in order to," and is often followed by the optional ni. Take a look at these:

Hiroko wa mensetsu o ukeru tame ni Osaka ni ikimasu. (Hiroko's going to Osaka for an interview.) Nyuujouken o kau tame ni daibun machimashita. (I had to wait quite a while to buy tickets.) Nihongo o benkyou suru tame ni atarashii jisho o kaimashita. (I bought a new dictionary to study Japanese.)

Tame is a very handy word, and can also be used in various expressions with nouns. Here are some popular ones:

Kimi no tame ni shimashita yo! (I did it for you! [very familiar]) Kore wa kimi no tame ni. (This is for you. [plain, very familiar]) Kore wa okaa-san no tame desu. 1 (This is for you, Mom.) Hai, Hawaii ni iku tame no koukuuken desu. 2 (Okay, here are your air tickets to Hawaii.) Kore wa nan no tame no kaigi? (What is the purpose of this meeting?) Nan no tame no dougu? (What's this tool for? [very plain])

Tame is used a lot. Good luck with it!

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Base 3 + tsumori
Base 3 plus tsumori is used to express an intention:

Watashi wa sanji made ni kaeru tsumori. (I plan to be back by three o'clock.) Steve wa Canada ni iku tsumori da to omou. (I think Steve plans to go to Canada.) Keiko wa Kyoto Daigaku ni hairu tsumori desu. (Keiko intends to go to Kyoto University.)

In case you're wondering, yes, technically speaking, tsumori is the Base 2 form of its plain form tsumoru, but you will never hear tsumoru (to intend) used. You will, however, hear the other verb tsumoru, which means "to accumulate, build up," used a lot, especially in the winter when people talk about snow piling up: yuki ga tsumoru. While sounding alike, their meanings are completely different, so please be careful not to confuse them.

Base 3 + you desu

You desu after Base 3 verbs works like "seems to" in English:

Mari wa ashita kuru you desu. (It seems that Mary will be coming tomorrow.) Sachiko wa Canada ni iku you desu. (It looks like Sachiko is going to Canada.) Ken wa piano o hiku koto ga dekiru you desu. (It looks like Ken can play the piano.)

You desu and sou desu (Lesson 42) are similar and sometimes easy to confuse. Simply put, sou desu means you heard, directly or indirectly, that something is or will be, while you desu means you sensed something is or will be, as in:

Ame ga furu sou desu. (It's going to rain [because the weatherman or someone said so].) Ame ga furu you desu. (It's going to rain [because it suddenly got dark outside and you can smell it coming].)

Actually, you desu is not really used that much in informal conversation. In its place you will hear mitai a lot, which is a kind of "catch all" for you desu / sou desu statements. Ame ga furu mitai would be heard often instead of either of the above examples, meaning "it's going to rain" (either because someone said so or because there are signs that it's going to).

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I might as well mention here that mitai can also be put after nouns to mean "looks like." If you watch TV or listen to young people talking you will often hear baka mitai, "you look like an idiot." Although not introduced in the Base 2 group, there is a Base 2 + sou ending which is also very similar to Base 3 + you desu. This is usually used when something looks like it is just about to happen:

Ame ga furisou. (It looks like it's going to rain.) Ano hako ga ochisou. (That box looks like it's about to fall.)

This one is especially easy to confuse with Base 3 + sou desu, so please take care.

CONTINUE ON LESSON 48
http://www.timwerx.net/language/jpverbs/lesson48.htm

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