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Past Tense Past Tense: た-Form
The past tense in Japanese is formed using the た-form. It follows the same rules as the て-form, just replace て/で with た/だ.
💡 Key insight: If you know the て-form, you already know the た-form! Just change て→た and で→だ.
Conjugation Table
| Type | Present | Past (plain) | Past (polite) |
|---|
| Group 1 (u-verbs) | | 書いた | 書きました |
| Group 1 (u-verbs) | | 飲んだ | 飲みました |
| Group 1 (u-verbs) | | 話した | 話しました |
| Group 2 (ru-verbs) | | 食べた | 食べました |
| Group 2 (ru-verbs) | | 見た | 見ました |
| Irregular | | した | しました |
| Irregular | | 来た | 来ました |
Example Sentences
Kinou, eiga wo mita.
I watched a movie yesterday.
Asagohan wo tabemashita.
I ate breakfast.
Tomodachi ni atta.
I met a friend.
Nihongo wo benkyou shimashita.
I studied Japanese.
Kinou wa samukatta.
It was cold yesterday.
Sono eiga wa omoshirokunakatta.
That movie was not interesting.
Quick Quiz
Question 1 of 10
食べる → past plain