🇯🇵 Japanese
日本語 • Kana + Kanji
Talking about the past (yesterday, earlier, last week)
A beginner‑friendly approach to past tense: start with one safe past pattern and reuse it.
The strategy
Don’t try to master every tense. Start with one common past pattern from real sentences.
- Use time words (yesterday/last week) to make meaning clear.
- Copy a native past pattern and reuse it with different verbs.
行きました。
Ikimashita
I went.
行きます。
Ikimasu
I go / I will go.
ここにいます。
Koko ni imasu
I am here.
水がほしいです。
Mizu ga hoshii desu
I want water.
わかりません。
Wakarimasen
I don't understand.
英語を話しますか？
Eigo o hanashimasu ka
Do you speak English?
トイレはどこですか？
Toire wa doko desu ka
Where is the toilet?
これは私の友だちです。
Kore wa watashi no tomodachi desu
This is my friend.
Mini‑quiz
Mini-quiz
1/8 • Score: 0
Which sentence matches “I went.”?