Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [tense]

時制. Questions relating to that property of verbs which allows them to refer to events in the past, present, or future.

259 questions
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Why does the narrator switch tenses here? ～いました　～です

I'm currently reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit in Japanese, but the opening to the story is confusing me a bit. [昔々]{むかしむかし}あるところに、四[匹]{ひき}の小さなウサギがいました。彼らの[名前]{なまえ}はプロプシー、モプシー、コットンテールとピーターです。 As you can see, the first sentence is in the past…
Miguel
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Present vs. past tense with certain verbs?

～ことにする　ｖｓ　～ことにした ～と思う　ｖｓ　～と思った What sort of context would you use either of these? Does the past tense imply that you've changed your decisions or thoughts?
bvblue
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Sentence in the present tense when the text is in the past tense?

ゲームをやめるとグループから外されるんじゃないかといつも不安でした。不安になった日の翌朝は、友だちにすごく優しくするんです。 そうやって友だちに奉仕して、関係を無理矢理にでもうまくつなごうとしていました。いつの間にか友だちづきあいに疲れてしまっていましたね(source) I don't understand why the past tense isn't used for 優しくする(=>優しくした)?
Jirei
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です　vs. でした　to describe something in the past

I've read a sentence in a textbook: 私が昨日乗った飛行機は中国航空です。 I wonder whether the last です can be changed into でした: 私が昨日乗った飛行機は中国航空でした。 or which is better? I have the question because we say "Yesterday was Sunday." =　昨日は日曜日でした。 So it follows logically…
Mathis
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3
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Using だった for things that haven't changed

I'm a little confused by the tenses in the following monologue taken from the beginning of a manga chapter: 黒い服が好きだった 昏い闇の中に居ても 安心して溶け込んでいられるから 　　 この年になっても私は 　　 中二病を拗らせたままでいる Now, in my native language a phrase like "I liked dark clothes"…
kuchitsu
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Raishuu ni natta or naru?

I found the following sentence in Minna No Nihongo: すみませんが、出張は来週になったと伝えていただけませんか Sumimasenga, Shucho wa raishu ni natta to tsutaete itadakemasenka? 'Please, Could you tell him that the business trip will be on next week.' Shouldn't it be 'shucho…
Tara
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What is the past tense of suru (do), which would be did?

I was writing a story for Wattpad, in which the two main characters spoke both Japanese and English, when I wanted one to say "You did no better than I". I looked it up in my dictionary, and I could not find the word 'did'. Another way to say that…
Grammatical Soulshard
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Can the Japanese present tense indicate a continuous acton?

I was watching Shirobako episode 16. and at 2:31 the witch says "落ちる！" as she falls out of a plane. The subs translated it as "We're falling!" but I'm confused on why that is so. I'm not sure if present tense of a verb can be used to indicate…
Joe
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When does てきた take place? Is it representing an ongoing change or not?

Quick Notice: For many months now I've been struggling with てくる and it's exact meaning when dealing with time flow and indication of change. I do however, understand, when it is used with movement or some action that is coming towards the speaker (I…
levikara
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How should we tell an imaginary story or situation in Japanese?

In English, when we tell an imaginary story or situation, we use subjective mood, or use simply present or past tenses accordingly. I wonder how we should tell an imaginary story or situation in Japanese. We just simply tell them and use tenses…
vincentlin
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“ている” usage related question

Are “どこに行くの” and “どこに行っているの” both correct? If I regard “ている” in this sentence as “progressive tense”, why is it that I have seen people mostly say 行く? Also, can the ている also be used when talking about habits? For example “彼は毎日3キロ走っている。”
美しい孤独
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Why 言うから instead of 言ったから?

これも結局 理沙が言うから 買っちゃったんだよね I only bought this because Risa talked me into it. Why is it not using the past tense: 理沙が言ったから ?　Not only was Risa saying this in the past, but even the resulting action occurred in the past.
max
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Use of the past for a request?

In One Punch Man, Genos says ちょっと待った instead of ちょっと待って when asking Saitama to wait. Why?
Simon
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What's the difference between 食べていよう and 食べましょう?

From a glance I'm guessing て + いる (~ていよう) is the volitional casual and ~ましょう is the polite form of it? Are these the same meaning? "Let's eat" or am I making a wrong assumption?
Tek
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The different usage of「知っている」and「知っていた」

I am curious about the tense of ”知る” because both present and past tenses are often used. 来月、このビルが壊されます。知っていましたか。(present, past) 彼女がどこへ行ったか知っていますか。(past, present) 〇〇ってどこにあるか知っていますか。(present, present) And, another observation is the tense of…
chika
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