to go (motion away from the speaker) -- ikimasu to come (motion toward the speaker) -- kimasu to go/come back (return to home base) -- kaerimasu to go (negative form, non-past) -- ikimasen to come (negative form, non-past) -- kimasen to go/come back (return to home base) (negative form, non-past) -- kaerimasen (I) am going there tomorrow. -- Ashita ikimasu. (I) go back every day. -- Mainichi kaerimasu. every day -- mainichi (I) am not going there tomorrow. -- Ashita ikimasen. to go (motion away from the speaker) past -- ikimashita to come (motion toward the speaker) past -- kimashita to go/come back (return to home base) past -- kaerimashita to go (past/negative) -- ikimasen deshita to come (past/negative) -- kimasen deshita to go/come back (return to home base) (past/negative) -- kaerimasen deshita (I) went (there) last year. -- Kyonen ikimashita. (I) did not go (there) last year. -- Kyonen ikimasen deshita. (I) went (there) in January. -- Ichi-gatsu ni ikimashita. (ichi-gatsu=specific time=time expression+ni) (I) went (there) in January last year. -- Kyonen no ichi-gatsu ni ikimashita. (kyonen no ichi-gatsu=specific time=time expression+ni) *Mr. Smith, when did you come to Japan? In April last year. -- Sumisu-san, itsu Nihon e kimashita ka. Kyonen no shi-gatsu ni kimashita. (I) will go to Sapporo. -- Sapporo e ikimasu. *(I) will go as far as Sapporo. -- Sapporo made ikimasu. (I) will go from Kyoto to Nara. -- Kyouto kara Nara made ikimasu. *I went from Yokohama to Nagasaki. -- Yokohama kara Nagasaki made ikimashita. *I will go on Monday next week. -- Raishuu no (or: kondo no or: tsugi no) getsu-youbi ni ikimasu. Where did you go? I went to Japan.-- Doko e ikimashita ka. Nihon e ikimashita. where? -- doko (doko usually keeps its marker, e.g. doko e) (I) will return home at five o'clock. -- Go-ji ni kaerimasu. (go-ji=specific time=time expression+ni) *Mr. Tanaka went home around two o'clock. -- Tanaka-san wa ni-ji goro (ni) kaerimashita. (specific time+goro=ni becomes optional) When approximately are you going to go home? -- Itsu goro kaerimasu ka. (no ni with itsu) *When are you possibly going back to Germany? -- Tabun itsu doitsu e kaerimasu ka. OR: Itsu goro doitsu e kaerimasu ka. When did you come to Japan? -- Itsu Nihon e kimashita ka. (no ni with itsu) At what time are you going to go? -- Nan-ji ni ikimasu ka. (these question words take ni: nan-nen (what year?), nan-gatsu (which month?), nan-nichi (what day of the month?), nan-youbi (what day of the week?), nan-ji (what time?), nan-pun (how many minutes?) approximately -- goro *I will go back to my country in two years. -- Ni-nen go ni kuni e kaerimasu. (I) came (here) two years ago. -- Ni-nen mae (ni) kimashita. (specific time+mae=ni becomes optional) Mr. Tanaka went to Kyoto four weeks ago. -- Tanaka-san wa yon-shuukan mae (ni) Kyouto e ikimashita. Mr. Smith went home five hours ago. -- Sumisu-san wa go-jikan mae (ni) (uchi e) kaerimashita. *Mr. Tanaka went home around two o' clock. -- Tanaka-san wa ni-ji goro ni kaerimashita. ago/before -- mae I will be there in one hour. -- Ichi-jikan go (ni) ikimasu. (specific time+go=ni becomes optional) I will go back (to my country) in two years. -- Ni-nen go ni kaerimasu. later/after -- go Who is going? Mr. Tanaka is going. -- Dare ga ikimasu ka. Tanaka-san ga ikimasu. (the marker ga indicates that the preceding noun is the subject; sentences which answer who questions also have the subject marked by ga) On Sunday, a friend of mine came to my house. -- Nichi-youbi ni tomodachi ga uchi e kimashita. Who? -- dare ga (dare is always followed by ga) Where did you go yesterday? I went to Nara. -- Kinou doko e ikimashita ka. Nara e ikimashita. OR: Nara desu. *Who is coming tomorrow? Mr. Ono is coming. -- Ashita dare ga kimasu ka. Ono-san ga kimasu. OR: Ono-san desu. Did you go to Kyoto last week? Yes, I did. -- Senshuu Kyouto e ikimashita ka. Ee, ikimashita. Did you go to Kyoto. No, I did not. -- Kyouto e ikimashita ka. Iie, ikimasen deshita. *How do you like Japan? -- Nihon wa dou (or: ikaga=humble for dou) desu ka. *How do you like Japanese food? -- Nihon no tabemono wa dou desu ka. Is Japanese food tasty? -- Nihon no tabemono wa oishii desu ka. food -- tabemono Japanese food -- nihon no tabemono Is Japanese (language) difficult? -- Nihon-go wa muzukashii desu ka. Prices (cost of living) are high, aren't they? -- Bukka ga takai desu ne. (bukka ga=subject) cost of living -- bukka people -- hito rent -- yachin *There are many people, (aren't there?). (Lit. People are many.) -- Hito ga ooi desu (ne). (hito ga=subject) The food is delicious, isn't it? -- Tabemono ga oishii desu ne. (tabemono ga=subject) *Japan is a interesting country, isn't it? -- Nihon wa omoshiroi kuni desu ne. (nihon wa=topic) Japan is a beautiful country, isn't it? -- Nihon wa kirei na kuni desu ne. (kirei=adj. noun=kirei+na+noun) Tokyo is a safe place, isn't it? -- Toukyou wa anzen na tokoro desu ne. (anzen=adj. noun=anzen+na+noun) Prices are expensive in Japan, aren't they. They sure are. -- Nihon wa bukka ga takai desu ne. Sou desu ne. Is that so? (mild disagreement) -- Soo desu ka. (rising intonation) I will probably go around next April. -- Tabun rainen no shi-gatsu goro (ni) ikimasu. Around when are you going back to your country? I don't know yet. -- Itsu goro okuni e kaerimasu ka. Mada wakarimasen. *My Japanese friend came from Tokyo yesterday. -- Kinou Nihon-jin no tomodachi ga Toukyou kara kimashita. a Japanese -- Nihon-jin an American -- Amerika-jin a German -- Doitsu-jin *Where did you go last Sunday? -- Senshuu no nichi-youbi ni doko e ikimashita ka. *Ms. Smith did not come to class two weeks ago. -- Sumisu-san wa ni-shuukan mae ni kurasu e kimasen deshita. *I am going to Mexico with my friend next month. -- Raigetsu tomodachi to Mekishiko e ikimasu. *I will go home in a few hours. -- Ni-san-jikan go ni kaerimasu. two or three hours -- ni-san-jikan *Did Mr. Tanaka go to Hawaii by himself? -- Tanaka-san ga Hawai e hitori de ikimashita ka. *Where did you go last weekend? -- Senshuu no shuumatsu ni doko e ikimashita ka. (note: shuumatsu takes the marker ni) class -- kurasu I will come back at six next Saturday. -- Raishuu no do-youbi no roku-ji ni kaerimasu.