Lesson 15
Daily Routines and Present Tense
The Polite Present Tense (~ます and ~ません)
In Japanese, verbs do not have a distinct future tense. Instead, the present tense is non-past, meaning it is used for both habitual present actions (things you do regularly) and events that will happen in the future. For beginner Japanese (JLPT N5), the standard polite non-past ending for affirmative statements is ます (-masu), while the polite negative ending is ません (-masen).
For example, the verb 'to eat' in its polite form is 食べます (tabemasu). To state a habit, you can say 「まいにち りんごを 食べます」(Mainichi ringo o tabemasu - I eat apples every day). To express that you do not perform an action as part of your routine, replace ます with ません: 「あさごはんを 食べません」(Asagohan o tabemasen - I do not eat breakfast).
Core Daily Routine Verbs and the Object Particle を
Describing your routine requires a core set of daily action verbs. Common examples include: 起きます (okimasu - to wake up / get up), 寝ます (nemasu - to go to bed / sleep), 食べます (tabemasu - to eat), 飲みます (nomimasu - to drink), 勉強します (benkyou shimasu - to study), and 帰ります (kaerimasu - to return home / go back).
When an action involves a direct object—the thing being acted upon—you attach the particle を (written with the hiragana character 'wo', but pronounced 'o') right after the object noun. For instance: 「コーヒーを 飲みます」(Koohii o nomimasu - I drink coffee) and 「ほんを よみます」(Hon o yomimasu - I read books).
Specifying Time with the Particle に (ni)
To say at what time you do an activity, place the particle に (ni) directly after the specific time word. In English, this translates to prepositions like 'at' or 'on'. For example, 7時 (shichiji) means 7 o'clock; adding に creates 「7時に 起きます」(Shichiji ni okimasu - I wake up at 7:00). You also use に with specific days of the week, such as 「月曜日に テニスを します」(Getsuyoubi ni tenisu o shimasu - I play tennis on Monday).
However, there is an essential rule regarding time expressions: relative time words do NOT take the particle に. Relative time words are terms whose actual dates change depending on when you speak. Words like 毎日 (mainichi - every day), 今日 (kyou - today), 明日 (ashita - tomorrow), 今朝 (kesa - this morning), and 毎晩 (maiban - every night) stand completely alone without に. For example, say 「まいにち べんきょうします」(Mainichi benkyou shimasu - I study every day), never 'まいにちに'.
Expressing Habitual Frequency
To describe how often you carry out routines, you can incorporate frequency adverbs into your sentences. Common adverbs include いつも (itsumo - always), よく (yoku - often), ときどき (tokidoki - sometimes), and あまり (amari - not very often / rarely). These adverbs typically appear near the beginning of the sentence or right after the topic marker は (wa).
Pay special attention to あまり (amari): it must always be paired with a negative verb ending (ません). For instance: 「わたしは よく おんがくを 聞きます」(Watashi wa yoku ongaku o kikimasu - I often listen to music), but 「わたしは あまり テレビを 見ません」(Watashi wa amari terebi o mimasen - I rarely watch TV).
Movement Verbs: Going, Coming, and Returning
A typical routine involves moving between locations, such as commuting to school or going home. The primary verbs of motion are 行きます (ikimasu - to go), 来ます (kimasu - to come), and 帰ります (kaerimasu - to return / go back home).
To indicate the destination or direction toward which you are moving, use either the particle へ (written with the hiragana 'he', but pronounced 'e') or the particle に (ni). For example, 「8時半に 学校へ 行きます」(Hachijihan ni gakkou e ikimasu - I go to school at 8:30) or 「6時に うちに 帰ります」(Rokuji ni uchi ni kaerimasu - I return home at 6:00). While へ stresses the direction of travel and に stresses the final destination, they are often used interchangeably in daily conversation.
Lesson quiz · 1 of 5
Which of the following sentences correctly uses the time particle に (ni)?