Nonpast Indicative

Production Rules:

Inflection Examples:

Irregulars:

Usage Notes & Examples:

1. The plain affirmative of this inflection is what you will find listed in dictionaries, and accordingly it is often called the "dictionary form." In almost all conjugation methods, the plain affirmative is where you start applying the rules, and as such, it is also considered the "infinitive."
2. This form is used to express habitual action, and in general can be used where the present indicative tense is used in Engish.
   • 毎朝味噌汁を食べる。
     maiasa miso shiru wo taberu.
     I eat miso soup every morning.
   • あまり車を洗わないからいつも汚い。
     amari kuruma wo arawanai kara itsumo kitanai.
     I don't wash the car much so it's always dirty.
   • バスをどこで待ちますか。
     basu wo doko de machimasu ka?
     Where do you wait for the bus?
   • 好きじゃない本を読みません。
     suki ja nai hon wo yomimasen.
     I don't read books I don't like.
3. This form is used to express future action, and in general can be used where the future tense is used in English. Japanese is a highly contextual language, and context will generally determine that it's the future that's being talked about (e.g., when you are talking with your friend about tomorrow's plans), assuming it matters. It can be made clearer with adverbs or adverbial phrases (e.g. "ashita," "raishuu," etc.) if need be.
   • 明日から学校が始まる。
     ashita kara gakkou ga hajimaru.
     Starting tomorrow school will begin.
   • お金が全然ないから、デパートで何も買わない。
     okane ga zenzen nai kara, depaato de nanimo kawanai.
     Because I have absolutely no money, I won't buy anything at the department store.
   • いつ日本に行きますか。
     itsu nihon ni ikimasu ka?
     When will you go to Japan?
   • ワインを飲みませんか。
     wain wo nomimasen ka?
     Won't you have (drink) some wine?
4. As in the last example above, the negative of this tense is often used to make an invitation or offer. It can be translated literally ("won't you...?") or into the affirmative question ("will you...?") in English.
   • 今夜私といっしょに晩ご飯を食べない？
     kon'ya watashi to issho ni bangohan wo tabenai?
     Won't you (will you) have dinner with me tonight?
   • 金曜日の晩、私の所に来ませんか。
     kin'youbi no ban, watashi no tokoro ni kimasen ka?
     Won't you come to my place on Friday night?
5. Placing the plain affirmative or negative of this form before a noun or noun phrase creates a relative clause. In English, a relative clause is usually set apart by who, that, which, etc., but in Japanese there is no connecting word. Instead, Japanese has a simple rule that modifiers come before the things they modify.
   • 毎日公園を歩くおじいさん
     mainichi kouen wo aruku ojiisan
     old man who walks in the park everyday
   • 服を洗う機械
     fuku wo arau kikai
     machine that washes the clothes
   • 寿司を食べないアメリカ人
     sushi wo tabenai amerikajin
     americans who don't eat sushi [or, depending on context, "the american who doesn't eat sushi"]
   • 動かない車
     ugokanai kuruma
     car that doesn't move
   • 大学入試を受ける学生
     daigakunyuushi wo ukeru gakusei
     students who will take college entrance exams
6. Be sure to draw the distinction between habitual and progressive action. Continuing actions which are expressed by a form of "to be" plus "‑ing" (e.g. "I am eating now.") in English are expressed similarly by the progressive form in Japanese. See the section on the progressive for more information.
7. Some verbs in Japanese express a momentary change of state, so when they are used to express a state that is the result of that change, they require the progressive form. The grammatical name for these is "punctual" verbs. The verb 知る (shiru - to know) is a key example. In English, we would say "I know him". In Japanese, however, you would not say *"彼を知る" (*"kare wo shiru"). Rather, the verb expresses the change of state from not knowing to knowing, so to express that the state continues into the present one would say "彼を知っている" ("kare wo shitte iru"). This latter form is explained in the section on progressives. You will become aware of which verbs require this form to sound natural on a case by case basis.