Polite Form ます in Japanese

Overview

The ます (masu) form is the standard polite way to conjugate verbs in Japanese and is typically the first verb form taught to learners. It is the form you will use in most everyday conversations -- speaking to colleagues, shopkeepers, acquaintances, and anyone you are not extremely close to. Think of it as the "default" mode of Japanese speech.

At CEFR A1, the ます form is your primary tool for expressing actions. It covers present/future (食べます, tabemasu, "I eat / I will eat"), negative (食べません, tabemasen, "I don't eat"), past (食べました, tabemashita, "I ate"), and past negative (食べませんでした, tabemasen deshita, "I didn't eat"). These four conjugations let you talk about almost anything in daily life.

The ます form is built on the verb stem (also called the i-stem for godan verbs or the masu-stem). Learning to extract this stem is valuable because many other grammar patterns -- including たい (want to), ながら (while doing), に行く (go to do), and more -- also attach to this same stem.

How It Works

Creating the ます Form

Verb type	Rule	Example
Godan (u-verbs)	Change final -u to -i + ます	書く → 書きます (kakimasu)
Ichidan (ru-verbs)	Drop る + ます	食べる → 食べます (tabemasu)
する (irregular)	する → します	勉強する → 勉強します
来る (irregular)	来る → 来ます (kimasu)	来ます

The Four ます Conjugations

Form	Ending	Meaning	Example (食べる)
Present/future affirmative	ます	do / will do	食べます (tabemasu)
Present/future negative	ません	don't / won't	食べません (tabemasen)
Past affirmative	ました	did	食べました (tabemashita)
Past negative	ませんでした	didn't	食べませんでした (tabemasen deshita)

Godan Verb Stem Changes (Detail)

Ending	Dictionary	Stem	ます form
-う	買う (kau)	買い (kai)	買います
-く	書く (kaku)	書き (kaki)	書きます
-ぐ	泳ぐ (oyogu)	泳ぎ (oyogi)	泳ぎます
-す	話す (hanasu)	話し (hanashi)	話します
-つ	待つ (matsu)	待ち (machi)	待ちます
-ぬ	死ぬ (shinu)	死に (shini)	死にます
-ぶ	遊ぶ (asobu)	遊び (asobi)	遊びます
-む	読む (yomu)	読み (yomi)	読みます
-る	帰る (kaeru)	帰り (kaeri)	帰ります

Using ます in Questions

Add か (ka) to the end:

• 食べますか？(tabemasu ka?) -- Do you eat? / Will you eat?
• 昨日、何を食べましたか？(kinou, nani o tabemashita ka?) -- What did you eat yesterday?

Present vs. Future

Japanese does not distinguish present from future in the ます form. Context determines which:

• 毎日食べます。(mainichi tabemasu) -- I eat every day. (present/habitual)
• 明日食べます。(ashita tabemasu) -- I will eat tomorrow. (future)

Examples in Context

Japanese	English	Note
食べます / 食べません	eat / don't eat (tabemasu / tabemasen)	Present polite pair
行きました / 行きませんでした	went / didn't go (ikimashita / ikimasen deshita)	Past polite pair
明日、来ますか？	Will you come tomorrow? (kimasu ka)	Future question
昨日、何を食べましたか？	What did you eat yesterday? (tabemashita ka)	Past question
毎朝コーヒーを飲みます。	I drink coffee every morning. (nomimasu)	Habitual action
日曜日は働きません。	I don't work on Sundays. (hatarakimasen)	Negative
映画を見ました。	I watched a movie. (mimashita)	Past
宿題をしませんでした。	I didn't do homework. (shimasen deshita)	Past negative
三時に会いましょう。	Let's meet at 3. (aimashou)	Volitional (let's)
日本語を勉強しています。	I am studying Japanese. (shite imasu)	Progressive

Common Mistakes

Forgetting to change the godan stem

• Wrong: 書くます
• Right: 書きます (kakimasu)
• Why: For godan verbs, you must change the final syllable to the i-row before adding ます. The dictionary ending does not stay.

Double-politing with です

• Wrong: 食べますです
• Right: 食べます
• Why: ます is already polite. Do not add です after it. です is for nouns and adjectives, not verbs in ます form.

Using the wrong negative past

• Wrong: 食べましたません
• Right: 食べませんでした (tabemasen deshita)
• Why: The past negative is ません + でした (not ました + ません). Think of it as "was not" rather than "did-not-did."

Mixing up ません and ないです

• Wrong: Using both interchangeably without knowing the nuance
• Right: Both 食べません and 食べないです are polite negatives, but ません is slightly more formal
• Why: In modern Japanese, both are acceptable in polite speech. ません sounds a bit more formal; ないです sounds slightly softer. Either is fine for A1 learners.

Usage Notes

The ます form is appropriate for:

• Conversations with strangers, elders, or superiors
• Customer service interactions
• News broadcasts and public announcements
• Self-introductions and formal settings
• Classroom Japanese

It is not typically used:

• Among close friends (use plain form)
• In personal diaries or internal monologue
• In casual texting with friends

As a beginner, defaulting to ます form is always safe. You will never offend anyone by being too polite.

Practice Tips

• Convert 10 verbs daily. Take your vocabulary list and practice converting each verb to all four ます forms. Time yourself -- speed builds fluency.

• Describe yesterday and tomorrow. Write three sentences about what you did yesterday (ました) and three about what you will do tomorrow (ます). This practices the most common time frames naturally.

• Listen for ます in conversations. In podcasts, dramas, or Japanese YouTube videos, count how many ます-form verbs you hear. This builds your ear for the polite register.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Godan Verbs (u-verbs) -- understanding verb stems is needed for ます form
• Next steps: Basic Negation -- expanding negation beyond ません
• Next steps: Wanting たい -- desire form built on the same stem
• Next steps: Plain/Dictionary Form -- the casual alternative to ます
• Next steps: Honorific Language Introduction -- the next level of politeness beyond ます