Iru as past tense in plain form confusion.

Safira · 24 Dec 2014

Well I learned that any u verb that ends in ru,tsu,or u are changed to past tense by changing the ending to tta, as it is called the ta form. But I'm confused for the verb iru, as I heard it's one of the exception, making it an u verb, so then I thought wouldn't it be, "Itta". When I got farther in though I learned that iku is an exception that becomes itta in past form?! So then what does iru become in past form then? Did I hear wrong, and iru is actually a ru verb? Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

Mike Cash · 24 Dec 2014

Iru -> ita

You may find things less frustrating if you learn from a good quality textbook instead of websites.

Toritoribe · 24 Dec 2014

Iru(居る) "to exist (for animate objects)" is a regular ichidan/vowel-stem/-ru verb, so the past form is "ita", as Mike-san wrote. Iku is considered to belong to regular godan/consonant-stem/-u verb, but it conjugates a bit irregularly, e.g., "itta", not "iita" as the past form, "itte", not "iite", as the -te form.
Note that there are other godan verbs iru (要る "to need", 炒る/煎る "to roast/parch") whose past form is "itta".

Japanese verb conjugation - Wikipedia

Safira · 26 Dec 2014

Thank you, and yes a quality textbook would definitely be nice, I'm just a bit weary of learning from textbooks, as sometimes they can use words that are.....too in the book, and not real world. But for grammar I complete agree, as sometimes sites don't always explain them thoroughly!

And again thank you, any suggestion is a good suggestion!

Mike Cash · 26 Dec 2014

Safira said:
Thank you, and yes a quality textbook would definitely be nice, I'm just a bit weary of learning from textbooks, as sometimes they can use words that are.....too in the book, and not real world. But for grammar I complete agree, as sometimes sites don't always explain them thoroughly!

And again thank you, any suggestion is a good suggestion!

I think you meant "wary of" (have your doubts about) instead of "weary from" (mentally or physically exhausted), perhaps.

Please read this informative blog post and pay special attention to item #8.

Safira · 27 Dec 2014

Oh, yes that was a typo!! It's odd how you never see them when you're typing through, but everyone else seems to know!

WonkoTheSane · 27 Dec 2014

Mike Cash said:
I think you meant "wary of" (have your doubts about) instead of "weary from" (mentally or physically exhausted), perhaps.

Please read this informative blog post and pay special attention to item #8.

Not to threadjack, but are there any recommendations for #5? Dictionaries and workbooks, especially those meant for children?

Mike Cash · 27 Dec 2014

WonkoTheSane said:
Not to threadjack, but are there any recommendations for #5? Dictionaries and workbooks, especially those meant for children?

For the workbooks, just hit your neighborhood bookstore.

WonkoTheSane · 27 Dec 2014

Failure... Couldn't work out how to ask for kids' kanji workbooks in Japanese, and I try to do my best to avoid English outside of work. Probably means I'm not ready to start using them yet. I'll give it another few months and go in and try again.

Thanks, though, for the tip!

Mike Cash · 27 Dec 2014

WonkoTheSane said:
Failure... Couldn't work out how to ask for kids' kanji workbooks in Japanese, and I try to do my best to avoid English outside of work. Probably means I'm not ready to start using them yet. I'll give it another few months and go in and try again.

Thanks, though, for the tip!

漢字検定の教材はどこですか？ (かんじけんていのきょうざいはどこですか？)

You'll see lots of similar looking books distinguished by different numbers, 1 through 10, with 1 being the toughest. Start at the other end and pick something appropriate.

You can also find a small selection of workbooks among the stationery supplies at your local Daiso (100 yen shop). They also have notebooks for about 1/3 of what bookstores charge for essentially the identical product:

Iru as past tense in plain form confusion.

Safira

後輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Safira

後輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Safira

後輩

WonkoTheSane

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

WonkoTheSane

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

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