What's new

Yomimasu VS yonde imasu

GoldCoinLover

後輩
24 May 2004
1,033
12
48
Well, the verb, to read, in its plain dictionary form, is yomu.

You can make it into a polite verison of this, by dropping the u and add i + masu.

However, I'm getting it confused with yonde imasu now.

Yonde is the te/de form of yomu. Again, it seems very similiar but there are differences.

For example, if I were to make a sentence

He is reading the newspaper.

Kare wa shinbun wo yomimasu.
He is reading the newspaper.(factual)

Kare wa shinbun wo yonde imasu.
He is reading the newspaper. (Right now. Progressive )

So, is this right?

Please don't make this into a flame war. I notice that although I did study too much in to little time, I did make noticeable progress. I don't like yelled at (I consider caps yelling), etc. Most of the people here are nice, no doubt; but it seems that when one person starts it, other people join in. :(
 
Gold,

Feel free to ask questions. Do not worry if they are silly. We will help you out, you can rest assured.

Kare wa shinbun wo yomimasu.
He is reading the newspaper.(factual)

This is wrong, because there is no te/de.

te/de = ing

reading = yonde imasu.
Kare wa shinbun o yonde imasu.

You were trying to make a distinction between factual and progressive, which I do not understand. Just remember: te/de = ing, reading = yonde imasu.

~~~

I agree that there are people who are not polite as they should be. Do not chastise them. Just put them on your Ignore List. It is the best way.
 
Buntaro said:
Gold,
Feel free to ask questions. Do not worry if they are silly. We will help you out, you can rest assured.
Kare wa shinbun wo yomimasu.
He is reading the newspaper.(factual)
This is wrong, because there is no te/de.
te/de = ing
reading = yonde imasu.
Kare wa shinbun o yonde imasu.
You were trying to make a distinction between factual and progressive, which I do not understand. Just remember: te/de = ing, reading = yonde imasu.
~~~
I agree that there are people who are not polite as they should be. Do not chastise them. Just put them on your Ignore List. It is the best way.

Okay.

With ichidan verbs though, sometimes you can drop the u (since these verbs end in u, all verbs do in japanese) and add an "i"

Yomu becomes yomi.

So how exactly is this useful?

What would yomimasen and yomimasu be then?
 
Hi, GCL. Let me see if I can shed a bit of light on this for you. Please excuse me if I'm not understanding what you're asking.

First, "yomu" is a godan verb, not ichidan. Ichidan verbs are the ones that always end in -eru or -iru.

Ichidan verbs (such as taberu (たべる), meaning "to eat") always drop the final -ru (る) in conjugation. Everything before the -ru is the verb stem. Ichidan verb stems never change. So in the case of "taberu," the stem is always tabe- (たべ). From there, you can add conjugating endings, such as -masu (e.g., tabemasu, たべます) or -masen (tabemasen, たべません). For the record, the -te (て) form of ichidan verbs is easy too: just the stem plus "-te." (In the case of "taberu," then, the -te form is "tabete." Simple, eh?)

Godan verbs (such as yomu (よむ), meaning "to read"), phonetically speaking, drop only the final -u sound (not the whole -ru), but this -u is always replaced by another vowel sound. (This isn't exactly how it works in Japanese, but phonetically, this is pretty much the pretty it is. You might alternatively choose to see it as just changing the -u sound to another vowel sound--i.e., -u becomes -a, -i, -e, etc. That's more correct, I think.) So godan verbs, unlike ichidan verbs, have different stems that you use in different situations--in this case, yoma- (よま), yomi- (よみ), yome- (よめ), and so on. You have to learn when to use which stem. To make the -masu forms, you use the -i stem--in this case, yomi- (よみ)--and just add the -masu. Thus, "yomimasu." Another godan example: "oyogu" (およぐ), meaning "to swim." It becomes "oyogimasu" (およぎます). Likewise, "aruku" (あるく), meaning "to walk," becomes "arukimasu." It's not hard as it looks (or as I probably make it sound).

Remember: -masu always goes on the -i verb stem; thus, change the base -u to -i and add -masu.

To directly answer your final question, yomimasen (よみません) is the polite nonpast negative (e.g., does not read/will not read). "Yomimasu" (よみます) is the polite nonpost. The difference between the two is that "yomimasu" is not negative and "yomimasen" is negative.

私はその本を読みます。
Watashi wa sono hon o yomimasu.
I (topic) that book (obj) do-read/will-read.
I do/will read that book.

毎日、新聞を読みません。
Mainichi, shinbun o yomimasen.
Everyday, newspaper (obj) don't-read.
I don't read the newspaper everyday.

Hope that helps. Also, check out this Wikibook article about verbs.
 
Last edited:
GCL,

Yomu and yomimasu are the same. However yomimasu is more polite.
E.g. watashi wa hon wo yomu = I read books OR I will read books
E.g. watashi wa hon wo yomimasu = I read books OR I will read books (but more polite

Yomanai and yomimasen are the same. However, yomimasen is more polite
E.g. watashi wa hon wo yomanai = I don't read books OR I won't read books
E.g. watsahi wa hon wo yomimasen = I don't read books OR I won't read books (but more polite)

Yonda and yomimashita are the same. However, yomimashita is more polite.
E.g. watashi wa hon wo yonda = I read a book (past positive)
E.g. watashi wa hon wo yomimashita = I read a book (past positive but more polite)

Yomanakatta and yomimasen deshita are the same. However, yomimasen deshita is more polite
E.g. watashi wa hon wo yomanakatta = I didn't read a book (past negative)
E.g. watashi wa hon wo yomimasen deshita = I didn't read a book (past negative but more polite)

Yonde iru and yonde imasu are the same. However, yonde imasu is more polite. This form is the PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE. The same as English's "~ing".
E.g. watashi wa hon wo yonde iru = I am/will be reading a book
E.g. watashi wa hon wo yonde imasu = I am/will be reading a book (more polite)
 
GoldCoinLover said:
He is reading the newspaper.
Kare wa shinbun wo yomimasu.
He is reading the newspaper.(factual)
Kare wa shinbun wo yonde imasu.
He is reading the newspaper. (Right now. Progressive )
Kare wa shinbun wo yomimasu = He reads the newspaper (in general, or everyday or most days) OR he will read the newspaper (sometime in the future)
Kare wa shinbun wo yonde imasu = He is reading the newspaper (right now and will continue to do so for a while).
 
Bucko said:
Kare wa shinbun wo yomimasu = He reads the newspaper (in general, or everyday or most days) OR he will read the newspaper (sometime in the future)
Kare wa shinbun wo yonde imasu = He is reading the newspaper (right now and will continue to do so for a while).
AFAIK, though, the progessive form doesn't contain any information re a future status, whether he will either continue for any period or do so at all in the future. I've read of situations and questions where the context provides "yonde imasu" as clearly an "everyday" thing, similar to yomu, but we can all revisit that part of it next year if not later.
 
Elizabeth said:
AFAIK, though, the progessive form doesn't contain any information re a future status, whether he will either continue for any period or do so at all in the future. I've read of situations and questions where the context provides "yonde imasu" as clearly an "everyday" thing, similar to yomu, but we can all revisit that part of it next year if not later.

Yeah, I was just trying to differentiate the two as much as I could. Also, doesn't Japaneses' continuous form has a few differences than English's? Like "I am knowing you" rather than "I know you" etc. They tend to throw me around a bit :(
 
Thank you. To the first poster: Yes, I understood how to conjugate all those. Hehe.

I'm just having a hard time why I need to.

For exmaple, iku can become ikimasu (more polite, means to go), or iku imasu (Which I assume means is going, like our exmaple above), or itte (past, did go?)

I Guess this is why its important.

There are of course irregular verbs too. I think iku is an irregular verb.

And yeah, I got godan and ichidan messed up, heh. Those verbs are actually only used to teach foreigners japanese.

Shite vs shitte. What's the difference? Notice shitte has 2 t's.
Shimasu (to do/will do), shimasen (past present), shimasen deshita (didn't do (past negative) etc

Again, shite must be the informal style. The informal style of conjugates seem much harder. For exmaple, for each suffix (gu, ku, etc) they have a different way you have to do it. Luckily, I will be using more formal expressions.
 
GoldCoinLover said:
or iku imasu (Which I assume means is going, like our exmaple above), or itte (past, did go?)

There are of course irregular verbs too. I think iku is an irregular verb.

Sorry, please try again.
iku imasu is nonsense.
itte is just the te form meaning 'ing'


いく Just forms the te form irregualrly.

して(from suru) And 知(し)って Are different verbs.

-te form is not the same as 'informal style'.

Did you review kore/kono?
 
You were trying to make a distinction between factual and progressive, which I do not understand. Just remember: te/de = ing, reading = yonde imasu.

I think by "Factual" he means "This person does this", a statement. He is wrong however as you pointed out in regards to everything else.

I'm just having a hard time why I need to.

How would you say "I can speak Japanese"? Once you answer that youll understand WHY you need to learn the different conjugate patterns.

Shite vs shitte

Shite is the Te-form of suru. Shitte is the Te-form of Shiru (if thats what youre trying to say). Nothing to do with each other. Vocab review might be good about now.

Luckily, I will be using more formal expressions.

/scratches head. . .thats not going to help you. Te-forms are also used in formal sentences.
 
Back
Top Bottom