～ます

A verb that ends in ます is in its polite form: たべます食べます (eat), のみます飲みます (drink), よみます読みます (read). The verb goes last in the sentence. This is the form to use with anyone you don't know well.

ます stays the same whoever is doing the action. たべます食べます is "I eat", "you eat" and "she eats", and who it is comes from the rest of the conversation. For a question, add か at the end.

What you usually do, and what you will do

The ます-form covers habits and the future. Japanese has no separate future form – a time word such as あす明日 does that job.

Common mistakes

ます is already polite, so です is not added to it.

• × 食べますです → 食べます

The ます-form is not "is eating". An action going on right now takes ～ています.

Usage notes

These go beyond the basic polite sentence.

The ます-stem

Whatever stands in front of ます is the ます-stem: たべ食べ in 食べます, のみ飲み in 飲みます. The other three polite endings go on the same stem, and so do ましょう (let's) and たい (want to).

• 食べましょう – let's eat
• 食べたいです – I want to eat

From the dictionary form

A dictionary lists a verb in its plain form, the dictionary form: たべる食べる, のむ飲む. It is also what you say instead of the ます-form with friends and family. How it turns into the ます-form depends on which of three groups the verb is in.

Ichidan verbs (v1) end in an い-sound or え-sound plus る. Drop the る and add ます.

• 食べる → 食べます
• 見る → 見ます
• 起きる → 起きます

Godan verbs (v5) change their last sound from the う-row to the い-row and add ます.

• う → い: 買う → 買います
• く → き: 書く → 書きます
• ぐ → ぎ: 泳ぐ → 泳ぎます
• す → し: 話す → 話します
• つ → ち: 待つ → 待ちます
• ぬ → に: 死ぬ → 死にます
• ぶ → び: 遊ぶ → 遊びます
• む → み: 飲む → 飲みます
• る → り: 乗る → 乗ります

The two irregular verbs are する → します and 来る → 来ます (read くる and きます).

Some godan verbs end in る after an い-sound or え-sound and look like ichidan verbs: かえる帰る, はいる入る, はしる走る, きる切る, しる知る. They keep the る and change it to り.

• × 帰ます → 帰ります
• × 入ます → 入ります

Related forms

The same slot takes the other polite endings: ません (does not), ました (did) and ませんでした (did not). Each has a point of its own.