The Masen-Form

In Japanese, verbs ending in masen ません are in the polite, non-past negative. The masen-form is the negative of the masu-form (see below).

Verbs ending in ません are considered polite, and are safe for every day use with strangers, new acquaintances and superiors in Japan.

Conjugating the Masen-Form

If you know a verb in its masu-form, then creating the masen-form is easy. Simply remove the ます and add ません.

If you do not know the masu-form, then check out this article on how to conjugate from the plain form to the masu-form.

The Masu-Form

The basic conjugations of the masu-form are these:

	Affirmative	Negative
Non-past	verb + ます	verb + ません
Past	verb + ました	verb + ませんでした

See Also

• The Masu-Form
• The Mashita-Form
• The Masen-Deshita Form

Example Sentences

• 知りません。
  I don't know.

• 私は今日、お菓子を食べません。
  I won't eat sweets today.

• 私たちには本当に時間がありません。
  We really don't have time.

• 私たちは競争を怖れません。
  We're not afraid of the competition.

• この単語が分かりません。
  I don't understand this word.