Episode 17
The Power of No — ません
Learn to say what you don't do with ません — the polite negative verb ending in Japanese.
N5masen-negative-polite
The most powerful word in any language: no. Learn to say what you don't do.
What You'll Learn#
〜ません (polite negative)N5
swap ます → ません to say you don't do something
食べません (I don't eat), 飲みません (I don't drink), 行きません (I don't go)
New vocabulary: 肉 (meat), テレビ (TV), 見ます (watch/see), 日曜日 (Sunday)
Lesson Transcript#
The Flip: ます → ません#
Combining Particles with Negative Verbs#
Summary#
| Positive | Negative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 食べます | 食べません | eat / don't eat |
| 飲みます | 飲みません | drink / don't drink |
| 行きます | 行きません | go / don't go |
| 読みます | 読みません | read / don't read |
| 見ます | 見ません | watch / don't watch |
Practice negative verbs
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