Grammar › Verbs & Politeness
〜ます — the polite verb form
Polite non-past: 食べます eat / will eat; negative 〜ません
〜ます is the polite ending for verbs, covering both present and future (“I eat / I will eat”). Textbooks teach it first because it's safe everywhere. Negative is 〜ません. The stem before ます (the “masu-stem”) is the LEGO brick many later patterns snap onto (〜たい, 〜ましょう…).
How to form it
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| Verb stem + ます | 食べる → 食べます — eat |
| Verb stem + ません | 飲む → 飲みません — don't drink |
| Godan: う→い sound + ます | 書く → 書きます / 話す → 話します |
Example sentences
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 毎日日本語を勉強します。 | まいにちにほんごをべんきょうします。 mainichinihongowobenkyoushimasu。 | I study Japanese every day. |
| 肉を食べません。 | にくをたべません。 nikuwotabemasen。 | I don't eat meat. |
| 明日、京都へ行きます。 | あした、きょうとへいきます。 ashita、kyoutoheikimasu。 | I'm going to Kyoto tomorrow. |
🔊 Tap any Japanese sentence to hear it; kanji link to their study pages.
Watch out
ます says nothing about the future by itself — 行きます can be “I go” or “I will go”; time words (明日, 毎日) carry that information. Also, the two irregulars する→します and 来る(くる)→来ます(きます) just have to be memorized.