保つ (tamotsu) conjugation
to keep, to preserve, to sustain
保つ (たもつ, tamotsu) is a godan verb. Godan verbs change their final kana up and down its column of the kana chart — the a-row for negatives, the i-row before ます, the e-row for potential and ば. Every form below is tappable — hear it, then say it back.
Conjugation table
| Form | Plain (casual) | Polite (~ます) | When you use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dictionary / plain | 保つ tamotsu | 保ちます tamochimasu | The form you look up. Also the casual present and future. |
| Plain negative | 保たない tamotanai | 保ちません tamochimasen | “doesn’t / won’t”. From here it conjugates like an i-adjective. |
| Plain past | 保った tamotta | 保ちました tamochimashita | The casual past — same ending as the te-form, with た/だ. |
| Plain past negative | 保たなかった tamotanakatta | 保ちませんでした tamochimasendeshita | “didn’t”. The negative past, still i-adjective-shaped. |
| Te-form | 保って tamotte | — | The connector: requests, linking clauses, ~ている. |
| Progressive (~ている) | 保っている tamotteiru | 保っています tamotteimasu | “is ~ing”, or an ongoing resulting state. |
| Desire (~たい) | 保ちたい tamochitai | 保ちたいです tamochitaidesu | “want to ~”. Behaves as an i-adjective. |
| Volitional | 保とう tamotou | 保ちましょう tamochimashou | “let’s ~” / “I think I’ll ~”. |
| Potential | 保てる tamoteru | 保てます tamotemasu | “can ~”. What you could do; the object often takes が. |
| Passive | 保たれる tamotareru | 保たれます tamotaremasu | “is ~ed”. Also the honorific and the suffering passive. |
| Causative | 保たせる tamotaseru | 保たせます tamotasemasu | Make or let someone do it. |
| Causative-passive | 保たされる tamotasareru | 保たされます tamotasaremasu | Be made to do it — the long one. |
| Imperative | 保て tamote | 保ってください tamottekudasai | Blunt order. Use ~てください in real life. |
| Prohibitive | 保つな tamotsuna | — | “don’t!” — dictionary form + な. |
| Conditional (~ば) | 保てば tamoteba | — | “if ~”. General rules and hypotheticals. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 保ったら tamottara | — | “if / when ~”. The everyday conditional. |
🔊 Tap any Japanese word to hear it spoken.
Why it conjugates this way
Godan verbs change their final kana up and down its column of the kana chart — the a-row for negatives, the i-row before ます, the e-row for potential and ば.
See the full rules on the verb conjugation guide.