Japanese ます Verbs

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Conjugate the polite present, past and negative, make invitations with ましょう, and say must/have to.

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One stem, four endings

Every polite verb has a ます-stem: drop ます, add endings. 食べます (tabemasu — eat): stem 食べ → 食べます (eat/will eat), 食べました (ate), 食べません (don't eat), 食べませんでした (didn't eat). 飲みます (nomimasu — drink) works identically. Japanese verbs never change for person — 私/あなた/彼 all take the same form.

The only two rebels

Two verbs conjugate irregularly — and they're the most common: します (shimasu — do) and 来ます (kimasu — come). Past: しました・来ました (kimashita). Negative: しません・来ません. します also verbalises nouns: 勉強します (study), 電話します (phone), 結婚します (marry) — learn it once, use it thousandfold.

Invitations: ましょう

ましょう (mashō) proposes: 食べましょう (let's eat), 行きましょう (let's go). Question form ましょうか softens: 食べましょうか (shall we eat?). Responding yes: いいですね (sounds good); hedging: ちょっと… (a little… — the famous soft no). Plans: 明日会いましょう (let's meet tomorrow).

Want, like and must

Want (first person): stem + たいです — 食べたいです (I want to eat). Like/dislike are な-adjectives: 猫が好きです / 嫌いです (I like/dislike cats — note が). Must: plain-negative + なければなりません — 行かなければなりません (must go). Casual speech clips it to なきゃ: 行かなきゃ.

Form	食べます (to eat)
present/future	食べます
past	食べました
negative	食べません
past negative	食べませんでした
let's	食べましょう
want to	食べたいです

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