Grammar › Verb tenses › Present
Japanese present tense
The "non-past" — one form for what you do and what you'll do — next to how it's actually said.
The short version
Japanese has no separate future tense — the "present" is really a non-past that covers present habits and the future; context tells you which. The casual form is the plain dictionary form (食べる); the polite form adds 〜ます (食べます).
食べる — casual (I eat / I'll eat)
食べます — polite
Polite — 〜ます
Add 〜ます to the verb stem. This is what you'll hear in most podcasts, announcements and anything remotely formal.
Casual — the plain form
Among friends, drop です/ます and just use the dictionary form. 思う, not 思います.
🗣 Casual speech drops です/ます. "I think" is 思います when polite, but just 思う with friends — same verb, no ending.
なんか、いいと思う。
I kinda think it's good. (casual non-past)
At a glance
| Casual | Polite | |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | 食べる | 食べます |
| Copula (is) | 〜だ | 〜です |
Watch out
Non-past = present or future. The same 〜ます form is "I buy" or "I'll buy" — 明日買います (I'll buy it tomorrow). Only context or a time word marks the future.
Hear the present tense in real Japanese
Free · tap any word for its reading & meaning
Open in Wakatta
Next: Past tense → · Present continuous → · N5 grammar
Free on Wakatta — learn Japanese by listening. Every example above is a real line from a Japanese podcast, timestamped so you can hear it.