Okie pokey now it's time for VERBS and DIRECT OBJECTS.
Verbs are what provide the action or existence of something, obviously. They show what the subject is doing, or how the subject exists in time and/or space.
Direct objects are what receive the action of the verb. I'm sure you've also heard of the term "compliment" to identify direct objects.
So, first we must go back to English for a second.
English is a SVO structured language, meaning the subject goes first, the verb goes second, and the object goes last.
I eat sushi
S - subject - "I"
V - verb - "eat"
O - object - "sushi"
In Japanese, the structure is SOV.
私は寿司を食べます。
S - 私
O - 寿司 (sushi)
V - 食べます (to eat)
(It's okay if you don't know how to say that yet we'll get to it)
At this point, I'm sure you've noticed the little を in between 寿司 and 食べます. This is called the object particle. This particle is used to mark the compliment, or the object receiving that action.
I eat what? I eat sushi. Sushi is the object that receives the action of eating. So that is the function of を here.
So now what about the actual verb part? What is a Japanese verb, and how can I spot one?
Japanese verbs are usually a type of word called kanamajiri (仮名混じり), a word that mixes kanji and kana together. The kanji supplies the root element, while the hiragana provides the conjugation.
食べます - (tabemasu) - to eat
食 is the what provides the overall meaning of the verb, which is the action of eating in this case. The string of hiragana at the end is what determines the tense, aspect, politeness, tone, and even the emotion behind the action. Right now, this verb is in present polite form.
飲みます - (nomimasu) - to drink
読みます- (yomimasu) - to read
話します - (hanashimasu) - to speak
帰ります - (kaerimasu) - to go home
*you don't pronounce the "u" in す either here, so it's more like "nomimass" "yomimass" etc.
All of these verbs have this -ます ending, huh. Well, my friends, this is essentially the polite form. It isn't necessarily the standard form, but I'd say it's better to learn this form first because you will definitely need it more and it's actually a lot easier to conjugate.
So, let's take our "I eat sushi" sentence and play around with it.
寿司を食べます｡
I eat sushi.
寿司を食べません｡
I don't (or won't) eat sushi.
寿司を食べました｡
I ate sushi.
寿司を食べませんでした｡
I didn't (or wouldn't) eat sushi.
Let's take another verb and do the same.
薬を飲みます｡
(Kusuri wo nomimasu)
I take medicine. (Literally "I drink medicine")
-飲みません - don't take
-飲みました - did take
-飲みませんでした - didn't take
Lucky you, this conjugation applies to every verb! Yeah that's right, every single one! Hooray!
Ahem
