Grammar: ます, て, た, dictionary and ない patterns
Connect verb forms to invitations, plans, sequence, experience, advice and obligation.
Exam scope and assessment notes
This is an original mapped starter, not the recommended full course of about 130 guided learning hours. All Japanese examples, translations, grammar explanations, kanji groupings, listening scripts and pronunciation aids require review by a qualified Japanese-language teacher before publication is described as complete. Browser speech is supplemental, not Cambridge audio. Speaking rehearsal and writing feedback are formative and do not reproduce a live examiner or award official marks. The linked vocabulary workbook has not been reconciled word by word.
Before you begin
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
Which approach gives the most reliable Japanese response?
What you will learn
- Recognise the listed verb-based structures and their purpose.
- Choose the base form a construction requires.
Start with the construction's base form
Examples include ましょう for suggestions, たい for wants, てから for sequence, たことがあります for experience, つもりです for intention and なければなりません for obligation.
Check the verb group and form before attaching a construction.
Use a timeline
A sequence such as “get up, then get dressed” differs from activities listed as examples. A plan differs from past experience; advice differs from a requirement.
The 2027–2029 Version 2 update corrects examples in the dictionary-form ‘-ing’ section.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
What does たことがあります express?
Worked example
Choose whether 「日本へ行ったことがあります」 describes a plan or an experience.
Show the worked solution
- Find 行った.
- Notice ことがあります.
- Choose the experience meaning.
Answer It describes having been to Japan before. A plan uses a different structure, such as つもりです with a suitable dictionary form.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Sort “I want to eat,” “I plan to eat,” and “I have eaten.” Name a syllabus structure for each.
Give me a hint
Choose among たい, つもりです and たことがあります.
Compare my reasoning
- Match desire to たい.
- Match intention to つもりです.
- Match prior experience to たことがあります.
Want: 食べたい; plan: 食べるつもりです; experience: 食べたことがあります. Check the forms and context with a specialist.
Look for these in your work
- Matches meanings
- Selects the required form
- Distinguishes desire, plan and experience
A notice says 「ここで写真を撮ってはいけません。」 What is prohibited?
Give me a hint
Read てはいけません as a prohibition.
Compare my reasoning
- Find 写真を撮る.
- Recognise てはいけません.
- State the rule without adding a penalty.
Taking photographs here is not allowed. The sentence does not state a penalty.
Look for these in your work
- Identifies the action
- Recognises prohibition
- Avoids unstated consequences
A learner wants to advise a friend not to study too late. Which syllabus structure fits negative advice, and how is it different from obligation?
Give me a hint
Use ないほうがいい for advice; compare with なければなりません.
Compare my reasoning
- Identify that the meaning is advice.
- Choose ないほうがいい.
- Contrast advice with a requirement.
The syllabus pattern for negative advice is ないほうがいいです. It recommends; なければなりません expresses obligation. Verify the full Japanese sentence with a teacher.
Look for these in your work
- Chooses negative advice
- Distinguishes advice and obligation
- Keeps intended force
Common mistakes
- Attaching a construction to the wrong form
- Confusing experience with a future plan
- Treating advice and obligation as identical
What can you explain now?
What does たことがあります express?
Compare with the explanation
Experience of having done something
It links a past form to an experience statement.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
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Make it stick
Explain one idea from memory, answer the checkpoint, and name a Japanese form or reading that needs checking.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.