Short and long form in Japanese
What’s the difference of short form and long form?
Short form
Short form in Japanese is primarily used for making statements and is typically used when speaking to people with whom you have a close relationship, such as friends and family. This form is informal and casual, making it suitable for everyday conversations in a relaxed setting.
Additionally, the short form can be used as a modifier for nouns within sentences, allowing you to provide more detailed descriptions and qualifications. When used in this way, the short form helps to create relative clauses and adds specificity to the nouns, rather than appearing at the end of the sentence.
For example:
- Short form statement: “Kore wa oishii” (This is delicious).
- Using the short form as a noun modifier: “Oishii ringo” (a delicious apple).
Long form
The long form in Japanese is a formal way to express something. When you are asking or explaining something to people, or speaking with someone on a formal occasion, using the long form is appropriate. This form conveys politeness and respect, making it suitable for interactions with people you do not know well, older individuals, or in professional settings.
The long form is always used at the end of the sentence, ensuring that the entire statement maintains a formal tone. This structure helps to create clear and respectful communication in various social and professional contexts.
For example:
- Informal (short form): “Kore wa oishii.” (This is delicious).
- Formal (long form): “Kore wa oishiidesu.” (This is delicious).
Summary
Verb, adjective, and noun sentences in Japanese have both short forms and long forms. So far, we have learned some of the long forms for verbs, adjectives, and nouns, as well as one of the short forms of verbs, which is the dictionary form. It’s important to review and understand what you have learned up to this point.
The long forms are used in formal contexts and always appear at the end of sentences to convey politeness. For example:
- Verb (long form): tabemasu – “I eat.”
- Adjective (long form): oishii desu – “It is delicious.”
- Noun (long form): gakusei desu – “I am a student.”
The short forms are used in informal contexts and can also function within sentences to modify nouns or create relative clauses. So far, we have learned the dictionary form as one of the short forms for verbs:
- Verb (short form): 食べる (taberu) – “to eat” (dictionary form)
Refer to the provided materials and notes, where the parts you have learned are marked in orange. This will help you track your progress and understand which aspects of verb, adjective, and noun conjugations and forms you are already familiar with.
Verb
| Short form | Long form | |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | Kaku (dictionary) | Kakimasu |
| Negative | Kakanai | Kakimasen Kakanaidesu |
| Past-affirmative | Kaita | Kakimashita |
| Past-negative | Kakanakatta | Kakimasendeshita Kakanakattadesu |
| Desire | Kakitai | Kakitaidesu |
i-adjective
| Short form | Long form | |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | oishii (dictionary) | oishiidesu |
| Nagative | oishikunai | oishikunaidesu |
| Past | oishikatta | oishikattadesu |
| Past-negative | oishikunakatta | oishikunakattadesu oishikuarimasendeshita |
Noun and noun-adjective
| Short form | Long form | |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | gakusei da | gakusei desu |
| Nagative | gakusei janai | gakusei janaidesu gakusei jaarimasen |
| Past | gakusei datta | gakusei deshita |
| Past-negative | gakusei janakatta | gakusei janakattadesu gakusei jaarimasendeshita |
Exercise
Make long forms of the following words. Make it affirmative and negative.
Question
- taberu（verb）
- noru（verb）
- yasashii（i-adj）
- seiketsu（noun-adj）
- mondai（noun）
Answer
- tabemasu, tabemasen
- norimasu, norimasen
- yasashiidesu, yasashikunaidesu
- seiketsudesu, seiketsujaarimasen
- mondai desu, mondai jaarimasen