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All Japanese activities

Activities: How to use the ta-form in Japanese?

By: Nora Farley

Exercise 1: Which ta-form is being used?

Identify which of the given usages of ta-form best describes each of the following examples.

  1. 窓を開けておけば部屋は涼しかったのに。
    Mado o akete okeba heya wa suzushikatta no ni.
    If you’d kept the window the room would have cooled down.
    Select your answer
  2. そうね、真里ちゃんのお母さんは合唱団の指揮者だったね。
    Sō ne, Mari-chan no okā-san wa gasshōdan no shikisha datta ne.
    That’s right, Mari’s mom’s a choir conductor, isn’t she?
    Select your answer
  3. 熱いよ、食った！食った！
    Atsui yo, kutta! Kutta!
    It’s hot! Come and eat!
    Select your answer
  4. 壊れたおもちゃを見て男の子は泣き出した。
    Kowareta omocha o mite otoko no ko wa nakidashita.
    The boy looked at the broken toy and burst into tears.
    Select your answer
  5. よし、決めた！イタリア料理にする。
    Yoshi, kimeta! Itaria ryōri ni suru.
    OK, that’s that decided. We’ll get Italian food.
    Select your answer

Exercise 2: Counterfactual statements

Practice with counterfactual statements. Fill in the blanks with contextually appropriate words from the word bank below. Make sure they’re in the appropriate version of ta-form: affirmative or negative.

  1. 地図を持っていれば 。
    Chizu o motte ireba...
    If I’d had a map...

  2. 大事だと分かっていればのに！
    Daiji da to wakatte ireba ... no ni!
    If I’d known it was important ... !

  3. 親が音大に行かせてくれていれば、多分サラリーマンにと思うよ。
    Oya ga ondai ni ikasete kurete ireba, tabun sarariiman ni ... to omou yo.
    If my parents had let me go to music school I probably ... an office worker.

Exercise 3: Remix and match

Put the following verbs into ta-form and write the appropriate letter to match them with the nouns you think they’re most likely to modify based on context (indicate by writing A, B, C, D, or E).
  1. 濡れる
    Transcription: nureru
    Translation: to be wet

    ta-form:

    Noun (A, B, C, D, or E):

  2. 止まる
    Transcription: tomaru
    Translation: to stop (moving)

    ta-form:

    Noun (A, B, C, D, or E):

  3. 温まる
    Transcription: atatamaru
    Translation: to warm up

    ta-form:

    Noun (A, B, C, D, or E):

  4. 焼き上がる
    Transcription: yakiagaru
    Translation: to be done baking

    ta-form:

    Noun (A, B, C, D, or E):

  5. 着物を着る
    Transcription: kimono o kiru
    Translation: to wear a kimono

    ta-form:

    Noun (A, B, C, D, or E):