The polite 〜ます forms are the register you will produce most in the first months of learning Japanese: with strangers, with a shop clerk, in class, at work. The good news is that the entire ます-family — present 〜ます, negative 〜ません, past 〜ました, past-negative 〜ませんでした, and the "let's / shall we" volitional 〜ましょう — all clip onto one and the same stem, the 連用形（れんようけい, "conjunctive form"）, usually called the ます-stem. Get the stem right and every polite form falls out mechanically. This page is the master table for that stem and everything you hang on it.
The ます-stem is where classes differ — the endings never do
Once you have the stem, ます, ません, ました, ませんでした, and ましょう attach identically for every verb in the language. The only thing that varies by class is how you build the stem:
- 五段（ごだん）verbs move the final kana to the い-row: 書く → 書き, 話す → 話し, 待つ → 待ち, 読む → 読み.
- 一段（いちだん）verbs simply drop る: 食べる → 食べ, 見る → 見.
- する becomes し; 来る becomes 来（き） — irregular, memorize them.
毎朝、六時に起きて日記を書きます。
maiasa, rokuji ni okite nikki o kakimasu
I get up at six every morning and write in my diary.
今夜は家で映画を見ます。
konya wa ie de eiga o mimasu
Tonight I'm going to watch a movie at home.
Building the 五段 ます-stem: the い-row, not the あ-row
This is the single mistake to burn out early. The 五段 ます-stem is built on the い-row, so the final kana shifts to its い-vowel counterpart — never the dictionary う-row, never the あ-row you use for the negative. 書く becomes 書き, not ×書か and not ×書く.
| Dictionary ending | Model verb | ます-stem (い-row) | Polite form |
|---|---|---|---|
| -う | 会う (au) — to meet | 会い | 会います (aimasu) |
| -く | 書く (kaku) — to write | 書き | 書きます (kakimasu) |
| -ぐ | 泳ぐ (oyogu) — to swim | 泳ぎ | 泳ぎます (oyogimasu) |
| -す | 話す (hanasu) — to speak | 話し | 話します (hanashimasu) |
| -つ | 待つ (matsu) — to wait | 待ち | 待ちます (machimasu) |
| -ぬ | 死ぬ (shinu) — to die | 死に | 死にます (shinimasu) |
| -ぶ | 遊ぶ (asobu) — to play | 遊び | 遊びます (asobimasu) |
| -む | 読む (yomu) — to read | 読み | 読みます (yomimasu) |
| -る (五段) | 取る (toru) — to take | 取り | 取ります (torimasu) |
Notice that the ます-stem is completely regular here — no 音便（おんびん, euphonic softening）. That is what makes ます easier than the te-form: 話す gives the clean 話します, while its te-form contracts to 話して. The stem you see in this table is the same 連用形 that also feeds 〜たい, 〜ながら, and 〜に行く, so it pays off far beyond politeness.
すみません、ここで少し待ちます。
sumimasen, koko de sukoshi machimasu
Excuse me, I'll wait here for a bit.
週末はよく友達に会います。
shūmatsu wa yoku tomodachi ni aimasu
I often meet up with friends on weekends.
The full ます-family, side by side
Here is every polite form for one verb of each class. Read down a column and you have that verb's complete polite paradigm; read across a row and you see how invariant the ending is.
| Polite form | 書く (godan) | 食べる (ichidan) | する | 来る |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present 〜ます | 書きます (kakimasu) | 食べます (tabemasu) | します (shimasu) | 来ます (kimasu) |
| Negative 〜ません | 書きません (kakimasen) | 食べません (tabemasen) | しません (shimasen) | 来ません (kimasen) |
| Past 〜ました | 書きました (kakimashita) | 食べました (tabemashita) | しました (shimashita) | 来ました (kimashita) |
| Past-negative 〜ませんでした | 書きませんでした (kakimasendeshita) | 食べませんでした (tabemasendeshita) | しませんでした (shimasendeshita) | 来ませんでした (kimasendeshita) |
| Volitional 〜ましょう | 書きましょう (kakimashō) | 食べましょう (tabemashō) | しましょう (shimashō) | 来ましょう (kimashō) |
| ます-stem (連用形) | 書き (kaki) | 食べ (tabe) | し (shi) | 来 (ki) |
昨日は忙しくて、昼ご飯を食べませんでした。
kinō wa isogashikute, hirugohan o tabemasendeshita
I was busy yesterday and didn't eat lunch.
来週の会議には社長も来ます。
raishū no kaigi ni wa shachō mo kimasu
The company president is coming to next week's meeting too.
〜ましょう and 〜ましょうか — inviting, offering
The volitional 〜ましょう is the polite "let's" / "shall we," and with か it becomes a soft offer ("shall I…?"). It is the everyday polite way to propose or volunteer.
もう遅いから、そろそろ帰りましょう。
mō osoi kara, sorosoro kaerimashō
It's getting late, so let's head home soon.
重そうですね。荷物を持ちましょうか。
omosō desu ne. nimotsu o mochimashō ka
That looks heavy. Shall I carry your bag?
Register: what ます actually signals
〜ます is the 敬体（けいたい, "polite style"） — the counterpart to the plain 常体（じょうたい）forms. English has no grammatical switch for this; we lean on word choice and tone ("I'd like…" vs "gimme…"). Japanese bakes it into the verb ending. Choose the register once, at the sentence level, and keep the final verb consistent: end a sentence in ます with people you would address politely (strangers, customers, teachers, most coworkers), and switch to plain forms with close friends and family. Crucially, ます belongs at the end of a main clause — subordinate clauses inside a polite sentence usually revert to plain (昨日買った本を読みます, not ×昨日買いました本…). That embedding rule lives on the plain-form page; here, just remember that this table is your reference for the polite ending, not for every verb in a long sentence.
初めまして。田中と申します。よろしくお願いします。
hajimemashite. Tanaka to mōshimasu. yoroshiku onegai shimasu
Nice to meet you. My name is Tanaka. I look forward to working with you.
Common mistakes
❌ 毎日、日本語を書かます。
Wrong — the 五段 ます-stem is the い-row (書き), not the あ-row (書か). あ is for the negative ない.
✅ 毎日、日本語を書きます。
mainichi, nihongo o kakimasu
I write Japanese every day.
❌ 話すます
Wrong — you must first move the ending to the い-row (話し) before adding ます; you can't glue ます onto the dictionary form.
✅ 話します
hanashimasu
to speak (polite)
❌ 毎晩テレビを見るます。
Wrong — 一段 verbs drop る before ます; keeping る is a classic beginner slip.
✅ 毎晩テレビを見ます。
maiban terebi o mimasu
I watch TV every evening.
❌ 昨日、公園にくました
kinō, kōen ni kumashita
Wrong reading — 来ました is read kimashita (き-row), not ×kumashita by false analogy with the dictionary 来る (kuru). The kanji hides the vowel; say ki-, not ku-.
✅ 昨日、公園に来ました。
kinō, kōen ni kimashita
I came to the park yesterday.
❌ 電話しませんかった。
Wrong — there is no 〜ませんかった. The polite past-negative is ません + でした.
✅ 電話しませんでした。
denwa shimasendeshita
I didn't call.
Key takeaways
- The whole ます-family hangs on one stem, the 連用形 (ます-stem); the endings 〜ます／〜ません／〜ました／〜ませんでした／〜ましょう never vary by class.
- 五段 stems are い-row: 書き, 話し, 待ち, 読み — never the あ-row (that is the negative) and never the bare dictionary form.
- 一段 verbs drop る (食べる → 食べます); する → します, 来る → 来ます（きます）.
- The polite past-negative is the compound ません + でした; there is no single-word form.
- ます is the 敬体 register: put it on the final verb with people you address politely, and let embedded clauses fall back to the plain forms.
Now practice Japanese
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- Plain Form (辞書形/ない/た): TableN5 — The four plain (常体) verb cells — dictionary, negative ない, past た, past-negative なかった — across every class, with each mapped to its polite equivalent.
- All Forms, All Classes: Master ChartN4 — The one-sheet everything reference — every major verb form (dictionary through causative-passive, volitional, conditional, imperative) down the side and 書く・食べる・する・来る across the top, so you can verify any form without hunting across pages.
- 五段 Verbs: Class OverviewN5 — The canonical paradigm reference for the 五段 (godan / Type-1 / consonant-stem) class — the nine dictionary endings and the single mechanism behind every form: sliding the final kana across the あ・い・う・え・お rows.
- 一段 Verbs: Class OverviewN5 — The complete reference paradigm for the ichidan (ru-verb) class: drop る, attach the ending — every form of 食べる in one table, plus the class test.
- Polite Past 〜ましたN5 — How to form the polite past by swapping ます for ました on the ます-stem — completely regular for every verb, with no sound-changes ever.