Verbs; ?

[yoshifeatures]

I've been studying Japanese close to a year on and off, no professional tuition and I'm going to Japan for the second time this November on a working holiday VISA.

The thing I still don't get, not matter how hard I try to understand, is how to form longer sentences with more meaning.

今はパソコン使って

I just can't figure it out.

Non-past 使う
Past 使った
Te-form 使って
Conditional 使ったら
Provisional 使えば
Potential 使える
Passive 使われる
Causative 使わせる
Caus-Pass 使わせられる
Caus-Pass 使わせられる 使わされる
Volitional/Hortative 使おう使う[よう/こと]にしよう
Conjectural 使うだろう
Alternative 使ったり
Imperative 使え

I still don't know what each of these english words mean exactly so i don't know what these verbs mean

Can anyone help? Thank You.

[Airth]

I think you're saying you've got two problems. You're not sure how to string a sentence together and you don't understand the grammar terms, right? Sounds like maybe you're trying to do too much in one go. Perhaps it would be better to think about what you want to say and then see if you can find the right words.

Learning all the different verb forms is less useful than learning a couple of sentences. Still, let's have a look at that list. In very simple terms they mean -

Non-past 使う = Use
Past 使った = Used
Te-form 使って= Meaning depends on the sentence. Could be 'please use' or 'use ... and...' among many others.
Conditional 使ったら = If you use... / When you use...
Provisional 使えば = Providing you use...
Potential 使える = You can use...
Passive 使われる= Be used...
Causative 使わせる = Allow to use...
Caus-Pass 使わせられる = Make use...
Volitional 使おう = Let's use...
Conjectural 使うだろう = Probably use...
Alternative 使ったり = I used ... and did something else
Imperative 使え - Use it!

Which is all well and good, but it's more important to look at your sentence 今はパソコン使って. I guess you want to say 'I'm using a computer at the moment'. You need to make the verb 使っている (using) and mark the object (computer) with を. That gives you 今はパソコンを使っている。

Why don't you try making more sentences, like 'I used a computer'; 'I was made to use a computer'; 'Let's use a computer' and so on. Take it a step at a time, learn from your mistakes and it will slowly all slot into place.

[tiroth2]

Causative 使わせる = Allow to use...
Caus-Pass 使わせられる = Make use...

Watch out! Causitive has the special meaning of "allow to use" only in specific constructions, like
「仕事」をさせていただきますか。

It's literal meaning is "cause someone to do something". (hence causitive)

Causative 使わせる Make someone use
Caus-Pass 使わせられる Was made to use

The special case is something like "please grant me [causing me to do X]" with the idiomatic meaning of "please allow me to do X". It's a rather polite construction.

[Ulver_684]

I've been studying Japanese close to a year on and off, no professional tuition and I'm going to Japan for the second time this November on a working holiday VISA.

The thing I still don't get, not matter how hard I try to understand, is how to form longer sentences with more meaning.

今はパソコン使って

I just can't figure it out.

Non-past 使う
Past 使った
Te-form 使って
Conditional 使ったら
Provisional 使えば
Potential 使える
Passive 使われる
Causative 使わせる
Caus-Pass 使わせられる
Caus-Pass 使わせられる 使わされる
Volitional/Hortative 使おう使う[よう/こと]にしよう
Conjectural 使うだろう
Alternative 使ったり
Imperative 使え

I still don't know what each of these english words mean exactly so i don't know what these verbs mean

Can anyone help? Thank You.

Yoshifeatures-san!

Thank you for those verbs and topic, they are vey useful!!