| Let's look at the sentence pattern. |
| This pattern is the structure that all of our examples will follow. |
| [Noun] + は + [verb potential form] + ませんでした。([Noun] + wa + [verb potential form] + masendeshita.) |
| [Noun] couldn't [verb phrase] |
| Let's break it down. |
| First, we have [Noun] + は ([Noun] wa). This marks the topic of the sentence, which is the thing or person that couldn't perform the action. |
| Next is the verb in its potential form. The potential form of a verb expresses the ability or inability to do something. In this case, it is followed by ませんでした (masendeshita), which is the negative past tense of the verb, indicating that the action was not possible in the past. |
| Let’s see how a line from the dialogue follows this pattern. |
| いえ、ざんねんです。けいやくは できませんでした。(Ie, zannen desu. Keiyaku wa dekimasen deshita.) |
| In this sentence: |
| けいやく (keiyaku) is the noun, meaning "contract." This is the topic of the sentence and is marked by は (wa). |
| できませんでした (dekimasen deshita) is the potential form of できます (dekimasu), which means "to be able to do." Since it is in the negative past tense, it means "could not be done" or "could not be secured." |
| So, けいやくは できませんでした。 means "We couldn’t secure the contract." |
| Now you can use this structure to talk about things that were not possible in the past! |
| Let’s go over how to change verbs into their potential form to say "can do" something. |
| First, Class 1 verbs, also called う-verbs. To make the potential form, change the final う sound to an え sound of the same kind, and add る. For example, the く in 書く (kaku) becomes ける (keru). |
| Next, Class 2 verbs, or る-verbs. For these, just replace る with られる. For example 食べる (taberu) becomes 食べられる (taberareru) (can eat). |
| Finally, Class 3 verbs, which are irregular. These have their own unique potential forms. する becomes できる (dekiru), and 来る (kuru) becomes 来られる (korareru). |
| And that’s how you form the potential form of verbs! Let’s try some examples next. |
| Now let's look at some speaking examples. |
| かのじょは泳げませんでした。 (Kanojo wa oyogemasen deshita.) |
| She couldn’t swim. |
| Can you see how the pattern applies here? |
| Let's break it down: |
| Here, かのじょ (kanojo) is the noun, meaning "she." This is the topic of the sentence and is marked by は (wa), indicating that the sentence is about "her." |
| 泳げませんでした (oyogemasen deshita) is the past negative potential form of 泳ぐ.. Because 泳ぐ is a class 1 verb, we first change 泳ぐ to its potential form 泳げる by replacing ぐ with げ and adding る, meaning "can swim". Then we remove る and add ませんでした to make it past negative, giving us 泳げませんでした. |
| So, かのじょは泳げませんでした。 means "She couldn’t swim." |
| Now you can use this structure to talk about things that were not possible in the past! |
| Here's another example |
| わたしはきのう、走れませんでした。 (Watashi wa kinou, hashiremasen deshita.) |
| I couldn’t run yesterday. |
| This is also a class 1 verb, so we replace る with れ and then add ませんでした. |
| わたしはきのう、走れませんでした。 (Watashi wa kinou, hashiremasen deshita.) |
| I couldn’t run yesterday. |
| Let's try one more, |
| わたしはこの漢字を読めませんでした。 (Watashi wa kono kanji o yomemasen deshita.) |
| I couldn’t read this kanji. |
| わたしはこの漢字を読めませんでした。 (Watashi wa kono kanji o yomemasen deshita.) |
| I couldn’t read this kanji. |
| Another one. |
| かのじょはピアノをひけませんでした。 (Kanojo wa piano o hikemasen deshita.) |
| She couldn’t play the piano. |
| かのじょはピアノをひけませんでした。 (Kanojo wa piano o hikemasen deshita.) |
| She couldn’t play the piano. |
| Another one. |
| わたしはきのう、学校に来られませんでした。(Watashi wa kinou, gakkou ni koraremasen deshita.) |
| I couldn’t come to school yesterday. |
| Here, 来る is an irregular verb, its potential form is 来られる, meaning "can come." To make it past negative, we remove る and add ませんでした, forming 来られませんでした, which means "was not able to come." |
| わたしはきのう、学校に来られませんでした。 (Watashi wa kinou, gakkou ni koraremasen deshita.) |
| I couldn’t come to school yesterday. |
| One last example. |
| おとうとはしゅくだいをできませんでした。(Otouto wa shukudai o dekimasen deshita.) |
| My younger brother couldn’t do his homework. |
| おとうとはしゅくだいをできませんでした。(Otouto wa shukudai o dekimasen deshita.) |
| My younger brother couldn’t do his homework. |
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