ません / ませんでした — Polite Negative
The polite negative forms of verbs: ません for present/future ("do not / will not") and ませんでした for the past ("did not"). Used with strangers or superiors.
Structure
[Masu-stem] + ません (present neg) / ませんでした (past neg)
Examples
お酒は飲みません。
Osake wa nomimasen.
I don't drink alcohol.
飲み (stem) + ません (polite present negative).
あの映画は見ませんでした。
Ano eiga wa mimasen deshita.
I didn't watch that movie.
見 (stem) + ませんでした (polite past negative).
今朝は何も食べませんでした。
Kesa wa nani mo tabemasen deshita.
I didn't eat anything this morning.
食べ (stem) + ませんでした (polite past negative); 何も + negative = "nothing at all."
• The Polite Quartet: ます (do/will), ました (did), ません (don't/won't), ませんでした (didn't). • Etymology: すみません (excuse me/sorry) comes from 済む (to end/resolve) + ません — literally "it is not resolved (in my heart)".
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones ません is tested against.
vs ない / なかった (plain negative)
ません/ませんでした are the polite forms; ない/なかった are the plain (casual) equivalents used with friends. Same meaning, different register.
vs 〜ないです / 〜なかったです
Attaching です to the plain negative (飲まないです) is a slightly softer, more conversational polite negative than 飲みません, which is more standard/formal.
More verb forms
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