ます

Japanese

Etymology 1

mawirasuru → mairasuru → marasuru → massuru → masuru → masu

The -ます ending is generally believed to have come from the Old Japanese auxiliary verb まゐらする (mawirasuru, “to humbly do something for a superior”), with idiomatic use arising from the causative conjugation of 参る (mairu, “to come or go to the place of a social superior”, humble verb; ancient reading mawiru).[1][2]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [ma̠sɨ̥ᵝ]
  • In Tokyo speech, the accent falls somewhere in the suffix, regardless of the accent type of the suffixed verb:[3]
    • If the suffix is in the form ます (-masu) or ました (-mashita, past/perfective form), the accent of the verb construction falls on the first mora of the suffix.
    • If the suffix is in the form ましょう (-mashō, volitional/conjectural form) or ません (-masen, negative form), the accent of the verb construction falls on the second mora of the suffix.
  • There are a few exceptions like 恐れ入る: おそ​れいる [òsóꜜrèìrù] (Nakadaka) → おそ​れいります [òsóꜜrèìrìmàsù] (Nakadaka).

Alternative forms
  • 在す, 坐す (rare), 〼

Suffix

ます (rōmaji -masu)

  1. (jodōshi) expresses politeness toward and distance from the listener: vaguely similar to the social context indicated by the usted verb conjugation in Spanish, the vous conjugation in French, or the Sie conjugation in German
Conjugation
Conjugation of "ます" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形) － －
Continuative (連用形) － －
Terminal (終止形) ます -masu
Attributive (連体形) － －
Hypothetical (仮定形) － －
Imperative (命令形) ませ¹
まし¹		 -mase¹
-mashi¹
Key constructions
Passive － －
Causative － －
Potential － －
Volitional ましょう -mashō
Negative ません -masen
Negative continuative － －
Formal － －
Perfective ました -mashita
Conjunctive まして -mashite
Hypothetical conditional ますれば -masureba
¹ Rare, only used with honorific verbs

Other forms not attested.

Usage notes

Connects to the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of a verb and inflects partially like type-1 verbs. The imperative forms are only used with honorific verbs, e.g. いらっしゃいませ (irasshaimase), なさいませ (nasaimase), 下さいませ (kudasaimase). The perfective has an irregular negative form ませんでした (masen deshita); the hypothetical conditional is rare. The old dictionary form まする (masuru) is still sometimes used. When there is a choice, attaches last: e.g. polite passive is 話されます (hanasaremasu), not 話しまされる (*hanashimasareru).

Derived terms
  • ですます体 (たい) (desu-masu tai)
  • ですます調 (ちょう) (desu-masu chō)
See also
Japanese basic inflections
Verbs-i adjectivesnouns and -na adjectives
NonpastPlainAffirmative Use the dictionary formstem + い (-i)noun + だ (da)
(noun + である (de aru))
Negative mizenkei + ない (-nai)stem + くない (-ku nai)noun + で（は）ない (de [wa] nai)
PoliteAffirmative ren'yōkei + ます (-masu)stem + いです (-i desu)noun + です (desu)
Negative ren'yōkei + ません (-masen)stem + くないです (-ku nai desu)
stem + くありません (-ku arimasen)		noun + で（は）ないです (de [wa] nai desu)
noun + で（は）ありません (de [wa] arimasen)
PastPlainAffirmative ren'yōkei (with onbin sound changes for Group I verbs) + た (-ta)stem + かった (-katta)noun + だった (datta)
(noun + であった (de atta))
Negative mizenkei + なかった (-nakatta)stem + くなかった (-ku nakatta)noun + で（は）なかった (de [wa] nakatta)
PoliteAffirmative ren'yōkei + ました (-mashita)stem + かったです (-katta desu)noun + でした (deshita)
Negative ren'yōkei + ませんでした (-masen deshita)stem + くなかったです (-ku nakatta desu)
stem + くありませんでした (-ku arimasen deshita)		noun + で（は）なかったです (de [wa] nakatta desu)
noun + で（は）ありませんでした (de [wa] arimasen deshita)
VolitionalPlain mizenkei (of Group I verbs) + う (-u > -o)
mizenkei (of other verbs) + よう (-yō)		†stem + かろう (-karō)
(stem + いだろう (-i darō))		noun + だろう (darō)
(noun + であろう (de arō))
Polite ren'yōkei + ましょう (-mashō)(stem + いでしょう (-i deshō))noun + でしょう (deshō)
Conjunctive ren'yōkei (with onbin sound changes for Group I verbs) + て (-te)stem + くて (-kute)noun + で (de)
(noun + であって (de atte))
Hypothetical conditional kateikei + ば (-ba)stem + ければ (-kereba)(noun + であれば (de areba))

Etymology 2

The reading of various kanji.

Pronunciation 1
Noun

ます (rōmaji masu)

  1. 鱒: trout
  2. 枡, 升, 桝, 斗: a traditional Japanese cup (unit of measurement)
Verb

ます (rōmaji masu)

  1. 増す, 益す: to increase in amount or degree

Pronunciation 2
Noun

ます (rōmaji masu)

  1. 鱒: trout
  2. 枡, 升, 桝, 斗: a traditional Japanese cup (unit of measurement)
  3. 斗: (architecture) the capital of a wooden pillar

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. Online Japanese Accent Dictionary (OJAD)
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