The negative form ません

Verb ません verb masen Do not; will not

ません (masen) makes a polite verb negative: 飲みます becomes 飲みません. It means "don't" or "won't", and it always comes at the end.

Level: JLPT N5, beginner
Type: Verb forms
English links: negatives, auxiliary do, short answers

What it means

To make a polite verb negative, change ます to ません. 飲みます (I drink) becomes 飲みません (I don't drink). It works the same for every verb, even the two irregular ones.

Like ます, it covers the present and the future. 今日は行きません can mean "I don't go today" or "I'm not going today". The context decides.

In negative sentences you will often hear は in place of を: お酒は飲みません. This は sets the thing apart: "Alcohol, I don't drink." It is natural Japanese and not a mistake.

With friends, people use the short form: 飲まない. You will meet it on the verbs page as the "not form". For school and work, ません is the safe choice.

How to build it

Pattern	How it works
～ます → ～ません (食べます → 食べません) tabemasu → tabemasen	Swap the ending. The stem does not change.
行きます → 行きません ikimasu → ikimasen	Group 1 verbs follow the same rule.
します → しません, 来ます → 来ません shimasu → shimasen, kimasu → kimasen	The irregular verbs are regular here.

Examples

お酒は飲みません。 osake wa nomimasen. I don't drink alcohol.
肉は食べません。 niku wa tabemasen. I don't eat meat.
今日は学校に行きません。 kyou wa gakkou ni ikimasen. I'm not going to school today.
田中さんは明日来ません。 tanaka-san wa ashita kimasen. Mr Tanaka isn't coming tomorrow.
日曜日は仕事をしません。 nichiyoubi wa shigoto o shimasen. I don't work on Sundays.

How English says it

English needs a helper verb. "I don't drink", "She doesn't drink". The "not" goes near the start of the sentence, right after the subject and the helper.

For the future, English uses "won't" or "be not going to". So one Japanese ending again becomes two or three English forms.

Why it can make English hard

Japanese has no helper like "do". Many beginners just put "not" or "no" in front of the verb.
With "doesn't", the -s moves to the helper. Students who have just learned the -s often keep it on the main verb too.
Japanese puts the negative at the very end. In English it comes early, so students must decide "yes or no" before they start the sentence.
Answers to negative questions work the other way round. はい、食べません agrees with the question, but in English that is "No, I don't."

Mistakes you will hear

I not drink coffee. I don't drink coffee. English needs the helper "do". There is nothing like it in Japanese.
He doesn't plays soccer. He doesn't play soccer. The -s goes on "does", not on the main verb.
I don't go to school tomorrow. I'm not going to school tomorrow. A direct copy of 明日は行きません. English uses a future form here.
A: Don't you eat meat? B: Yes, I don't. A: Don't you eat meat? B: No, I don't. はい、食べません means "that is right". In English, the answer word matches the verb: no with "don't".

In the classroom

Put "do" and "does" on two big cards. When a student makes a negative, they must hold up the right card first. It makes the helper visible.
Play "true or false" about the teacher: "I eat natto. I don't drink coffee." Students guess, then make their own sentences about themselves.
Drill negative questions with short answers only: "Don't you like cats?" "No, I don't." Keep it fast. The goal is the reflex, not the rule.

Practice

Try each one, then open it to check.

1. Make the negative: 書きます

Answer: 書きません

Change ます to ません. The stem stays the same.
2. Fill the gap: たばこを吸い＿。 (I don't smoke.)

Answer: ません

The negative polite ending replaces ます.
3. A student writes "She don't like natto." Fix it.

Answer: She doesn't like natto.

With she, the helper is "does". Japanese has no change for the person.
4. Translate: 明日は来ません。

Answer: I'm not coming tomorrow. (or: I won't come tomorrow.)

The time word makes it future, so English needs a future form.