Lesson 23 - I don't do ..

In Lesson 19, you learned that the tense masu is the future or habitual tense. The next tense, masen, is the negative of masu. Since shimasu is "to do", then shimasen would be "will not do". You can use that with the three other verbs you learned with this two: renshuu shimasen (won't practice), benkyou shimasen (won't study), and hanashimasen (don't speak). Now let's introduce two more verbs: to read and to listen. To listen is kikimasu, while won't listen is kikimasen. To read is yomimasu and won't read is yomimasen. Now that you know these, you can say even more things.

For example, to say "I will read a newspaper", you would say Shinbun o yomimasu. If you wanted to say "I will not read the magazine", you would say Zasshi o yomimasen. Some new words to learn in relation to listening are a few Japanese-english words: REKOODO, which means records but isn't used too often anymore; RAJIO, which means radio; and KASETTO TEEPU, which means cassette tape. So for example, if you wanted to say, "I will not listen to records. I will listen to cassette tapes," you would say REKOODO o kikimasen. KASETTO TEEPU o kikimasu.

Let's have a sample dialogue between two people. We'll use two friends: Tetsu and Kenichi.

Tetsu: Kenichi kun, ohayou.
Kenichi: Ohayou, Tetsu kun. Nani o kikimasu ka.
Tetsu: RAJIO o kikimasu.
Kenichi: Sou desu ka. Watashi wa RAJIO o kikimasen.
Tetsu: Sou desu ka. Nani o kikumasu ka.
Kenichi: REKOODO o kikimasu.
Tetsu: Aa. Hon o yomimasu ka.
Kenichi: Hai, anata wa hon o yomimasen ka.
Tetsu: Iie, shimasen.
Kenichi: Sou desu ka.
Tetsu: Hai, sou desu. Ja mata.
Kenichi: Ja mata, Tetsu kun.

In this conversation, after exchanging greetings. Kenichi asks Tetsu what he listens to. Tetsu replies that he listen to the radio. Kenichi says, "Really? I don't listen to the radio." Tetsu then askes, "Really? What do you listen to?" Kenichi replies that he listens to records. Tetsu then asks if he reads books. Tetsu replies, "No, I don't."
The negative masen can be used with any verb that ends in a masu tense.

Vocabulary Review
しません Shimasen- don't do
練習しません Renshuu shimasen- don't practice
勉強しません Benkyou shimasen- don't study
話しません Hanashimasen- don't speak
聞きます Kikimasu- listen
聞きません Kikimasen- don't listen
読みます Yomimasu- read
読みません Yomimasen- don't read
レコード REKOODO- records
カセットテープ KASETTO TEEPU- cassette tape
ラジオ RAJIO- radio