Past Tense Short Forms in Informal Speech

💬 How Past Short Forms Work in Real Conversations

Short form predicates in the past tense are used in the same way as the present tense short forms. These forms are super common in casual speech—like chatting with friends or texting. Note that the question particle か is dropped in informal speech:

Examples:

• A: 大阪おおさかに行いった？ (Did you go to Osaka?)
  B: うん、先月せんげつ行いった。楽たのしかった！ (Yes, I went last month. It was fun!)

• A: あの店みせの料理りょうりどうだった？ (How was the food at that restaurant?)
  B: まあまあだった。高たかかったけど。 (It was okay. But expensive.)

🧩 Important: Unlike だ in present tense, だった is NOT dropped!

Unlike だ (present tense), the past tense copula だった is kept even in informal speech.

Example:

• Present tense (だ often dropped):
  あの人ひと、医者いしゃ。 (That person is] a doctor.)
  あの[映画えいが、面白おもしろい。 (That movie [is] interesting.)

• Past tense (だった is kept):
  あの映画えいが、面白おもしろかった。 (That movie was interesting.)
  昨日きのう、暇ひまだった。 (Yesterday [I] was free.)

🧩 Response Patterns

In real Japanese conversations, people often:

• Use うん (yes) and ううん (no) instead of はい and いいえ when speaking casually
• Answer with just the verb in past form without repeating the subject
• Add explanatory phrases after the initial response: 食たべた。すごく美味おいしかった！(I ate. It was really delicious!)