Japanese 泳ぐ: swim

The idea

泳およぐ is a godan verb: ぐ becomes ぎます in the polite form and いで in the て form. 泳およぎません is polite negative and 泳およぎました is polite past; the non-past can describe a habit or the future. Use で for the place where swimming happens; に instead marks a destination. The て form ends in いで.

Examples

• 夏なつに海うみで泳およぎます。I swim in the sea in summer.
• 今日きょうはプールで泳およぎません。I will not swim in the pool today.
• 昨日きのう、友達ともだちと泳およぎました。Yesterday I swam with a friend.
• ここで泳およいでください。Please swim here.
• 子こどもが今いま、プールで泳およいでいます。A child is swimming in the pool now.
• 明日あした、いっしょに泳およぎませんか。Would you like to swim together tomorrow?

Watch out

The dictionary form 泳およぐ is plain speech. In polite conversation use 泳およぎます; the て form is 泳およいで, not the dictionary form plus て.

Try it yourself

1. 夏なつに海うみで＿。（泳およぐ→ます）

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   泳ぎます

   泳およぎます is the polite non-past of 泳およぐ; context tells whether it describes a habit or a future action.

2. ＿。（泳およぐ→て）

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   泳いで

   泳およいで is the て form of 泳およぐ. It can join clauses or precede ください in a request.

3. プール＿泳およぎます。（で／に）

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   で

   で marks the place where the activity happens; に would mark a destination.

Use it today

Make a new sentence with 泳およぐ. Change it to the polite past and identify its particle, then compare it with the table.