Use やめる to talk about leaving a job, stopping a habit or calling off a plan.
The idea
やめる is an ichidan verb: remove る to make やめます, やめました and やめて. The activity or organization being left is marked by を. Context determines whether stopping is temporary or permanent.
| Dictionary form | Polite non-past | Polite negative | Polite past | て form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| やめる | やめます | やめません | やめました | やめて |
Examples
- 私は去年、たばこをやめました。I quit smoking last year.
- 姉は会社をやめました。My older sister quit her job.
- 雨なので、試合をやめます。Because of the rain, we will cancel the match.
- 弟はまだピアノをやめません。My younger brother is not quitting piano yet.
- 遅いので、今日は勉強をやめます。It is late, so I will stop studying for today.
- 友達に相談して、やめました。I talked it over with a friend and decided to quit.
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Watch out
やめる can mean cancelling an event before it starts as well as stopping an activity. For an activity expressed as a verb, use its dictionary form plus のをやめる, as in 食べるのをやめる.
Try it yourself
＿。（やめる→ます）
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やめます
やめます is the polite non-past: remove る and add ます.
＿。（やめる→て）
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やめて
やめて is the て form of this ichidan verb: replace る with て.
去年、会社を＿。（やめます／やめました）
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やめました
やめました fits the past context; 会社をやめる means to leave a company or job.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Japanese sentences where available. We keep your score.
＿。（やめる→ます）
＿。（やめる→て）
去年、会社を＿。（やめます／やめました）
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Describe something you stopped doing, then change the sentence to the polite past.