Japanese reference
探す
さがす
to look for
Regular · 32 form tables
Rows describe verb forms and levels of politeness. Honorific and humble forms are labeled separately. Strong commands appear under additional forms.
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Basic
Non past
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Dictionary form | さがす (sagasu)look for something |
| Polite, masu | さがします (sagashimasu)look for something |
Negative
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Negative, nai | さがさない (sagasanai)do not look for something |
| Polite negative | さがしません (sagashimasen)do not look for something |
Past
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Past, ta | さがした (sagashita)looked for something |
| Polite past | さがしました (sagashimashita)looked for something |
Past negative
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Past negative | さがさなかった (sagasanakatta)did not look for something |
| Polite past negative | さがしませんでした (sagashimasendeshita)did not look for something |
Linking
Te form
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Te-form | さがして (sagashite)looking for something (and then) |
| Polite te-form | さがしまして (sagashimashite)looking for something (and then) |
Te iru
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Te-iru: ongoing action / resulting state | さがしている (sagashiteiru)be looking for something |
| Polite te-iru | さがしています (sagashiteimasu)be looking for something |
Conditional, ba
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Conditional, ba | さがせば (sagaseba)if you look for something |
| Rare literary polite conditional | さがしますれば (sagashimasureba)if you look for something (rare and literary). In ordinary polite conversation, use the plain conditional and make the main clause polite |
Conditional, tara
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Conditional, tara | さがしたら (sagashitara)if you look for something |
| Polite conditional, tara | さがしましたら (sagashimashitara)if you look for something |
Mood
Potential
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Potential | さがせる (sagaseru)can look for something |
| Polite potential | さがせます (sagasemasu)can look for something |
Volitional
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Volitional | さがそう (sagasou)let's look for something! |
| Polite volitional | さがしましょう (sagashimashou)let's look for something! |
Desire, tai
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Desire, tai | さがしたい (sagashitai)want to look for something |
| Polite desire, tai | さがしたいです (sagashitaidesu)want to look for something |
Voice
Passive
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Passive | さがされる (sagasareru)be affected when someone looks for something |
| Polite passive | さがされます (sagasaremasu)be affected when someone looks for something |
Causative
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Causative | さがさせる (sagasaseru)make or let someone look for something |
| Polite causative | さがさせます (sagasasemasu)make or let someone look for something |
Causative passive
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Causative-passive | さがさせられる (sagasaserareru)be made to look for something |
| Polite causative-passive | さがさせられます (sagasaseraremasu)be made to look for something |
Commands
Negative imperative
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Negative imperative | さがすな (sagasuna)do not look for something! |
| Polite negative request | さがさないでください (sagasanaidekudasai)please do not look for something |
Polite
Polite non past
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Polite non-past form | さがします (sagashimasu)look for something |
Polite negative
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Polite negative form | さがしません (sagashimasen)do not look for something |
Polite past
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Polite past form | さがしました (sagashimashita)looked for something |
Polite past negative
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Polite past negative form | さがしませんでした (sagashimasendeshita)did not look for something |
Requests
Request with kudasai
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Request with kudasai | さがしてください (sagashitekudasai)please look for something |
Negative request
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Request not to act | さがさないでください (sagasanaidekudasai)please do not look for something |
Invitation with mashou
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Invitation with mashou | さがしましょう (sagashimashou)let's look for something! |
Permission
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Permission | さがしてもいい (sagashitemoii)may look for something |
| Polite permission | さがしてもいいです (sagashitemoiidesu)may look for something |
Not allowed
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Not allowed | さがしてはいけない (sagashitehaikenai)must not look for something |
| Polite prohibition | さがしてはいけません (sagashitehaikemasen)must not look for something |
Instruction with nasai
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Instruction with nasai | さがしなさい (sagashinasai)look for something (instruction) |
Aspect
Try doing
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Try doing | さがしてみる (sagashitemiru)try to look for something |
| Polite try doing | さがしてみます (sagashitemimasu)try to look for something |
Completion or regret
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Completion or regret | さがしてしまう (sagashiteshimau)look for something completely or regrettably |
| Polite completion or regret | さがしてしまいます (sagashiteshimaimasu)look for something completely or regrettably |
Preparation
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Preparation | さがしておく (sagashiteoku)look for something in advance |
| Polite preparation | さがしておきます (sagashiteokimasu)look for something in advance |
Past experience
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Past experience | さがしたことがある (sagashitakotogaaru)have the experience of: looked for something |
| Polite past experience | さがしたことがあります (sagashitakotogaarimasu)have the experience of: looked for something |
Conditions
Automatic result, to
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Automatic result, to | さがすと (sagasuto)whenever you look for something |
| Polite automatic result | さがしますと (sagashimasuto)whenever you look for something |
Given that, nara
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Given that, nara | さがすなら (sagasunara)if you mean to look for something |
Probability
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Probability | さがすだろう (sagasudarou)probably look for something |
| Polite probability | さがすでしょう (sagasudeshou)probably look for something |
Additional forms
Strong command
| Person, form or usage | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Imperative | さがせ (sagase)look for something! |
| Polite request | さがしてください (sagashitekudasai)please look for something |
Forms from the Loquus reference. Only supplied forms are shown. Browse all Japanese entries.