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In Japanese the mashita ending is the past form of polite verbs.

For example:

To buy (root form) - Kau
To buy (polite form) - kaimasu 
To buy (polite form, past) - kaimashita

In my Japanese text book it has the following example

Where did you buy it?
Doko de kattan desu ka?

Why is the speaker using kattan instead of kaimashita (especially as kattan is defined as coal)? Could kattan be substituted with kaimashita? How does the meaning change when using kattan or kaimashita?

big_smile
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    katta is the informal past tense of kau. For the 'n' part try looking up the phrase 'explanatory の' and see this question http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/506/use-of-%ef%bd%9e%e3%81%ae%e3%81%8b-%ef%bd%9e%e3%82%93%e3%81%a7%e3%81%99%e3%81%8b-in-questions-not-seeking-a-yes-no-answer – user3856370 Feb 28 '17 at 16:52
  • And this: http://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/5398/5010 If you're okay, I think this can be closed as a duplicate of either of these questions. – naruto Feb 28 '17 at 17:03
  • @naruto So is the speaker using `kattan` (instead of `Kaimashita`) to be more informal and to soften the question so it's not so demanding. And so, yes, you can switch it with `Kaimashita`?. But then does that mean it is always better to use `n desu` forms to avoid sounding rude when asking questions? Is that correct? Also, is to buy another meaning of `Kattan`? (In addition to coal?) Thanks! – big_smile Feb 28 '17 at 18:18
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    You're misunderstanding the parse. nda/ndesu is a contraction of noda/nodesu, which @user3856370 linked above. – Kurausukun Feb 28 '17 at 20:03
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    @big_smile (1) Kattan is not a conjugation form. It's `katta` (ta-form) + `no` (contracted to `n`) + `desu` + `ka`. (2) Neither is milder nor politer than the other. `no/n` has an important role and omitting it would sound very awkward. Please read the linked answers carefully. – naruto Mar 01 '17 at 03:07

1 Answers1

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To buy (root form) - Kau
To buy (polite form) - kaimasu, (casual form) - kau
To buy (polite form, past) - kaimashita, (casual form, past) - katta

Where did you buy it?
Doko de kattan desu ka? = Doko de katta no desu ka?

"Katta" is a casual and past form, but "katta no desu ka?" is a polit form because it has "desu."

"Kattan desu (ka?)" is a short form of "Katta no desu (ka?)"

Doko de kattan desu ka? = Doko de kai mashita ka?

Both are polite. The latter is more polite. The former is a spoken vocabulary.

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Sonny365 TANAKA
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  • Dear the person who gamve me negative evaluation, I'd like to know why. Or I can't improve my answer. – Sonny365 TANAKA Mar 01 '17 at 11:36
  • I didn't downvote you. I think your answer is helpful. `The former is a spoken vocabulary.` Does that mean the latter (`kai mashita`) wouldn't sound as natural as when spoken (e.g. the former is better to use when speaking). Is that correct? Thanks! – big_smile Mar 01 '17 at 18:17