Grammar JLPT Level N5 - Lesson 11

In Japanese, the non-past form of verbs is identical to the dictionary form/casual form. Unlike English, this form of verbs is able to be used in several cases where conjugation/different constructions would be required in English.

• 嫁(よめ)は毎晩(まいばん)映画(えいが)を見(み)ます。
  My wife watches movies every night.
• 俺(おれ)は明日(あした)の昼(ひる)にピザを食(た)べます。
  I will eat pizza tomorrow during lunch.
• 子供(こども)は遊(あそ)ぶ。
  Kids play.

In these examples, we can see the three forms of English verbs that are covered by the single non-past form of Japanese verbs. These are verbs ending with -s (sees, hears, goes), verbs requiring will (will see, will hear, will go), and verbs that do not require conjugation (see, hear, go).
Due to this one form of verbs covering several different nuances, it is often important to use expressions of time in the sentence, so that the meaning becomes clear.

• テイラーは毎朝(まいあさ)走(はし)る。
  Taylor runs every morning.
• カホは8時(じ)に寝(ね)る。
  Kaho will sleep at 8 p.m.

If there is no word distinguishing 'time' in the sentence, the nuance will be that of stating a general fact about something that is true at any time.

• 赤(あか)ちゃんは泣(な)きます。
  Babies cry.

From all of these examples, we can see that the non-past form can be thought of as expressing one of three basic ideas. General facts, habits, or future events.