namake.

Lesson 28: Going somewhere or nowhere

Distinguish どこへ from どこか, use どこも with negation, and choose the fitting polite tense ending.

Going somewhere or nowhere

Say どこか行きますか and どこも行きません. Circle か and も, then listen to the verb ending.

1. Short review of four polite endings

Choose tense first, then affirmation or negation: 行きます, 行きません, 行きました, 行きませんでした. The small changes are ます→ません, ます→ました, and ます→ませんでした.

This is a focused review, not a general conjugation lesson. Open the Verb Bridge for the full explanation and mixed practice.

2. どこへ asks where; どこか asks whether

週末、どこへ行きますか asks for a specific destination. 週末、どこか行きますか asks whether someone is going anywhere; yes or no is the first decision.

どこか is one meaning unit in this pattern. The school form has no visible へ after it. Do not generalise this to all question words or particles.

3. どこも requires negation

Together with a negative verb form, どこも excludes every destination. どこも行きません means ‘I am not going anywhere’. も alone is not negative; ません supplies the negation.

In the past, this becomes 先週、どこも行きませんでした. The natural variants どこかへ and どこへも exist, but are only a preview; the active school forms remain without visible へ.

いいえ、どこも行きません。

先週、どこも行きませんでした。

4. Let question type and tense guide the answer

To どこか行きますか, an affirmative answer can name a destination: はい、スーパーへ行きます. A negative answer is いいえ、どこも行きません.

With 行きましたか, the answer must also be past: はい、行きました or いいえ、どこも行きませんでした. Check tense before choosing か or も. No te-form is needed.

はい、スーパーへ行きます。

いいえ、どこも行きませんでした。

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