Talking About Past Travel Food in Japanese: Using 〜かった and 〜だった
Learn to describe past travel experiences in Japanese, focusing on how food was during a trip to Italy. Practice past-tense adjectives and the verb 食べる to reflect on what you ate and how it tasted.
By PookieFriends & plans · Yapr Learn
When you return from a trip, you often want to tell friends about what you ate and how it was. In Japanese, talking about past experiences requires past-tense forms of adjectives and verbs. This lesson teaches you to say things like 'The food in Italy was amazing' and 'I ate pizza every day' using the past tense. You will learn to use 〜かった for i-adjectives, 〜だった for na-adjectives and nouns, and the past form of the verb 食べる (taberu). By the end, you can share memories of meals from a past trip, not just future travel plans.
By the end, you can…
- describe how food was during a past trip using past-tense adjectives.
- say what I ate and how often using the past tense of 食べる.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
イタリアの 食べ物は すごかったです。
The food in Italy was amazing.
Itaria no tabemono wa sugokatta desu.
Use すごかった (sugokatta) to express that something was amazing or incredible in the past. です makes it polite.
毎日 ピザを 食べました。
I ate pizza every day.
Mainichi piza o tabemashita.
食べました (tabemashita) is the polite past tense of 食べる (taberu). 毎日 (mainichi) means 'every day'.
パスタは おいしかったです。
The pasta was delicious.
Pasuta wa oishikatta desu.
おいしかった (oishikatta) is the past tense of おいしい (oishii). Use it to describe food that was tasty.
ジェラートは とても 人気でした。
The gelato was very popular.
Jerāto wa totemo ninki deshita.
人気でした (ninki deshita) is the polite past tense of 人気だ (ninki da), meaning 'was popular'.
旅行は 楽しかったです。
The trip was fun.
Ryokō wa tanoshikatta desu.
楽しかった (tanoshikatta) is the past tense of 楽しい (tanoshii). Use it to reflect on a past trip.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
To talk about how something was in the past, i-adjectives change their ending from 〜い to 〜かった. For example, すごい (sugoi, amazing) becomes すごかった (sugokatta, was amazing), and おいしい (oishii, delicious) becomes おいしかった (oishikatta, was delicious). Na-adjectives and nouns use 〜だった (datta) in the plain past, or 〜でした (deshita) in the polite past. For example, 人気 (ninki, popular) becomes 人気だった (ninki datta) or 人気でした (ninki deshita). The verb 食べる (taberu, to eat) becomes 食べた (tabeta) in plain past or 食べました (tabemashita) in polite past. So you can say イタリアの 食べ物は すごかったです (Itaria no tabemono wa sugokatta desu) to mean 'The food in Italy was amazing.'
When to use it
Use these past-tense forms when you are reflecting on a completed trip or a specific meal that already happened. For example, after returning from Italy, you might say 毎日 ピザを 食べました (Mainichi piza o tabemashita, I ate pizza every day) or パスタは おいしかったです (Pasuta wa oishikatta desu, The pasta was delicious). Do not use these forms for future plans; for future, you would say 食べます (tabemasu, will eat) or おいしいです (oishii desu, is delicious). Also, when you want to emphasize how amazing something was, すごかった (sugokatta) is stronger than よかった (yokatta, was good). Use it for strong impressions.
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
イタリアの 食べ物は どうでしたか。
How was the food in Italy?Itaria no tabemono wa dō deshita ka.すごかったです！ 毎日 ピザを 食べました。
It was amazing! I ate pizza every day.Sugokatta desu! Mainichi piza o tabemashita.パスタは おいしかったですか。
Was the pasta delicious?Pasuta wa oishikatta desu ka.はい、とても おいしかったです。ジェラートも 人気でした。
Yes, it was very delicious. The gelato was also popular.Hai, totemo oishikatta desu. Jerāto mo ninki deshita.A little context goes a long way
In Japanese conversation, when talking about past trips, it is common to use 〜かったです or 〜でした to keep politeness, especially with acquaintances. Among friends, plain forms like すごかった or おいしかった are fine. Avoid boasting; instead, share experiences modestly. For example, saying すごかったです is fine, but adding とても (totemo, very) can sound more natural. Also, when someone asks about your trip, it's polite to ask about theirs in return, using どうでしたか.
One thing to watch for
Using the present tense to describe past food, e.g., イタリアの 食べ物は すごいです (Itaria no tabemono wa sugoi desu) to mean 'The food in Italy was amazing.'
Try this instead: Use the past tense: イタリアの 食べ物は すごかったです (Itaria no tabemono wa sugokatta desu). The present tense すごいです means 'is amazing' and would refer to food you are currently experiencing or a general fact, not a past trip.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1How do you say 'The pasta was delicious' in polite Japanese?
Show a sample answer
パスタは おいしかったです。 (Pasuta wa oishikatta desu.)
おいしかった is the past tense of おいしい, and です makes it polite. You could also say パスタは おいしかった (plain) in casual conversation.
2What is the polite past tense of 食べる (taberu)?
Show a sample answer
食べました (tabemashita)
食べました is the polite past form. The plain past is 食べた (tabeta). Both are correct depending on formality.
3Translate: 'I ate gelato every day.'
Show a sample answer
毎日 ジェラートを 食べました。 (Mainichi jerāto o tabemashita.)
毎日 means 'every day', ジェラート is 'gelato', を marks the object, and 食べました is the polite past of 食べる. You could also use 食べた in plain form.
To talk about past travel food, use 〜かった for i-adjectives (すごかった, おいしかった) and 〜でした for na-adjectives/nouns (人気でした). Use 食べました for 'ate'. Practice by describing your last trip's meals.
Progress is saved on this browser.
Practice real time conversations on Yapr for faster learning.
Put today’s Japanese into a conversation with an AI tutor. Speak, make mistakes, and try again.
Practice on Yapr