Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
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つもり

つもり

つもり Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Noun

Essential Meaning: Intend to / Be convinced that

Construction: 

  • Verb informal nonpast + つもりだ
    • E.g. 話はなすつもりだ [Intend to speak]
    • E.g. 食たべるつもりだ [Intend to eat]
  • Verb Past + つもりだ
    • E.g. 話はなしたつもりだ [Convinced that X spoke]
    • E.g. 食たべたつもりだ [Convinced that X ate]
  • い-Adjective informal nonpast + つもりだ
    • E.g. 強つよいつもりだ [Convinced that X is strong]
  • な-Adjective Stem + なつもりだ
    • E.g. 元気げんきなつもりだ [Convinced that X is healthy]
  • Noun + のつもりだ
    • E.g. 先生せんせいのつもりだ [Intend to be a teacher / Convinced that X is a teacher]

Notes:

  • つもり is used to convey one’s intention or conviction. Generally, つもり indicates an intention when paired with a nonpast verb (i.e. “I intend to do X”) and a conviction when paired with a past tense verb or with an adjective (i.e. “I am convinced that X is Y.“) When paired with a noun, the interpretation of つもり depends on context (“I intend for X to be a Y” or “I am convinced that X is Y“). つもり is a dependent noun, so it can only appear with a preceding modifier.
    • E.g. A: 行いくつもりですか。B: はい、そのつもりです。 [A: Do you intend to go? B: Yes, that is my intention.]
    • E.g. *A: 行いくつもりですか。B: はい、つもりです。[A: Do you intend to go? B: Yes, intention.] Because つもり is a dependent noun, it can’t be used without a modifier.
  • Because つもり indicates a personal conviction or intention, the subject of phrases that contain つもりだ must be the first person or someone psychologically close to the speaker. However in the context of a question, the 2nd person (or something psychologically close to the speaker) is typically used as the subject.
    • E.g. 僕ぼくは食たべるつもりだ。[I intend to eat.]
    • E.g. 友達ともだちは食たべるつもりだ。[My friend intends to eat.]
    • E.g. *あの人ひとは食たべるつもりだ。[That person intends to eat.] It’s ungrammatical to use つもり when the subject is a third person with whom the speaker does not empathize.
    • E.g. あなたは食たべるつもりですか。[Do you intend to eat?]
    • E.g. ヤマダさんは食たべるつもりですか。[Does Yamada-san intend to eat?]
    • E.g. *僕ぼくは食たべるつもりですか。[Do I intend to eat?] It doesn’t make sense to ask someone else about one’s own intentions.
  • つもり can be negated by either negating the preceding verb, adjective, or copula or by negating つもり itself. The difference is that negating つもり itself implies stronger negation.
    • E.g. 行いかないつもりです。[I intend to not go.]
    • E.g. 行いくつもりはありません。[I do not intend to go.] This version comes across much stronger.
  • つもり resembles はず, but the two are not interchangeable. The difference is that つもり indicates one’s will or conviction, whereas はず indicates one’s expectation.
    • E.g. 行いかないつもりです。[I don’t intend to go.]
    • E.g. 彼かれは行いかないはずです。[I expect that he won’t go.]
  • つもり is also comparable to ようとおもう. The differences are:
    • (1) ようとおもう can only replace つもりだ with a preceding verb and not with a preceding adjective.
    • (2) ようとおもう signifies instantaneous / spur-of-the-moment thinking, whereas つもりだ indicates a stable conviction that persists over time.
      • E.g. この車くるまは良よさそうなので買かおうと思おもいますがいくらですか。[This car looks nice. I think I’ll buy it. How much?]
      • E.g. *この車くるまは良よさそうなので買かうつもりですがいくらですか。[This car looks nice and I intend to buy it. But how much is it?] This sentence is contradictory since the speaker expresses his strong intention to buy the car but also expresses reservations about the price.
      • E.g. ステレオの広告こうこくを見みて買かおうと思おもったら家内かないに反対はんたいされた。[When I looked at the ad for the stereo I thought I would buy it, buy my wife objected to it.]
      • E.g. *ステレオの広告こうこくを見みて買かうつもりだったら家内かないに反対はんたいされた。[I saw the ad for the stereo and had the strong intention to buy it. But my wife objected.] This sentence is contradictory because it expresses the speaker’s strong conviction to buy the stereo, but also indicates that the speaker didn’t buy the stereo due to the wife’s objections.

Example Sentences:

私わたしは来年らいねん結婚けっこんするつもりだ。[I intend to get married next year.]

父ちちはまだ若わかいつもりだ。[My father is convinced that he is still young.]

私わたしはよく読よんだつもりだ。[I am convinced that I read it well.]

これはお礼れいのつもりだ。[I intend for this to be a token of my appreciation.]

僕ぼくは大学だいがくに行いくつもりはない。[I don’t intend to go to university.]

あんな人ひとにはもう会あわないつもりです。[I don’t intend to meet with that kind of person any more.]

私わたしはまだ元気げんきなつもりだ。[I’m convinced that I’m still healthy.]

話はなしたつもりでしたが話はなさなかったんですね。[I was convinced that I spoke to you, but I didn’t, did I?]

この仕事しごとは遊あそびのつもりです。[This job is intended to be fun.]

それで勉強べんきょうしているつもりですか。[Do you intend to study like that?]

WILD Examples:

This song begins with the following line: いったいこのままいつまで一人ひとりでいるつもりだろう [How long exactly do I intend to remain along like this?]

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