Making an appointment in Japanese: つもり and 予定

Level A2

Making an appointment in Japanese: つもり and 予定

By the end of this lesson, you can say what you intend to do, say whether you are free, and settle a day and a time with someone. The central idea is this: たいです (tai desu) says what you would like, つもりです (tsumori desu) says what you have decided to do, and 予定です (yotei desu) says what is on the schedule; none of the three guarantees that it will happen. Compare 海に行きたいです (umi ni ikitai desu), “I want to go to the beach”, 海に行くつもりです (umi ni iku tsumori desu), “I intend to go to the beach”, and 海に行く予定です (umi ni iku yotei desu), “The plan is to go to the beach”.

Quick review: a wish, an invitation, a date

These pieces come back in this lesson, even if this is your first time seeing them. 来週、海に行きたいです (raishū, umi ni ikitai desu), “I want to go to the beach next week”, states a wish: 来週 is “next week”, 海 (umi) is “sea”, here “the beach”, and に (ni) marks the destination. 明日行きませんか (ashita ikimasen ka), “Why don't we go tomorrow?”, invites and leaves the answer to the other person. 4月10日に行きましょう (shigatsu tōka ni ikimashō), “Let's go on April 10th”, settles a date: month, day, then に. Listen and repeat.

The words: three verbs and three words for planning

This lesson needs the verb as it appears in the dictionary, the same plain form friends use with each other: 行く (iku, go), 食べる (taberu, eat), 飲む (nomu, drink). Their ます forms are 行きます, 食べます and 飲みます. Three more words: 予定 (yotei) is “plan”, and it also covers what English calls “something on” or “a commitment”, whatever is already in your diary. つもり (tsumori) is “intention”, usually written in kana alone. 日曜日 (nichiyōbi) is “Sunday”.

Model: two colleagues find a day

Listen once without reading. One asks about the other's Saturday, and the conversation moves through an intention, a wish, a commitment and an invitation until day and time are settled. 何をしますか (nani o shimasu ka) is “what are you doing?”, and 仕事 (shigoto) is “work”. どうですか (dō desu ka) is “how about it?”, and 大丈夫です (daijōbu desu) here is “that works”. Notice that B intends to go to the beach on Saturday and ends up agreeing on Sunday: an intention can change.

What you intend: dictionary form + つもりです

To say what you have decided to do, put つもりです after the verb in its dictionary form: 行く → 行くつもりです, 食べる → 食べるつもりです, 飲む → 飲むつもりです. It does not attach to the ます form: 行きますつもり does not exist. For what you have decided not to do, use the plain negative: 行かない (ikanai), 飲まない (nomanai). So 行かないつもりです is “I intend not to go”. The rest of the sentence stays as it was: に for the destination, を (o) for what you eat or drink, で (de) for where you do it. Among friends, drop です: 明日は魚を食べるつもり.

Words in the examples: 魚 (sakana, fish), コーヒー (kōhī, coffee), 今日 (kyō, today), 明日 (ashita, tomorrow). “I intend” sounds formal in English, but つもりです is everyday speech, often closer to “I'm planning to”. In this lesson, つもり talks about your own intentions. Asking someone つもりですか can sound like pressing them; to ask, 予定 in the next section is the safer choice.

行く／行かないつもりです

What is on the schedule: 〜予定です

予定です also follows the dictionary form: 行く予定です. After a noun, link it with の (no): 仕事の予定です, 月曜日の予定です, 十時の予定です. The difference from つもり is where the information comes from: つもり reports what you have decided yourself, and 予定 reports what has been arranged or scheduled. That is why 予定 suits an event, as in 会議は月曜日の予定です, “The meeting is scheduled for Monday” (会議, kaigi, is “meeting”), and another person, as in アナさんは土曜日に行く予定です, “Ana's plan is to go on Saturday”: you are passing on her schedule, not reading her mind. To ask: 何時に行く予定ですか. A date or time that takes に keeps it before the verb: 4月10日に行く予定です.

行く／仕事の予定(よてい)です

Saying whether you are free: 予定があります

Here 予定 is an ordinary noun, used with あります (arimasu), “there is”. 土曜日は予定があります is “I have plans on Saturday”, literally “as for Saturday, there is a plan”. It is how you say you are not free, without having to explain what you are doing. 予定がありません (yotei ga arimasen) says nothing is arranged, so you are free. 予定がありますか asks before you invite. In these sentences the day or week takes は (wa) and 予定 takes が (ga).

土曜日は予定(よてい)があります／ありません

Wanting, intending, having it scheduled

In English, “I'm going to the beach” can stretch over all of this; in Japanese the form shows what you are claiming. Compare the first four sentences. 行きたいです only states a wish: it does not tell anyone you are going. 行くつもりです says you have decided. 行く予定です says it is planned. 行きます, with 来週, simply states the trip as what you are doing.

The last two sentences pull wanting and intending apart. In 行きたいです。でも、土曜日は予定があります, you want to go, but (でも, demo) something is already arranged. In 行きたいです。でも、来週は行かないつもりです, you want to go and have decided not to.

None of these forms is a promise. つもり is an intention and 予定 is a plan, and both can change, as in the model. What actually settles things with someone is the end of the conversation: 行きましょう.

Choosing a day and time: はどうですか

To propose, say the day, date or time with はどうですか (wa dō desu ka), “How about…?”: 土曜日はどうですか, 4月10日はどうですか, 十一時はどうですか. Here the day or time takes は, not に. To leave the choice to the other person, ask いつがいいですか, “When works for you?”, or 何時がいいですか. With いい, the option being chosen takes が (ga): いつが, 何時が, 日曜日が.

To answer, 日曜日がいいです picks one, “Sunday is best for me”; 十一時は大丈夫です accepts, “Eleven works for me”; and すみません、土曜日はちょっと… turns it down gently, the sentence left unfinished. On its own, 大丈夫です can also decline an offer, like “No thanks, I'm fine”, so say the time with it or start with はい. When you settle, join day and hour with の: 日曜日の十一時に行きましょう.

土曜日／十時はどうですか

Your turn, and the summary

You want to go to the beach with a colleague. Cover the sentences below. Say you intend to go to the beach, ask whether they have plans on Saturday, answer for them that they have work, propose Sunday, suggest ten and settle it. Only then check. Then do it again with another day, time or reason.

In short: たいです is wanting, dictionary form + つもりです is intending, 予定です is what is scheduled, 予定があります / ありません says whether you are free, and はどうですか proposes.

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