つもり — Intend To, Plan To

Meaning & Usage

Say you've decided to study harder this semester, or you're not going to eat junk food anymore. In Japanese, that personal resolve is expressed with つもり. It covers both "I intend to..." and "I plan to..." — not a vague prediction, but a signal that you've genuinely made up your mind.

つもり marks internal commitment. Unlike a phrase that simply describes a future event, it tells the listener you've already decided. That's the gap between つもり and a casual mention of what might happen — or what you merely hope for.

One thing to watch: つもり works for your own intentions. Saying 田中たなかさんは来くるつもりです to assert that Tanaka plans to come sounds presumptuous — you're claiming to read his inner resolve. For someone else's stated plans, 思おもっている (omotteiru) sits more naturally. Asking is fine though: ～つもりですか works perfectly for questions.

Compared to 予定よてい (yotei), つもり stays personal. 予定よてい covers formally arranged plans — a booked flight, a meeting already on the calendar. You'd use 予定よてい for confirmed itineraries; つもり fits when you simply mean to do something, with no fixed slot locked in. Against ～と思おもう (to omou), つもり sounds more settled — ～と思おもう suggests you're still turning the idea over, while つもり says you've decided.

For register: つもりです works in polite everyday speech — with teachers, colleagues, and people you've just met. Drop to つもりだ with friends and family. The verb before つもり stays in plain form either way; politeness lives in the だ or です that closes the sentence.

Structure & Formation

つもり attaches to the plain (dictionary) form of verbs. The verb stays plain regardless of how formal the sentence needs to be; politeness comes only from the だ or です at the end.

Verb Form Examples

• 行いく → 行いくつもりです — I intend to go
• 食たべる → 食たべるつもりです — I intend to eat
• 勉強べんきょうする → 勉強べんきょうするつもりです — I intend to study
• 行いかない → 行いかないつもりです — I intend not to go
• 食たべない → 食たべないつもりです — I intend not to eat

To say you've decided not to do something, convert the verb to ない form first, then add つもり. The past form つもりでした describes a plan you had but never carried out — it almost always appears with が or けど to signal that things went differently.

Example Sentences

Basic Future Intentions

Everyday Plans

Negative Intentions

Questions About Plans

Past Intentions (Plans That Did Not Work Out)

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Using the ます Form Before つもり

❌ 日本にほんに行いきますつもりです。

✅ 日本にほんに行いくつもりです。

The most common beginner slip. つもり attaches to the plain (dictionary) form of the verb — never the polite ます form. Politeness is handled by だ or です after つもり. Even in a polite sentence, the verb itself must stay plain: 行いくつもりです, not 行いきますつもりです.

Mistake 2: Negating つもり Instead of the Verb

❌ お酒おさけを飲のむつもりじゃないです。

✅ お酒おさけを飲のまないつもりです。

To express an intention not to do something, the verb itself goes into ない form — not the つもりだ part. Note: 飲のむつもりじゃないです isn't wrong in every situation — it can push back on an assumption someone made about you. But to state a personal decision from scratch, 飲のまないつもりです is the natural choice.

Mistake 3: Using つもり to State Another Person's Intentions

❌ 田中たなかさんは来くるつもりです。

✅ 田中たなかさんは来くると言いっていました。／田中たなかさんは来くると思おもいます。

つもり expresses the speaker's own inner intentions. Applying it to someone else presumes you know their inner resolve — which sounds odd unless that person told you directly. When reporting what someone said, use ～と言いっていました. When guessing, ～と思おもいます or ～でしょう both work.

Mistake 4: Confusing つもり with 予定

❌ 来月らいげつ、会議かいぎのつもりです。

✅ 来月らいげつ、会議かいぎの予定よていです。／来月らいげつ、会議かいぎに出でるつもりです。

予定よてい (yotei) is for formal, scheduled arrangements — something already in the calendar. つもり expresses personal intent. If a meeting is already booked, use 予定よてい. If you simply intend to attend, pair つもり with an appropriate verb.

Mistake 5: Mixing Up つもりでした with ～ようとした

❌ 電話でんわするつもりでしたが、途中とちゅうで切きれました。(when the call had already started)

✅ 電話でんわしようとしましたが、途中とちゅうで切きれました。

つもりでした describes an intention that was never acted upon — the plan didn't even start. If you began an action and were interrupted mid-way, ～ようとした (was about to / tried to) is correct. Reserve つもりでした for plans abandoned entirely before taking the first step.

Cultural Notes

Stating your intentions directly carries weight in Japanese communication — personally and professionally. Using つもりです signals that you've genuinely thought something through, which reads as reliability rather than bluster.

New Year's resolutions are a natural fit. Around お正月おしょうがつ, you'll hear things like 今年ことしは毎日まいにち運動うんどうするつもりです (I intend to exercise every day this year) — the same mix of optimism and personal resolve that drives resolution-making everywhere.

つもり also has a second, often humorous usage: describing what someone believes to be true about themselves, even when reality disagrees. 若わかいつもりでいる (thinking of oneself as young) is a gentle jab at someone who acts younger than their age. The gap between self-perception and reality — captured so neatly by one word — comes up often in Japanese humor and everyday speech.

In business contexts, つもりです works for committing to a task: 来週らいしゅうまでに仕上しあげるつもりです (I intend to finish by next week). For firmer commitments, speakers shift to 予定よていです or layer in いたします to signal a higher degree of certainty.

Related Grammar Points

• もらう — To Receive (Grammar N5)
• たことがある — Have Done Before (Grammar N5)
• ながら — While Doing Two Things at Once (Grammar N5)
• もう — Already, Not Anymore, One More (Grammar N5)
• てください — Please Do (Grammar N5)
• ましょう — Let's Do Something Together (Volitional Polite) (Grammar N5)

JLPT Tips

つもり shows up in N5 grammar questions testing sentence formation around intentions. The key rule: the verb before つもり must always be in plain form — dictionary form for affirmative, ない form for negative. Common distractors slot in ます-form verbs, so check the verb before つもり first.

Expect questions contrasting つもりです with 予定よていです. The core split: つもり = personal, internal intention; 予定よてい = external, scheduled plan. Personal motivation points to つもり; a calendar entry or booked arrangement points to 予定よてい.

Negative intention questions are another trap. Train yourself to convert the verb to ない form as the first step — 飲のまないつもりです, not 飲のむつもりじゃないです.

In listening sections, catch the difference between つもりでした (past intention, usually unfulfilled) and つもりです (current or future plan). Words like が, でも, or けど after the clause are strong signals that a past intention didn't pan out — the speaker planned something that never happened.