23794
I'm studying Japanese adjectives right now, and I see that adjectives can be
formed to refer to past tense.

For example, 自転車は楽だったです。

So, I'm trying to understand a little bit better how the ～だった works. Is it
used like, "the bike used to be comfortable", or "the bike (I was riding) was
comfortable (when I was riding it)."
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-15T16:05:07.460
23787
2015-04-16T00:29:05.247
9857
question
grammar
How is the past tense in this sentence translated?
> 「[自転車]{じてんしゃ}は[楽]{らく}だったです。」

**This is ungrammatical**. As a Japanese-speaker, I do know that a few of us
would actually say it, but if one said or wrote it in school, it would
certainly be corrected.

The correct sentence would be:

> 「自転車は楽でした。」 or
>
> 「自転車は楽だった。」

The former is a little politer than the latter.

Now, onto how to translate it..

To tell the truth, it is rather difficult without context. A very short
sentence/phrase like this can mean a few different things without any context
to go with it.

Without context, most native speakers would think of the following.

> "The bicycle ride was comfortable."
>
> "The bike felt comfortable."
>
> "(Going there by) bicycle was easier (than doing so by other methods of
> transportation)."

**It would not be taken to include the meaning of "used to" unless the context
clearly suggested it. It would be taken to refer to the simple "near" past.**
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-16T00:29:05.247
23794
2015-04-16T00:29:05.247
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
23787
answer