LEARN + JAPANESE / Note 110 JLPT N5

I Plan To (つもり)

つもり attaches after a verb’s plain dictionary form or negative form and states a firm intention, “I plan to,” or “I don’t plan to.” It’s most natural talking about yourself, since it claims to know your own settled decision.

In Real Life
つもり sounds more settled and deliberate than たい, which just names a want. “I want to wake up early” doesn’t guarantee anything, “I plan to wake up early” frames it as a decision you’ve already made.
In Real Life
つもりでした, the past tense, describes a plan you had, often one that fell through, “I was planning to,” implying things didn’t go that way after all, distinct from つもりです which is still an active plan.

Vocabulary

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