Japanese

Noun

つもり ‎(romaji tsumori)

1. 積もり: intention, purpose, plan

   行 (い)く積 (つ)もりだ。

   Iku tsumori da.

   I intend to go.

   私 (わたし)は彼 (かれ)に電話 (でんわ)するつもりだ。

   Watashi wa kare ni denwa suru tsumori da.

   I'm going to call him.

2. 積もり: conviction, belief

Usage notes

• This word is usually written using hiragana alone (つもり) instead of kanji (積もり), as it is grammaticalized – compare みる ‎(miru) (from 見る) and others.
• つもり cannot be used as a nominal – 「つもりは…」 ‎(“The plan is…”) is incorrect. It is rather a suffix, 〜つもり.
  • For a nominal meaning “plan”, 企画 ‎(keikaku) or other such words are used instead.
• 〜つもり has a different meaning when it follows a verb that is in the present-future (non-past, imperfective) tense – in which case it means “plan, intention” – and when it modifies either a verb in the past (perfective) tense, or an adjective, or a noun followed by 〜の – in which case it means “conviction, belief, impression, understanding”.
  • This latter usage is less-taught in textbooks; see Rubin reference for extended discussion. A humorous example use is, if asked 「アメリカの方ですか？」 ‎(“Are you American?”) – and one in fact is – to reply 「アメリカ人のつもりですけど…」 ‎(“Well, I was the last time I looked…”, literally “I believe that I am an American [but I’m not completely sure]”).

References

• “Tsumori and the Vanishing Beefsteak”, in Making sense of Japanese: what the textbooks don’t tell you, Jay Rubin, pp. 101–104