Components

Grammar detail: Japanese verbs and verb conjugation

Japanese verbs and verb conjugation
153 words
My current mastery of this grammar point:
LOG IN to view grammar mastery data
Japanese verb conjugation is actually quite straightforward compared to some languages. There are only a small number of irregular verbs, relatively few conjugations, no cases (to indicate who is speaking, gender, singular/plural etc), and regular verbs follow fairly simple rules.
Verbs are classified into two main groups, and a verb's group determines how it is conjugated. The names of the groups actually tell you how to conjugate the verb - it's a lot simpler than it sounds! The two groups are:
  • 'Ichidan' (in Japanese
    いちだん
    一段
    どうし
    動詞
    , literally 'one level verbs'). 'Ichidan' verbs are also often known as 'る' form verbs, and sometimes as 'Group 2' verbs.
  • 'Godan' (
    ごだん
    五段
    どうし
    動詞
    , 'five level verbs'). 'Godan' verbs are often known as 'う' form verbs, and sometimes as 'Group 1' verbs.
We recommend you use the terms
ichidan
and
godan
- they are more descriptive, and they're the terms Japanese people use.

Ichidan 一段 (いちだん) 'る' form verbs

Ichidan verbs always end in る in their plain form, hence the name
いち
(one)
だん
(level). Each conjugated form is created by replacing the る with the appropriate (standard) ending.
Using
べる (to eat) as an example:
FormExampleMeaning
plainたべるeat
masuたべますeat
negativeたべないdoesn't eat
conditionalたべればif I eat
passiveたべられるis eaten
potentialたべられるcan eat
volitionalたべましょうlet's eat
Note that the passive form and the potential form are identical, so the intended form must be determined from the context.
A small number of verbs end in る but are conjugated as
ごだん
verbs - see Godan 五段(ごだん)'う' form verbs for details.

Godan 五段(ごだん)'う' form verbs

The most common five forms of godan verbs use each of the five Japanese vowel sounds (あ, い, う, え, お) - hence 'five' level - combined with whatever consonant begins the final sound of the plain form. Using
く (to write) as an example, the consonant is 'k' (from く):
Vowel soundFormExample
negativeない
masuます
plain
conditional
volitional
Examples
The following words are all examples of godan words. In each case, the dictionary form ends with the 'u' sound, but the kana used to form it varies based on the sound it is part of - う, く, ぐ etc.
いうto say言う inflections
かくto write書く inflections
およぐto swim泳ぐ inflections
だすto take out出す inflections
もつto hold持つ inflections
しぬto die死ぬ inflections
よむto read読む inflections
Godan exceptions
A small number of verbs ending in る are godan verbs even though their plain form appears to classify them as ichidan. (In other words,
はい
る becomes
はい
ります.)
There is no rule which determines whether verbs ending in る are ichidan or godan, so it is best to memorize the exceptions below.
はい
to enter
はし
to run
to need
かえ
to return
かぎ
to limit
to cut
しゃべ
to chatter
to know
つく
to make

irregular verbs - 来る(くる) and する

There are only two key irregular verbs in Japanese: する (to do), and くる (to come). Both are very common - especially する, which can be used to turn any noun into a verb.

する to do

 PositiveNegative
plain formするしない
masu formしますしません
past formしたしなかった
polite past formしましたしませんでした
te formしてしなくて
te stem form
potential formできるできない
passive formされるされない
causative formさせるさせない
causative passive formさせられるさせられない
conditional formすればしなければ
imperative formしろするな
volitional formしよう
ALL INFLECTIONS
The potential form of する is actually an entirely different verb, できる, which is used in its own right to mean 'to be able to'.

る to come

 PositiveNegative
plain formくるこない
masu formきますきません
past formきたこなかった
polite past formきましたきませんでした
te formきてこなくて
te stem form
potential formこられるこられない
passive formこられるこられない
causative formこさせるこさせない
causative passive formこさせられるこさせられない
conditional formくればこなければ
imperative formこいくるな
volitional formこよう
ALL INFLECTIONS

Other exceptions

In addition to くる and する, one other verb, ある (meaning to be or to have) has two irregular forms - the plain negative (ない) and the plain past negative (なかった). All other forms of ある are regular, and ある is not considered an irregular verb.
Please LOG IN for free flashcards

Kanji used in this grammar

イチ   イツ   ひと    ひと- one   
ダン    grade, step, stairs   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ドウ   うご to move, to stir   うごかす to shift, to move   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
シ    part of speech, words, poetry   
Please LOG IN to view this kanji's mnemonic
ゴ   いつ-    いつ five   
Problem with this grammar? Question or comment? Please CONTACT US.
Kanshudo is your AI Japanese tutor, and your constant companion on the road to mastery of the Japanese language. To get started learning Japanese, just follow the study recommendations on your Dashboard. You can use Quick search (accessible using the icon at the top of every page) to look up any Japanese word, kanji or grammar point, as well as to find anything on Kanshudo quickly. For an overview, take the tour.
×