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Grammar detail: Japanese verbs and verb conjugation
Japanese verbs and verb conjugation
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My current mastery of this grammar point:
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 'one' level. Each conjugated form is created by replacing the る with the appropriate (standard) ending.
Using
た
べる (to eat) as an example:| Form | Example |
|---|---|
| negative | たべない |
| masu | たべます |
| plain | たべる |
| conditional | たべられる |
| volitional | たべましょう |
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
か
く (to write) as an example, the consonant is 'k' (from く):| Vowel sound | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| あ | negative | かかない |
| い | masu | かきます |
| う | plain | かく |
| え | conditional | かける |
| お | volitional | かこう |
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.
| 言う | いう | to say | 言う inflections | |
| 書く | かく | to write | 書く inflections | |
| 泳ぐ | およぐ | to swim | 泳ぐ inflections | |
| 出す | だす | to take out | 出す inflections | |
| 持つ | もつ | to hold | 持つ inflections | |
| 死ぬ | しぬ | to die | 死ぬ inflections | |
| 読む | 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 る | to enter |
はし る | to run |
い る | to need |
かえ る | to return |
かぎ る | to limit |
き る | to cut |
しゃべ る | to chatter |
し る | to know |
つく る | 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
| Positive | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | し | |
| 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'.
くる to come
| Positive | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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.
More information / references
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_verb_conjugation ⇗
Kanji used in this grammar
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