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Grammar detail: Japanese verbs and verb conjugation
My current mastery of this grammar:
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 いちだんどうし, literally 'one level verbs'). 'Ichidan' verbs are also often known as 'る' form verbs, and sometimes as 'Group 2' verbs.
- 'Godan' (ごだんどうし, '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 |
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 |
irregular verbs
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
{vocabinflection326526}
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
{vocabinflection345403}
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.
See also:
- Key verb conjugations
- verb stem - base part of a verb
- Japanese terms for parts of speech
More information / references:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_verb_conjugation ⇗
Kanji used in this grammar
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