Japanese/Grammar/Verbs

Japanese verbs, (動詞; どうし), inflect heavily to indicate formality, tense or mood, primarily in their ending. There are two tenses, several levels of formality and three classes of verbs, depending on their inflection. The two tenses are perfective (often considered past tense) and present (or technically, non-past, as the future tense is not indicated). Out of the several levels of formality, two are the most common: plain and polite.

Japanese verbs are officially categorised into five classes, but as two of these inflect much the same and another two only contain one verb each, these are usually merged into three when Japanese is taught as a foreign language. These are the consonant stem-, vowel stem- and irregular classes.

Dictionaries use the plain present positive form (commonly known as dictionary form) as the headword for verbs.

Verbs are classed based on their conjugations. Their endings don't determine the class, but are a general indicator.

Form	Endings
vowel-stem verbs (ichidan)	All of these end with (い)る or (え)る, but some with that ending are consonant stem verbs.
consonant-stem verbs (godan)	End in う, く, ぐ, す, つ, ぬ, ぶ, む or る.
irregular verbs	Only two verbs: する (e. to do) and 来(く)る (e. to come).

Different inflections can also have suffixes. These may also be verbs with their own conjugations. Not all suffixes can be used on all verb inflections and others may only follow the verb stem. Examples are conjunctive + いる, せる・させる (causative), and られる (potential).

Ignoring the formality and the negative conjugations, the following is a list of verb conjugations

• non-past
• past
• causative
• causative-passive
• conjunctive
• conditionals
• passive
• potential
• imperative
• volitional
• provisional

Ichidan class

Vowel-stem verbs end on a full syllable (hence the term: vowel-stem). In a sense, the final "る" of the dictionary form is dropped and the respective endings just added on.

The Japanese term "一(いち)段(だん)" refers to the fact that the stem ending occupies only one row in the kana chart.

The following table shows a few forms of the verb "食べる" (たべる, e. to eat):

Form	Word
Plain present positive	食べる
Plain past positive	食べた
Plain present negative	食べない
Plain past negative	食べなかった
Imperative	食べろ or 食べよ
Volitional	食べよう
Conjunctive	食べて
Conditional	食べれば

Godan class

Consonant-stem verbs end in the middle of a syllable (hence the term; consonant-verb). That syllable changes depending on the form. The plain form has an う u sound (u, tsu, ru, ku, gu, bu, mu, su), the ～ます -masu form has an い i sound (i, chi, ri, ki, gi, bi, mi, shi), and the negative form has an あ a sound (wa, ta, ra, ka, ga, ba, ma, sa). The potential form has an え e sound (e, te, re, ke, ge, be, me, se) and the volitional form has an おう ō sound (ō, tō, rō, kō, gō, bō, mō, sō), so putting these together with the sounds above shows that verb conjugations follow the vowel syllabary of the Japanese character set:　あ a, い i, う u, え e and お o.

The Japanese term "五(ご)段(だん)" comes from the fact that the stem's last syllable spans all five rows of the kana chart in at least one form.

The following table shows a few forms of the consonant-stem verb "話す" (はなす e. to speak).

Form	Word	Row	Syllable Morph	Conjugation Suffix
Plain present positive	話す	う
Plain past positive	話した	い	す -> し	た/った/いた/んだ
Plain present negative	話さない	あ	す -> さ	ない
Plain past negative	話さなかった	あ	す -> さ	なかった
Imperative	話せ	え	す -> せ
Volitional	話そう	お	す -> そ	う
Conjunctive	話して	い	す -> し	て/って/いて/んで
Conditional	話せば	え	す -> せ	ば

The て-form (conjunctive) and past positive form of a consonant-stem verb change the root for euphony according to the last syllable of the root (example in parentheses):

stem	て-form	past		example	て-form	past	reading (meaning)
〜う	って	った		買う	買って	買った	かう (to buy)
〜く	いて	いた		書く	書いて	書いた	かく (to write)
〜ぐ	いで	いだ		泳ぐ	泳いで	泳いだ	およぐ (to swim)
〜す	して	した		話す	話して	話した	はなす (to speak, to talk)
〜つ	って	った		勝つ	勝って	勝った	かつ (to win)
〜ぶ	んで	んだ		学ぶ	学んで	学んだ	まなぶ (to study)
〜ぬ	んで	んだ		死ぬ	死んで	死んだ	しぬ (to die)
〜む	んで	んだ		佇む	佇んで	佇んだ	ただずむ (to stand still)
〜る	って	った		去る	去って	去った	さる (to leave)

行く (いく) (to go) has an exceptional て-form 行って (いって).

If the verb stem ends on "う" such as in the verb 買う(かう, e. to buy) then its negative stem becomes -わ as in 買わない ("to not buy"). This is because the root is treated as kawu (despite the "wu" syllable not existing in modern Japanese).

Irregular verbs

Two common verbs do not share a conjugation pattern with any other verb. They are therefore commonly classed as "irregular" verbs. Formally, they are called "変格" (へんかく) verbs, as opposed to the regular "正格" (せいかく) verbs. This construction is made to use verbs and nouns of Chinese origin, for instance, from Chinese "確認"　(què rèn, confirmation) is formed in Japanese the verb "確認する" (かくにんする), or "約分" (yuē fēn, simplify a fraction (math.)) which derives into "約分する"　(やくぶんする). The forms are "する" (e. to do, as in the examples) and "来(く)る" (e. to come). The following table shows some of their conjugation forms.

Form	する	来る
Plain present positive	する	くる
Plain past positive	した	きた
Plain present negative	しない	こない
Plain past negative	しなかった	こなかった
Imperative	せよ or しろ	こい
Volitional	しよう	こよう
Conjunctive	して	きて
Conditional	すれば	くれば

Many verbs end on "〜する" and can be grouped in three categories:

• Verbalised nouns. These are nouns which form verbs by appending "〜する". Examples: 勉強(べんきょう)する, 注意(ちゅうい)する, "過労死(かろうし)する, 長生(ながい)きする and 値(あたい)する.
• Verbs that cannot stand alone without the "する" suffix. Examples: 発(はっ)する, 接(せっ)する and 達(たっ)する.
• Verbs that cannot stand alone, end on an "ん" and therefore take the voiced "ずる". Examples: 存(ぞん)ずる, 感(かん)ずる, 先(さき)んずる and 重(おも)んずる. These verbs are commonly inflected the same as the ichidan forms, with "ずる" being replaced by "じる" thus: 存(ぞん)じる, 感(かん)じる, 先(さき)んじる and 重(おも)んじる.

The only commonly-used combination with "来る" is "やってくる", meaning "to come".

Polite forms

The polite (or formal) forms are simple as all of the consonant-stem verbs sit in the い-line (行く→行き) and the inflections are the same for consonant- and vowel-stem verbs.

The following table shows the polite forms for "行く" (いく, e. to go):

Form	Word
Polite present positive	行きます
Polite past positive	行きました
Polite present negative	行きません
Polite past negative	行きませんでした
Polite volitional	行きましょう
Polite conjunctive	行きまして
Polite conditional	行きますれば

The imperative (〜ませ) is not used in formal forms except for a few polite verbs (see below).

Other irregularities

A small number of verbs tend to be conjugated differently from the groups that they are normally placed in.

Polite language

The verbs below are all consonant stem verbs but conjugate differently. While the regular forms also exist, they are seldom used.

Verb	polite present positive	Imperative
くださる	くださいます	ください
なさる	なさいます	なさい
いらっしゃる	いらっしゃいます	いらっしゃい
おっしゃる	おっしゃいます	おっしゃい

The conjunctive and past forms of the first two verbs, "くださる" and "なさる", also have the alternative forms "くだすって／くだすった" and "なすって／なすった", in addition to the normal regular conjugations "くださって／くださった" and "なさって／なさった". These alternative forms have, however, fallen into disuse. While they are often encountered when reading texts from a few decades ago, the regular conjugations are usually used today.

The first three of the above verbs are also the only ones where the imperative form "ませ" of the auxiliary verb, "ます", is used to add an extra level of politeness:

くださいませ, なさいませ, いらっしゃいませ

Additionally, ございます, which originally came from the now-defunct yodan (四段, e. four-row) classical Japanese verb "ござる", is also used, although in modern usage, it is always used with the ます auxiliary verb ending. There is no imperative form (i.e. you cannot use ませ like above).

得る

得る (うる/える, e. to get, or to be able to) is the only surviving nidan (二段, e. two-row) class verb in modern Japanese. It has conjugations as in the below table:

Form	Word	Reading
Non-past	得る	うる／える
Past	得た	えた
Negative non-past	得ない	えない
Negative past	得なかった	えなかった
Imperative	得ろ	えろ
Volitional	得よう	えよう
Conjunctive	得て	えて
Conditional	得れば	うれば

"得る" can be read both as "える" in its terminal form (at the end of the sentence, or in situations such as attaching to べき). The "うる" reading is also used in those situations and in the attributive form (e.g. when attached to nouns). It is therefore incorrect to say "えるもの" as the correct form would be "うるもの". The combination "あり得る" is normally read "ありうる" in the present forms. All other conjugations follow the table above.

Miscellaneous irregularities

The vowel stem verb "呉れる" (くれる e. ) imperative form "くれ" (rather than the expected "くれろ"). Other "くれる" verbs of other unrelated meanings conjugate to the usual "くれろ".

The consonant stem verb "ある" expresses existence, but absence is expressed with the adjective "ない". Note that many textbooks also treat "ない" as a verb. The reader may also wish to be aware that more formal "ぬ" negative form and its conjunctive form, "ず", are still used: "あらぬ"/"あらず".

Summary of verb conjugations

辞書形 dictionary form ます形 polite form 否定形 negative form て形 "te" form た形 perfective form ～う -u ～います -imasu ～わない -wanai ～って -tte ～った -tta ～つ -tsu ～ちます -chimasu ～たない -tanai ～る -ru ～ります -rimasu ～らない -ranai ～く -ku ～きます -kimasu ～かない -kanai ～いて -ite ～いた -ita ～ぐ -gu ～ぎます -gimasu ～がない -ganai ～いで -ide ～いだ -ida ～ぶ -bu ～びます -bimasu ～ばない -banai ～んで -nde ～んだ -nda ～む -mu ～みます -mimasu ～まない -manai ～す -su ～します -shimasu ～さない -sanai ～して -shite ～した -shita (～い)る -iru ～ます -masu ～ない -nai ～て -te ～た -ta (～え)る -eru する suru します shimasu しない shinai して shite した shita くる kuru きます kimasu こない konai きて kite きた kita ^a Since the polite ～ます -masu form ends with ～す -su, the polite past form mostly follows the ～す -su rules. So for example the polite form of 話す hanasu is 話します hanashimasu, and the polite past form is 話しました hanashimashita, but the polite negative form is 話しません hanashimasen. See other examples of the polite form at the Japanese grammar Wikipedia entry. ^b Since the negative ～ない -nai form ends with ～い -i, any further inflection of the negative form will behave as an i-adjective. For example, 話さない hanasanai "not talking" becomes 話さなかった（です） hanasanakatta(desu) "didn't talk". ^c Two exceptions are 問う tou "to question" which conjugates to 問うて toute and the even less common 請う kou "to request" which conjugates to 請うて koute. ^d The only exception is 行く iku which conjugates to いって itte. ^e Not all verbs ending with いる iru or える eru are vowel stems, some are consonant stems instead like 走る hashiru "run" and 帰る kaeru "return". A full list of the many exceptions can be found at the Japanese consonant and vowel verbs Wikipedia entry.

辞書形 dictionary form 可能形 potential form 条件形 conditional form 意向形 volitional form ～う -u ～える -eru ～えば -eba ～おう -ō ～つ -tsu ～てる -teru ～てば -teba ～とう -tō ～る -ru ～れる -reru ～れば -reba ～ろう -rō ～く -ku ～ける -keru ～けば -keba ～こう -kō ～ぐ -gu ～げる -geru ～げば -geba ～ごう -gō ～ぶ -bu ～べる -beru ～べば -beba ～ぼう -bō ～む -mu ～める -meru ～めば -meba ～もう -mō ～す -su ～せる -seru ～せば -seba ～そう -sō (～い)る -iru ～られる -rareru ～れば -reba ～よう -yō (～え)る -eru する suru できる dekiru すれば sureba しよう shiyō くる kuru こられる korareru くれば kureba こよう koyō ^a All of the potential forms end in える eru or いる iru so they follow the vowel-stem (一段動詞 ichidandoushi) rules. 話せる hanaseru becomes 話せます hanasemasu. ^b Conditional form is like saying "if ..." or "when ...". ^c Also called the conjectural/tentative/presumptive form, it is the plain form of ～ましょう -mashō. ～ましょう -mashō is used as an inclusive command ("let's ..."), but becomes an inclusive query ("shall we ...?") when ka is added (食べましょうか tabe mashō ka "Shall we eat?"). -ō to omoimasu indicates the speaker's conjecture ("I think (I will)") and -ō to omotte imasu indicates the speaker's current intentions ("I'm thinking (I will)"). -ō to suru/-ō to shite iru/-ō to shite imasu indicates intention ("(be) about to"). ^d The exception is 分かる wakaru "to understand" which already expresses ability innately without a conjugation.

Example dictionary word Example polite form Example negative form Example "te" form Example perfective form あらう arau "wash" あらいます araimasu あらわない arawanai あらって aratte あらった aratta まつ matsu "wait" まちます machimasu またない matanai まって matte まった matta とる toru "take" とります torimasu とらない toranai とって totte とった totta かく kaku "write" かきます kakimasu かかない kakanai かいて kaite かいた kaita いそぐ isogu "hurry" いそぎます isogimasu いそがない isoganai いそいで isoide いそいだ isoida しぬ shinu "die" しにます shinimasu しなない shinanai しんで shinde しんだ shinda よぶ yobu "call out" よびます yobimasu よばない yobanai よんで yonde よんだ yonda のむ nomu "drink" のみます nomimasu のまない nomanai のんで nonde のんだ nonda はなす hanasu "speak" はなします hanashimasu はなさない hanasanai はなして hanashite はなした hanashita みる miru "see" みます mimasu みない minai みて mite みた mita たべる taberu "eat" たべます tabemasu たべない tabenai たべて tabete たべた tabeta する suru "do" します shimasu しない shinai して shite した shita 勉強 benkyou "study" 勉強します benkyoushimasu 勉強しない benkyoushinai 勉強して benkyoushite 勉強した benkyoushita くる kuru "come" きます kimasu こない konai きて kite きた kita ^a The only example of this form. See the Wikipedia entry on Japanese irregular verbs for more.

辞書形 dictionary form 受身･尊敬 passive verb 使役 causative verb 禁止形 prohibitive form 命令形 imperative form ～う -u ～われる -wareru ～わせる -waseru ～うな -u na ～え -e ～つ -tsu ～たれる -tareru ～たせる -taseru ～つな -tsu na ～て -te ～る -ru ～られる -rareru ～らせる -raseru ～るな -ru na ～れ -re ～く -ku ～かれる -kareru ～かせる -kaseru ～くな -ku na ～け -ke ～ぐ -gu ～がれる -gareru ～がせる -gaseru ～ぐな -gu na ～げ -ge ～ぶ -bu ～ばれる -bareru ～ばせる -baseru ～ぶな -bu na ～べ -be ～む -mu ～まれる -mareru ～ませる -maseru ～むな -mu na ～め -me ～す -su ～される -sareru ～させる -saseru ～すな -su na ～せ -se (～い)る -iru ～られる -rareru (～い)るな -iru na ～ろ -ro (～え)る -eru (～え)るな -eru na する suru される sareru させる saseru するな suru na しろ shiro くる kuru こられる korareru こさせる kosaseru くるな kuru na こい koi ^a All of these verbs end in える eru so conjugation from here follows the vowel-stem (一段動詞 ichidandoushi) rules. る ru can simply be replaced with ます masu to make it polite. ^b Used to command someone not to do something. An example is 入るな hairu na "Do not enter." ^c The imperative form can be used as a command, e.g. 黙れ damare "shut up!", やめ yame "stop!" or 止まれ tomare "Stop (sign)". Non-volitional verbs (e.g. ある aru, わかる wakaru, できる dekiru) have no imperative form and くれる kureru "to give" is an exception that conjugates to くれ kure (the plain form of ～てください -te kudasai "Please (do)..."). A politer way of telling someone to do something is to use (masu stem)～なさい -nasai instead (e.g. 飲みなさい nominasai "Drink up.", しなさい shinasai "Do (what was said)."), or more informally, (masu stem)～な -na. Imperative form: たくさん食べな takusan tabena "Eat a lot." Prohibitive form: たくさん食べるな takusan taberu na "Don't pig out!"

See the adjective inflection Wikipedia page for present negative, past and past negative forms of i and na adjectives.