Japanese Verbs at a Glance
Japanese verbs are one of the hard parts of Japanese, because they have different types of conjugations than what we are used to. This page is so You can study Japanese verbs at a glance. First, though, we must make distinctions between all the different types of Japanese verbs:
RU Type - RU verbs get their name because they always end in "-iru" or "-eru." They are the easiest of all Japanese verbs to conjugate. They have only one stem that is used for all conjugations. This stem is made by removing the final "ru."
U Type - U verbs are more difficult to conjugate. Their stems slightly change depending on the conjugation. These verbs always end in on of the following kana:
su, ku, gu, tsu, ru, u, nu, bu, mu
Notice that type U verbs can end in "ru" just like RU verbs. If a verb ends in "ru," but not "-iru" or "-eru," it's definitely a U type verb. However, there are some tricky type U verbs that end in "-iru" and "-eru." You have to learn these exceptions. Here's a list of common type U verbs that end in RU:
Kagiru, hashiru
Irregular - There are two true irregular verbs in Japanese. "Suru" (to do) and "kuru" (to come) . These are different in every conjugation.
Semi-Irregular - There are some verbs which are irregular in only one or two tenses. I call these semi-irregular verbs. The only two you need to know right now are "aru" (to be) and "iku" (to go). "Aru" has an irregular negative form and "iku" has an irregular past tense form and conjunctive form.
Copula - A copula is a word in a language that connects a noun to another noun or an adjective in the sense that the first noun equals the second. The Japanese copula is very irregular. I will give it in it's normal form and then it's old form for each conjugation. The old form isn't used in spoken Japanese anymore, but it is used in written Japanese sometimes.
I Adjectives - I adjectives work like verbs. You can think of them as having the meaning "to be" before their actual meaning. There's only one irregular I adjective, and that is "ii" (to be good). "Ii" is only used in the non-past tense. For all other conjugations, you have to use "yoi" instead which is another word for "good."
Well, there you have it. Now, we have tenses to deal with. Japanese doesn't have the number of tenses we have in English, but it's still nothing to sneeze at.
Non-Past Tense - Also known as the present tense. The non-past tense is the most basic tense in Japanese. From this tense, you can form all the other tenses in the Japanese language. It is also the dictionary form, so when you go to look a word up, you need to figure out its non-past form first.
One nice thing about Japanese is that verbs don't change forms depending on the subject. There's one form for each tense which is used for all subjects.
The non-past form gets it's name from the fact it encompases habitual, present, near-future, and future tenses. In addition to that, it also works as a conditional tense when you have an if-statement before it.
Past Tense - Also known as the perfect tense. The past tense works just like our past tense. However, it is a bit difficult to form. The general ending for past tense verbs is "ta" and sometimes "da." Here's how you form it.
RU Verbs - Remove final "ru" and add "ta."
taberu (to eat) -> tabe -> tabeta
U Verbs - Each ending has a special suffix:
su -> shita (hanasu [to speak] -> hanahita)
ku -> ita (kaku [to write] -> kaita)
gu -> ida (oyogu [to swim] -> oyoida)
tsu-> tta (tatsu [to stand] -> tatta)
u --> tta (kau [to buy] -> katta)
ru -> tta (suwaru [to sit] -> suwatta)
nu -> nda (shinu [to die] -> shinda)
bu -> nda (tobu [to fly] -> tonda)
mu -> nda (nomu [to drink] -> nonda)
Irregular -
suru -> shita
kuru -> kita
Semi-Irregular - The verb iku" (to go) is irregular only in the past and conjunctive tenses.
iku -> itta (this is also the past tense of the verb "iu" [to say])
Copula -
normal: da -> datta
old: de aru -> de atta
I Adjectives - Remove the final "i" and add "katta."
yasashii (easy) -> yasashikatta
ii (good) -> yoi -> yokatta
Negative Form - This corresponds to English's negative form.
RU Verbs - Remove final "ru" and add "nai"
taberu (to eat) -> tabe -> tabenai
U Verbs - Remove the final "-u" and add "-anai." If the verb ends in "u" alone, add "wanai" instead.
hanasu (to speak) -> hanas -> hanasanai
kau (to buy) -> ka -> kawanai
Irregular -
suru -> shinai
kuru -> konai
Semi-Irregular - The verb "aru" (to be) does not have a negative form. Instead, we use the adjective "nai" (to not be).
Copula -
Normal: da -> de wa nai ("wa" is written "ha" in kana b/c it's the topic marker; de wa is often contracted to ja)
Old: de aru -> de wa nai (this is the same as the normal copula)
I Adjectives - Remove the final "i" and add "ku" and then add the negative adjective "nai." The suffix "ku" is actually the adverb suffix and is the same as "ly" in English.
yasashii (easy) -> yasashiku -> yasashiku nai
ii (good) -> yoi -> yoku -> yoku nai
Negative Past - You can also make sentences in the past tense negative. You may notice that all the negative verbs end in either the suffix "nai" or the negative adjective "nai" (the difference is the suffix is not a word of its own). Simply replace it with the past of the negative adjective "nakatta" to make any negative verb past tense.
Continue
Return