Japanese Verbs at a Glance
All Japanese verb tenses and forms seem to cluster together into groups. Here's a list of forms that are all created from the conjunctive form, a form unique to Japanese.
Conjunctive Form - Also known as the TE form. The conjunctive form is a special verb form we don't have in English. It basically adds the meaning of "and" after the sentence and allows you to connect one sentence to another. However, there are other various uses for it, too. It can be used to add an auxiliary verb to a sentence and it can also be used by itself as a plain mode request.
RU Verbs - Take the past tense and instead of adding "ta" add "te."
taberu (to eat) -> tabeta -> tabete
U verbs - Take the past tense and instead of adding "ta" or "da" add "te" or "de" respectively.
hanasu (to speak) -> hanashita -> hanashite
Irregular - Follows the same rules as RU and U verbs.
suru -> shita -> shite
kuru -> kita -> kite
Semi-Irregular - Again, "iku" (to go) is the only irregular verb here, but it follows the same rule as above.
iku (to go) -> itta -> itte (this has the same conjunctive tense as the verb "iu" [to say])
Copula -
Normal: da -> de (this is not "datte" which is different word than "de")
Old: de aru -> de atte
I Adjectives - Remove final "i" and add "kute."
yasashii (easy) -> yasashikute
ii (good) -> yoi -> yokute
Progressive - The progressive tense in Japanese is made by taking the conjunctive form of a verb and adding the auxiliary verb "iru" after it. It means "to be ???-ing." Unlike in English, though, this cannot be used to indicate near-future events like in the sentence "I'm going to the store." You cannot say that right before you leave, but you can say it while you actually are going there. To indicate near-future events, simply use the non-past form. You can also conjugate "iru" to make the past progressive, the negative progressive and the negative past progressive. In colloquial language, the "i" in "iru" is often omitted.
Negative Conjunctive - There is also a negative conjunctive form. However, it is not used with any auxiliary verbs except requests verbs (see below). They give the meaning of "while not ???-ing" and indicate one action is going on while another isn't.
ZU Form - The ZU form is similar to the negative conjunctive form, except it cannot have any auxiliary verbs (not even for requests). It means to do one thing while not doing another. The ZU form is made by taking the negative of a verb and then adding "zu" instead of the final "nai." Sometimes it is also followed by the postposition "ni."
Requests - Requests are different from commands in Japanese. Requests are polite and commands are rude. Most requests are made using the conjunctive from. I said before the conjunctive can be used by itself to make a plain request. You can also add "kudasai" after the conjunctive form to make a polite request. "Kudasai" is actually the command form of the honorific verb "kudasaru" (to give [to me]). Lastly, you can add "kure" after the conjunctive form to make a plain request that has slightly rough sound and is often used by men. To make any of these requests negative, use the negative conjunctive form.
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