Japanese Verbs

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To learn Japanese verbs it is important to note that they only have two tenses. They do not change for gender, number, person or subject of the sentence. The great news is that Japanese verbs are easier to conjugate (change the form depending on number, tense or state) than verbs in Latin based languages such as English. They also come at the end of every sentence or clause.

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Japanese verbs follow a regular pattern, so once you have learned the rules you can start to use them accurately. The few irregular Japanese verbs are consistent in their irregularity, if that makes sense! What I mean is that once you have learned how they differ you can apply this formula again and again with confidence.

Japanese verbs are broken down into three main groups and they all end in 'U' in their simplest form. Before you can learn to change or conjugate them when required you first need to know which of the three groups the verbs belongs to, because each group has it's own set of rules.

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Japanese Verb Groups

1.) Godan or Yodan: These verbs are all regular verbs that do not end in 'ru'. However just like in English their are exceptions to the rule, and some verbs have the 'i' or the 'e' syllable before a 'ru' and are still considered to be Godan verbs. There is no rule for knowing which verbs fit this exception, you just simply need to learn them.

Here are some examples of Godan verbs written in Romaji script (Japanese in English Letters).

Japanese Verb	English Translation
Hanasu	To Speak
Aruku	To Walk
Oyogu	To Swim
Nomu	To Drink

Some examples of Godan verbs that end in 'Iru' and 'Eru' are as follows:

Japanese Verb	English Translation
Hairu	To Enter
Iru	To Need
Kaeru	To Return

 

 2.) Ichidan Verbs: This set of Japanese verbs all end in 'Ru' and are preceeded by the 'i' or 'e' syllable.

Japanese Verb	English Translation
Kiru	To Wear
Miru	To Look
Deru	To Go Out
Neru	To Sleep

 

 3.) Irregular Verbs: In this group of Japanese verbs there are only two types to learn and they are 'To Come' = Kuru and 'To Do' = Suru. Although these are the only irregular verbs, the verb Suru 'To Do', is also used with nouns to make other verbs like 'to do', 'to make' and 'to cost'.

I think an example will explain this best:

Japanese Verb	English Translation
Benkyousuru	To Study
Dansusuru	To Dance

Now that we have got to grips with the three different types of Japanese verbs you will need to learn how Japanese verbs to conjugate them to use the different forms of the verb.

There are four main forms:

• The first is the simple or dictionary form which we looked at above

• Next we have the 'Polite Form' which ends in 'masu'. This is made using the dictionary form and adding the suffix 'masu'. In other word you just ad 'masu onto the end of the verb. These verbs are used in formal situations to show respect.

• Third we have the 'Negative Form' and this can be used in both present and past tense. To create the negative form 'anai' is added to the Godan verbs and 'nai' to the end of Ichidan verbs. With the formal form 'masu' we change it to 'masen'

• The fourth form is the 'Te' form and is used to express habitual action, and is similar to the 'ing' ending of English verbs, so can be described as continous form.

Well that its for now. I hope you have enjoyed this lesson on how to learn Japanese verbs, and I am sure you will pick it up in no time.

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Enjoy!

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