This is a list of Japanese verb conjugations. Almost all of these are regular, but there are a few Japanese irregular verbs, and the conjugations of the very few irregular verbs are also listed. Japanese verb conjugation is the same for all subjects, first person ("I", "we"), second person ("you") and third person ("he/she/it" and "they"), singular and plural. The plain form of all verbs ends in u. In modern Japanese, there are no verbs, at least in the plain form, ending in fu, pu, or yu, no verbs ending in zu other than certain ?? forms (such as ?? kin-zu), and ?? (??, shinu; to die) is the only one ending in nu.
This article describes a set of conjugation rules widely used in order to teach Japanese as a foreign language. However, Japanese linguists have been proposing various grammatical theories for over a hundred years and there is still no consensus about the conjugations. Japanese people learn the more traditional "school grammar" in their schools, which explains the same grammatical phenomena in a different way with different terminology (see the corresponding Japanese article).
Video Japanese verb conjugation
Summary of verb conjugations
Verb conjugates are often grouped into consonant-stems (????, godand?shi) (type I) and vowel-stems (????, ichidand?shi, ??, iru and ?? eru forms) (type II). The plain form of a type I verb has an ? u sound (u, tsu, ru, ku, gu, nu, bu, mu, su), the ~?? -masu form has an ? i sound (i, chi, ri, ki, gi, ni, bi, mi, shi), and the negative form has an ? a sound (wa, ta, ra, ka, ga, na, ba, ma, sa). The potential form has an ? e sound (e, te, re, ke, ge, ne, be, me, se) and the volitional form has an ?? ? sound (?, t?, r?, k?, g?, n?, b?, m?, s?).
Maps Japanese verb conjugation
Table key
The conjugation tables below will include the EDICT word class abbreviations to disambiguate classes with similar word endings. See Japanese consonant and vowel verbs for more information about verb groups and their conjugations.
Imperfective
In Japanese, the basic verb form is an imperfective aspect. It is broadly equivalent to the present and future tenses of English, and is sometimes called the "non-past tense". The imperfective form of a verb is the same as its dictionary form--it is used as the headword, or lemma--and no conjugation needs to be done. For example, using the verb ?? ("do"):
- (??)????? (watashi wa) kaimono suru: "(I) shop", or "(I) will shop". (Japanese pronouns are usually omitted when it is clear about whom the speaker is talking.)
- (??)?????? (watashi wa) ashita benky? suru: "Tomorrow, (I) will study".
In most cases, the base form of the imperfective aspect cannot be used to make a progressive statement, such as in the English sentence "I am shopping". Rather, it can only be used to express habit or other actions that are expected to continue into the future, such as in "I shop". To convey the former, the te form with iru must be used.
Patterns for adjectives in an imperfective setting are:
Perfective
The perfective aspect, on the other hand, has a specific suffix. The basic pattern is the -ta (or -da) ending, but various phonetic changes are made, depending on the verb's last syllable. These phonetic changes are known as ?? onbin "euphony", and the resulting form as ??? onbinkei "euphonic form" - see Euphonic changes (?? onbin). The perfective is broadly equivalent to the English past tense, and is often called the past tense in treatments of Japanese grammar, but it is not restricted to any single tense.
N.B.: A verb not ending in -iru or -eru in its Latin transcription is not an ichidan verb, and it follows that it is then either godan or irregular.
Usage
- Non-exhaustive list of actions (like A?B is used for non-exhaustive lists of objects): ???????????????? hon o yondari, terebi o mitari shita (I read a book, watched TV, etc.)
Note that the perfective conjugation for verbs ending in -? more commonly follows the v5u-s pattern listed above for speakers of Western Japanese. The ? in the perfective ending -?? may be pronounced either as an u or as an o depending on the preceding vowel, according to regular Japanese phonological rules. Consequently, in Kansai, one may hear forms such as ??? tsukau -> ???? tsuk?ta, or ?? iu -> ??? iuta.
Usage of the perfective aspect follows the same pattern as the imperfective aspect. For example, ????? nihon ni iku (I go to Japan) becomes ?????? nihon ni itta (I went to Japan).
Negative
The basic pattern is: u becomes anai (informal).
The ?? nai ending conjugates in two ways.
- As an i adjective. For example, the past tense of ???? tabenai is ?????? tabenakatta and the te form is ????? tabenakute.
- There is a special te/naide form made by adding ? de which yields ??? naide - this can be replaced with ? zu in formal usage.
- Requesting someone to cease/desist: ???????? tabenaide kudasai "Please don't eat (this)"
- Joining a subordinate clause: ????????? tabenaide, neta "Without eating, I went to bed."
i form
The i form, or ??? ren'y?kei, is very regular, and in almost all cases it is formed by replacing the u with i. Phonetically, this changes ? su to ? shi, and ? tsu to ? chi.
Usage
The i form has many uses, typically as a prefix. These include:
- To form polite verbs when followed by the -?? -masu ending: ?? iku -> ????ikimasu, ?? tsukau -> ???? tsukaimasu.
- To express a wish when followed by the ending -?? -tai: ???? tabetai: "I want to eat it", ???? ikitai: "I want to go". (The -tai ending conjugates as an -? -i adjective.)
- To express a strong negative intention when followed by -???? -wa shinai: ??????????? iki wa shinai yo, anna tokoro "no way I'm going someplace like that".
- To form a command when followed by
- -??? -nasai: ???????? kore o tabenasai: "eat this", ????????? asoko e ikinasai: "go over there".
- -? -na: ??????? massugu kaerina "go straight home": ?????? nakayoku asobina "play nice". (Used with children, etc.)
- To express that something is easy or hard when followed by -?? -yasui or -?? -nikui: ?????? shitashimiyasui: "easy to befriend": ????? wakarinikui: "hard to understand".
- To express excessiveness when followed by the verb -??? -sugiru: ????? nomisugiru: "to drink too much". (sugiru can also be used with the stems of adjectives.)
- To express doing something in conjunction with something else. When followed by the suffix -??? -nagara, the verb becomes an adverb that means doing something while doing something else.
- ?????????? arukinagara hon o yonda: "I read a book as I walked."
- When followed by the verb -??? -yagaru in harsher colloquial speech to express affronted contempt (a conjugation of opposite polarity to the honorifics) showing disrespect in the form of hatred combined with haughty/macho disdain for the doer/subject of the action/verb: ????? koroshiyagaru: "to have the <expletive> gall to kill ___" (e.g. without my permission). (The te form can be substituted for the i form.)
The i form also has some uses on its own, such as:
- To express purpose, with ? ni: ???????? tabe ni ikimashita: "I went there to eat". This is called the infinitive of purpose.
- In formal honorifics such as ?????? o tsukai kudasai: "Please use this".
- In conjunctions in formal writing.
For some verbs, the i form also forms part of related words in ways that are not governed by any general rules. For example:
- The i form of ??? taberu (to eat) can prefix ? mono to form ??? tabemono (food). Similarly with ?? nomu (to drink) and ?? kau (to buy).
- The i form of ??? kakeru (to bet) is a word on its own: ?? kake, which means "a bet".
- ?? hanasu (to separate) can be suffixed to the i form of kiru (to cut) to form ???? kirihanasu (to cut off).
te form
The te form of a Japanese verb (sometimes called the "participle") is used when the verb has some kind of connection to the following words. This originally came from the combination of the "i" form described above plus the particle "te". For all verbs, it is formed by changing the -a of the perfective aspect form to -e. Adjectives behave slightly differently.
Usage
- As a simple command:
- ??? Tabete: "Eat."
- ??? Yonde: "Read."
- In requests with ??? kureru and ??? kudasai.
- ????????? Hon o yonde kudasai: "Please read the book."
- ????? Koroshite kure: "Please kill me."
- With the verbs :
- ?? iru: Forms a progressive or continuous tense. For example: ????? matte iru: "I am waiting", ????? shitte iru: "I know", ????? motte iru: "I have", ???????? koko ni sunde iru: "I live here". Colloquially, in this form, the "i" often disappears (also in the past tense), so ????? matte iru becomes ???? matteru and ????? shitte iru becomes ???? shitteru.
- ?? oku: To indicate a preparatory action in advance. ?????????? obent? o tsukutte oita: "I have made a boxed lunch (for later)". Colloquially, in this form, the "e" often disappears, so ?????? tsukutte oita becomes ????? tsukuttoita.
- ?? aru: This forms a kind of passive when used with a transitive verb. ??????????? koko ni moji ga kaite aru: "There are some characters written here". It shows that something was left in a certain state. Contrast to ????? "kaite iru", "I am writing", which applies to the person doing the writing rather than what is written.
- ??? shimau: This implies something is completed or done, usually unintentionally or accidentally or unexpectedly and sometimes expressing that the action is contrary to right or correct action: ???????? katazukete shimatta: "I have finished tidying". It can also suggest a regrettable situation: ??????????? watashi no kagi ga kiete shimatta: "My keys have disappeared".
- The form -???? -te shimau is shortened to the very commonly used and casual -??? -chimau or -??? -chau with the same consonant doubling as the te form. For example, "I forgot my mobile phone!": "keitai wasurechatta!" "????????!" The -de shimau form is shortened to -??? -jau or -??? -jimau in colloquial speech.
- ?? oru: Can express a continuing situation. It is the humble form of ?? iru.
- ?? miru: It means "to try doing".
- ?? iku: Can express continuous action or a change of state in the future.
- ?? kuru: Can express continuous action or a change of state in the past.
- To combine clauses or adjectives, as if by the English conjunction "and". For example:
- ?????????? yakkyoku e itte, kusuri o kau: "(I am going to) go to the pharmacy and buy medicine."
- ????????????????? ano hito wa shinsetsu de, atama ga yokute, wakariyasui: "That person is kind, smart, and easy to understand."
- ?????? yasukute ii ne: "It's good that it's cheap." (lit. "Being cheap, it is good.")
- With particles in formations such as:
- -?????? -te wa ikenai: "You must not ...". For example, ???????? tabete wa ikenai: "You must not eat this". (Other words of prohibition, such as ?? dame, can be substituted for ikenai.)
- -???? -te mo ii: "You may do/It's ok if you do". For example, ?????? tabete mo ii: "You may eat it".
- -??????? -te mo kamawanai: "You may do/I don't mind if you do"
- -???? -te hoshii: "I want you to do (for me)"
- -?????? -te sumimasen: "Sorry for making you go through the trouble of"
- -????????? -te kurete arigatou: "Thank you for". For example, "??????????" mite kurete arigatou: "Thank you for watching".
- -???? -te kureru: Used when somebody does you a favour.
- -???? -te kudasaru: Used when a superior does you a favour
- -???? -te ageru: Used when you do someone a favour.
- -????? -te yokatta: "Thank goodness that"
Potential
The general pattern is: u becomes eru.
Usage
The potential is used to express that one has the ability to do something. Since this is a passive form, what would be a direct object in English is marked with the particle ? ga instead of ? o. For example, ??????? nihongo ga yomeru: "I can read Japanese".
It is also used to request some action from someone, in the exact sense of the English "Can you ... ?" For example, ?????????? k?h? kaeru?: "Can (you) buy (some) coffee?" However, sometimes in English "Will you...?" and "Can you ... ?" is used interchangeably to make requests. Though it is possible in Japanese, ????????? k?h? kau?, it is very casual and might also mean simply "Are you buying/Will you buy coffee?" in a very dry factual sense.
Unlike in English, the potential is not often used to express permission (as in the sentence "Can I eat this apple?") as it is almost always understood to mean "Do I have the ability to eat this apple?": ?????????????? kono ringo ga taberareru?. And since the -reru form is more often used in speech than the more standard passive potential form -rareru, and subjects are often implied in Japanese, it may implicitly be asking (in this case) if the apple is edible. So, to seek permission, a more polite form is used, such as the -???? -te mo ii or more casual -??? "-te ii"" usage of the -? -te form, resulting in something literally more like "Is eating this apple OK?" ?????????????????? Kono ringo o tabete mo ii desu ka? or ?????????????? Kono ringo o tabete ii?.
The potential -ru ending conjugates as a vowel stem verb.
Consonants and vowels conjugate differently; see Japanese consonant and vowel conjugation.
There is no potential equivalent for ??; other constructions for expressing may-be situations are used:
- Using ?????? expression. For verbs: ???????????? ashita furu kamo shirenai "It may rain tomorrow.", i-adj: ????????????? ryokou wa takai kamo shirenai "The journey is perhaps expensive.", na-adj: ?????????? taisetsu kamo shirenai "(This thing is) probably important."
- Using adverbs. ??????? osoraku furu "It probably will rain", ??????? tabun furu "Perhaps it will rain"
- (A rather strange and archaic-literary-sounding possibility is by transforming ?? to ??? and then constructing the potential, ?????.)
Passive
The general pattern for the passive voice is: -u becomes -areru.
- The -? -ru ending of the passives becomes the new verb ending. This conjugates as a vowel stem verb. Thus past, -? -te, or polite forms can all be added to the verb.
- The copula, ? da, does not form a passive.
- For the -?? masu form, the -?? -masu is added to the passive of the plain verb.
Usage
The passive is used:
- as a passive: ???????????????? kono terebi wa Toshiba ni yotte tsukurareta: "This TV was made by Toshiba."
- as a suffering passive, indicating that a regrettable thing was done to someone: ????????????? watashi wa tomodachi ni biiru o nomareta: "I had (my) beer drunk by a friend" (and I am not happy about it).
- as a form of respectful language: ?????????? dochira e ikaremasu ka: "Where are you going?"
Causative
The causative forms are characterized by the final u becoming aseru for consonant stem verbs, and ru becoming saseru for vowel stem verbs.
- The -ru ending of the causative form becomes the new verb ending. This conjugates as a vowel stem verb.
- Negatives are not normally made into causatives. Instead, a negative ending is added to the causative of the verb. Thus, for example, Tabesasenai: "Do not let eat".
- Adjectives are made causative by using the adverb form plus saseru.
- A shortened causative form exists where the final -u becoming -asu for consonant stem verbs, and -ru becoming -sasu for vowel stem verbs.
Usage
The causative is used for:
- Making someone do something: ?????? shukudai o saseru: "(I) make (him) do homework".
- Letting someone do something: ?????? soto de asobaseru: "(I) let (him) play outside".
- With explicit actors: ???????????? sensei ga kodomo ni benky? o saseta: "The teacher made the children study."
- The honorific forms ????? sasete morau or ????? sasete itadaku using the verbs ?? morau or its humble equivalent ?? itadaku.
Causative passive
The causative passive form is obtained by first conjugating in the causative form and then conjugating the result in the passive form.
Usage
As its rule suggests, the causative passive is used to express causation passively: ?????????? ry?shin ni benky? saserareru: "(I) am made to study by (my) parents".
Because words such as ?????? mataserareru are considered to be difficult to pronounce, frequently in colloquial speech, the middle part of the causative passive would contract. That is, ?????? mataserareru (I was made to wait), would become ????? matasareru. Another example such as "(I) was made to buy (something)" would formally be ?????? kawaserareta from the verb ?? kau, but colloquially, it is frequently contracted to ????? kawasareta. This abbreviation is not used for vowel-stem verbs, nor for the irregular ?? suru and ?? kuru.
Provisional conditional eba form
The eba provisional conditional form is characterized by the final -u becoming -eba for all verbs (with the semi-exception of -tsu verbs becoming -teba).
- na adjectives and nouns are usually used with the ?? nara conditional, instead of with ???? de areba.
- The ???? nakereba form used for the negative form can be colloquially contracted to ??? nakya or ???? nakucha (this has roots in ????). Thus ?????? ikanakereba can become ????? ikanakya.
Usage
The -eba provisional conditional form is used:
- In conditionals where the emphasis rests more on the condition than the result. For example: ???????? nani o sureba ii ka - "What should I do?" (lit. "It would be good if I did what?") ; ?????? wakareba ii - "As long as you understand" (lit. "If you understand, it is good.") ; ????????????? jikan ga areba, kaimono wo shiy? - "If there's time, let's go shopping."
- Expressing obligations: The expression ???????? nakereba naranai (or in a more formal manner ????????? nakereba narimasen), where ?? naru is the verb "to become", means literally "if you don't..., it's no good" or in other words "you must" or "you have to". The negative "don't have to ..." is expressed with ?????? - nakute mo ii. For example: ?????????????????? Jiko shoukai wa Nihongo de nakereba narimasen ("Your self-introduction must be in Japanese.")
The nakereba negative conditional form means "if not X" or also "unless X". It is obtained by replacing the final -i of the plain negative form with -kereba. (tabenakereba: "if I don't eat" or "unless I eat")
The conditional is also called the "provisional form" in some grammars, because the implied condition is "provided that X happens" (mireba shiru: "provided that you see, you'll know" = "if you see, you'll know").
Conditional ra form
The conditional ra form (also called the past conditional) is formed from the past tense (TA form) by simply adding ra. ba can be further added to that, which makes it more formal.
Usage
The conditional ra form can be used in the same way as the provisional eba form. However, it implies more certainty about the condition, and therefore places more emphasis on the result than the condition. It can be used to mean more like "if and when", and is typically preferred over the eba form when this meaning is more accurate. For example:
- ?????????????????nihon ni ittara, kamera wo kaitai: "If (when) I go to Japan, then (when that has happened) I want to buy a camera."
The conditional ra form can also be used when the main clause is in the past tense. In such situations, it means "when", and carries the additional implication that the result was unexpected. For example:
- ???????????????????kissaten ni ittara, Suzuki-san ni deatta: "When I went to the cafe, I came across Suzuki."
Imperative
Most of the imperative forms are characterized by the final u becoming e.
- The v5aru rule for polite verbs ending in -ru applies to the consonant-stem honorific verbs irassharu, ossharu, kudasaru, gozaru, and nasaru, whose imperative forms are the same as their irregular i forms.
Usage
The imperative form is used
- in orders, such as in the military, or to inferiors, or to very intimate friends or family depending on the nature of the relationship (e.g., among very close male friends), or in textbook exercises -- highly risky for use by learners until cultural nuances have been well and truly mastered
- in set phrases such as nani shiro: "no matter what".
- in reported speech, where a polite request may be reported using a plain imperative: kashite kudasai (direct) kase to iwareta (he told me to lend it to him).
- on traffic signs or mandatory action labels such as tomare: "STOP".
- in motivational speech, especially when it is perceived as directed at a collective, rather than individual, listener (e.g., ????!? ganbare!, "Do your best!"). As with the first usage, this can come off as brusque and rude if used inappropriately
Volitional, presumptive, or hortative
Usage
In general, the volitional form expresses intention, such as in these cases:
- In volitional ("let's" or "I shall") statements: ????? benky? shiy?: "Let's study" or "I shall study".
- To ask volitional ("shall we") questions: ???? ik? ka: "Shall (we) go?"
- To express a conjecture with desh?: ????????? ashita hareru desh?: "Tomorrow will probably be sunny."
- To express what one is thinking of doing, via ?? omou: ?????? ka? to omou: "(I) am thinking of buying (it)".
- In the form ?????? shiy? to suru: be about to or be trying to. ??????????? Inu ga hoey? to shite iru: "The dog is about to bark."
See also
- Japanese grammar
- Japanese equivalents of adjectives
References
External links
- Step-by-step lessons on learning various usages
- Japanese Verb Conjugator, online tool giving all forms for any verb
- Japanese Verb Conjugator, online tool with romaji, kana, and kanji output
- Aeron Buchanan's Japanese Verb Chart, a concise summary of all Japanese verb conjugations on one sheet of A4
- JLearn.net, an online Japanese dictionary that accepts conjugated terms and returns the root verb
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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