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> Verb Usage

Assuming that you start learning with the polite style of Japanese, the first verbs that isn’t です will generally be in the form of ～ます.
Verbs ending in ます can be used in four different ways.

• Non-Past Affirmative – ～ ます
• Non-Past Negative – ～ ません
• Past Affirmative – ～ ました
• Past Negative – ～ ませんでした

English	Kanji (Affirmative)	Non-Past Affirmative	Non-Past Negative	Past Affirmative	Past Negative	Verb Stem
To go	行きます	いきます	いきません	いきました	いきませんでした	いき
To do	します	します	しません	しました	しませんでした	し
To come	来ます	きます	きません	きました	きませんでした	き
To see	見ます	みます	みません	みました	みませんでした	み
To eat	食べます	たべます	たべません	たべました	たべませんでした	たべ
To drink	飲みます	のみます	のみません	のみました	のみませんでした	のみ

Overall, the stem of a verb could be considered a foundation. You can “build” onto the stem to create variations of the verb for different contexts. The most common version of this would be the dictionary form.

• Dictionary Form: If you try to look up a verb in a Japanese dictionary and search for it in its ～ます form, you won’t find it there. In dictionaries, verbs will appear with an ending with a “u” sound at the end.
• For example: the dictionary form of 食べます is 食べる.

 

> Finding Verb Stems

To find the stem of a verb, we have to determine if it’s a Group I “u” or a Group II “ru” verb first. Though generally when learning Japanese, you learn the ます form first as it is more polite, finding stems will be easier if you have the Plain or Dictionary form of the verb, which is easy enough to look up.
So assuming you have the dictionary form:

• する and くる are automatically exceptions.
• If the verb does not end in “る,” it is automatically a “u” or a Group I verb.
• If it does end in “る,” generally the following rule applies
  • If the character before ends in an “i” or “e” sound, it is a “ru” or a Group II verb.
  • If the character before ends in anything else, it is a “u” or a Group I verb.

There are some exceptions to 3a, but the verbs are usually less commonly used, and so this rule works fairly consistently.
Determining whether a verb is a Group I verb or a Group II verb not only affects what the stem of the verb is, but how you conjugate it once you find the stem. Once determining this to get the stem of the verb:
If it’s a Group II “ru” verb:

• If it was originally in ます form, remove the “ます.”
  So the stem of “たべます” is “たべ.”
• If it is in dictionary form, remove the “る.”
  So the stem of “ねる” is “ね.”

If it’s a “u” verb:

• If it was originally in ます form, remove the “ます.”
  So the stem of “およぎます” is “およぎ.”
• If it is in dictionary form, change the last character to its “i” form (Examples: change　“く” to “き” or “む” to “み.”)
  So the stem of “はなす” is “はなし.”

Exceptions:

• If the verb is “します” or “する”, then the stem is “し.”
• If the verb is “きます” or “くる”, the stem is “き.”

English	Hiragana (dictionary form)	Kanji (dictionary form)	Kanji (ます form)
To Do	する	する	します
To Come	くる	来る	来ます
To Eat	たべる	食べる	食べます
To Sleep	ねる	寝る	寝ます
To Swim	およぐ	泳ぐ	泳ぎます
To Speak	はなす	話す	話します
To Listen	きく	聞く	聞きます

 

> Basic Verb Conjugation

Once you have the stem of the verb, you can conjugate various endings to produce different versions of the verb for different situations.

• NOTE: On verbs and adjectives, there is commonly hiragana (okurigana) attached to the word. On these words, even if the word is conjugated to a different form (such as past tense for example), the reading for the kanji will remain the same.

So far, we’ve learned verbs to be classified as either a Group I or “u” verb, or a Group II or “ru” verb. To be a little more specific:

• Group I verbs are also called 五段活用（ごだんかつよう・Godan Katsuyou）verbs; meaning that once you have the stem, there are 5 standard ways to alter the stem to conjugate the verb.
• Group II verbs are also called 一段活用（いちだんかつよう・Ichidan Katsuyou）verbs; meaning that once you find the stem, all you do is add various okurigana to the stem to conjugate the verb.

For Group I verbs

For the Group I examples, we’ll use the verb 飲む (のむ・To Drink) which has the stem のみ

• Negative Form: “あ/a”
  By changing the last part of the stem to its “a” ending, this form can be used to express a more casual negative ending by then adding “ない”.
  Example: Change “のみ” to “のま”. Add “ない” to “のま” to get “のまない.”
• Polite Form: “い/i”
  By changing the last part of the stem to the “i” sound (its default form), you can add ます or ません to express the verb in polite form.
  Example: Add “ます” to “のみ” to get “のみます.””
• Plain Form: “う/u”
  By changing the last part of the stem to the “u” sound, you get the dictionary form, which is a more casual way to use the verb.
  Example: Change “のみ” to “のむ.”
• Potential Form: “え/e”
  By changing the last part of the stem to the “e” sound, if used on its own, it can be used as a command. However this is very informal and considered rude.
  Sometimes, by adding ない, you can imply that the subject cannot perform the verb stated.
  Example: Change “のみ” to “のめ.” Leave “のめ” as is for the commanding tone. Add “ない” to “のめ” to get “のめない.” Add “る” to “のめ” to get “のめる.”
• Invitational Form: “お/o”
  By changing the last part of the stem to the “o” sound, by addingうto the end, you can use it for the purpose of inviting someone to also perform the action.
  Example: Change “のみ” to “のも.” Add “う” to “のも” to get “のもう.”

For Group II verbs

Group II verbs are a little different, as once you have the stem you do not need to modify it, just add different okurigana in order to change the context.
For the Group II examples, we’ll use the verb 寝る (ねる・To Sleep) which has the stem ね

• Negative Form: add “ない.”
  For Example: Add “ない” to “ね” to get “ねない.”
• Polite Form add “ます.”
  For Example: Add “ます” to “ね” to get “ねます.”
• Plain/Dictionary Form: add “る.”
  For Example: Add “る” to “ね” to get “ねる.”
• Potential Form: add “られる.”
  For Example: Add “られる” to “ね” to get “ねられる.” – Colloquially, the ら is dropped.
• Invitational Form: add “よう.”
  For Example: Add “よう” to “ね” to get “ねよう.”

 

> て Form

Having a て ending to a verb generally implies that there is going to be something following the verb, or that the verb is associated with something. The て form is commonly used when listing actions or requesting something (by adding ください), among other things.

• For the exceptions, する becomes して and くる becomes きて.
• If your verb is a Group II verb, to get the て form, you just add て to the stem of the verb.
• Otherwise for Group I verbs:
  • If the verb stem ends in a る and is not a Group II verb, you remove the る and replace it with って.
    For example, はしる (To Run) will become はしって
  • If the stem ends in a つ or う, also replace the ending character with って
    For example, わらう (To Laugh) becomes わらってand もつ (To Hold) becomes もって
  • If the stem ends in a ぬ, ぶ, or む, you remove the ending char1acter and add んで
    For example よぶ (To Call) becomes よんで or たのむ (To Ask a Favor) becomes たのんで
  • If the stem ends in く replace it with いて and if it ends in ぐ replace is with いで
    For example あるく (To Walk) becomes あるいて and およぐ (To Swim) becomes およいで
  • If the stem ends in す, including verbs in polite form with the ending ます, replace the す with して
    For example, ためす (To Test) becomes ためして
  • If the word 行く (いく・To Go) is the verb, the –te form is 行って
• Also for adjectives:
  • If it is a い adjective, replace the い with くて
    For example 難しい (むずかしい, difficult) becomes むずかしくて
  • If it is a な adjective, add で to the end.
    For example, 静か (しずか, quiet) becomes しずかで

 

> た Form

た form is something that ends in either た or だ, and is used when referring to the past. This form is commonly used when expressing a past action (leaving it with the た or だ ending). Once finding the て form, to get the た form, just replace the て with た if the word ends with て, or replace the last character with だ if the last character is で.