Lesson 1 Japanese Verbs

Japanese verbs are, in a lot of ways, easier to conjugate than English verbs. Japanese verbs always occur at the end of the sentence and they do not change for person, number, gender, or whatever the subject of the sentence may be. Also, there are only two irregular Japanese verbs and only a handful of irregular conjugations in others verbs.

Japanese verbs have many conjugated forms, but they are usually defined by their Dictionary form(which is how they are listed in the dictionary.) In their Dictionary form, all verbs end with an -u syllable sound which is the part, or base, that is conjugated(and written in hiragana.) The first part, or stem, holds the real meaning of the verb and does not change in conjugation(and is written in kanji.) .

Japanese verbs are generally classified into three different catergories: Yodan, Ichidan, or Irregular. Yodan verbs(sometimes called Regular 1 verbs) end with one of the following bases: -u, -ku, -gu, -su, -tsu, -ru, -mu, -nu, or -bu. Ichidan verbs(sometimes called Regular 2 verbs) end with either -iru or -eru. As for Irregular verbs, there are only two: "kuru"(come) and "suru"(do.) They are called irregular because they do not conjugate like other -ru verbs.

There are 3 types of verbs in Japanese:

1. Rule I - all verbs that ends with u, ku, gu, su, tsu, nu, bu, mu, or ru.

kau (to buy)
aruku (to walk)
isogu (to hurry)
kasu (to lend)
matsu (to wait)
shinu (to die)
asobu (to play)
yomu (to read)
kaeru (to return)

Sample sentences:

1. Mama wa mise de banana o kau. (Mom buys/will buy bananas at the store.)
2. Jim wa manga o yomu. (Jim will read a comic book.)
3. Ojii-san wa sugu kaeru. (Grandpa will return soon.)


2. Rule II - all verbs that ends with eru or iru.

taberu (to eat)
kimeru (to decide)
miru (to look, watch)
kariru (to borrow)

Sample sentences:

1. Watashi wa ringo o taberu. (I'll eat an apple.)
2. Naomi wa terebi o miru. (Naomi will watch TV.)


3. Rule III - verbs with suru and kuru

benkyousuru (to study)
mottekuru (to bring something)

Sample Sentences:

1. Nihongo wo benkyousuru. (I will study Nihongo.)
2. Enpitsu wo mottekuru. (I will bring pencil.)

Word Check
Verbs:

kau: to buy
aruku: to walk
isogu: to hurry
kasu: to lend
matsu: to wait
shinu: to die
asobu: to play
yomu: to read
kaeru: to return
taberu: to eat
kimeru: to decide
miru: to look, watch
kariru: to borrow
benkyousuru: to study
mottekuru: to bring something

Others:

mise: a store
manga: comic book
ojii-san: grandfather
sugu: soon
watashi: I
ringo: apple
terebi: TV

Source: Hernan Espinosa