Japanese Verb Conjugation
Japanese Verb Conjugation
Japanese Verb Conjugation
Jump to: navigation, search This is a list of Japanese verb conjugations, including what in English would be covered by adjectives. Almost all of these are regular, but 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 zu, fu, pu, or yu, 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 the different way with the different terminology (see the corresponding Japanese article).
A revision sheet visually summarizing the conjugations and uses described below.
Contents
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1 Imperfective 2 Perfective 3 Negative 4 i form 5 te form 6 Potential 7 Passive 8 Causative 9 Causative passive 10 Provisional Conditional eba form 11 Conditional ra form 12 Imperative
[edit] 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 formit is used as the headword, or lemmaand 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.
[edit] 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. The perfective is broadly equivalent to English past tense, and is often called past tense in treatments of Japanese grammar, but it is not restricted to any single tense: Examples Perfective Irregular verbs suru (do) shita (no others) kuru (come) kita (no others) da (copula) datta (no others) desu (copula, (no others) polite) deshita iku (go) itta (no others) - -masu (polite - ikimasu (go [polite]) suffix) -mashita ikimashita Regular godan doushi (consonant stem) (v5) verbs / type I verbs - -u - -tta tsukau (use) tsukatta (See Usage) - -u - -uta, tou (ask) tta Type of verb Perfective
yaku (grill) oyogu (swim) shimesu (show) matsu (wait) shinu (die) yobu (call) yomu (read) hashiru (run) aru special class (v5aru)
--ru
--ru
- -i - -na
irassharu(be, - -tta irasshatta go [honorific]) irashita[1] Regular ichidan doushi (vowel stem) (v1) verbs / type II verbs miru (see) mita - -ta taberu (eat) tabeta Adjectives yasui (cheap) yasukatta - (polite) (polite) - kantan kantan na/da (easy) -datta datta
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 second 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 tsukta, or iu iuta.[2] 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).
[edit] Negative
The basic pattern is u becomes anai (informal). Type Negative shinai suru (do) ( sanai) Examples Irregular verbs benky suru (study) aisuru Negative benky shinai aisanai
kuru (come) konai aru (be, nai de wa nai da (copula) ja nai de wa arimasen desu (copula, polite) ja arimasen - -masu (polite ikimasu - -masen suffix) (go) Regular consonant stem (v5) verbs - -u - -wanai tsukau (use) - -ku - -kanai yaku (grill) - -gu - -ganai oyogu (swim) - -su - -sanai shimesu (show) - -tsu - -tanai matsu (wait) - -nu - -nanai shinu (die) - -bu - -banai yobu (call) - -mu - -manai yomu (read) --ru - -ranai hashiru (run) Regular vowel stem (v1) verbs miru (see) --ru - -nai taberu (eat) Adjectives - -i - -ku nai itai (painful) - -de wa nai - -na - -ja nai The nai ending conjugates in two ways. kantan (simple)
ikimasen tsukawanai yakanai oyoganai shimesanai matanai shinanai yobanai yomanai hashiranai minai tabenai itaku nai kantan de wa nai kantan ja nai
1. As an i adjective. For example the past tense of tabenai is tabenakatta and the te form is tabenakute. o Joining main clauses: () tabenakute, neta. "I did not eat, and went to bed." 2. There is a special te/naide form made by adding de. o Requesting someone to cease/desist: tabenaide kudasai "Please don't eat (this)" o Joining a subordinate clause: tabenaide, neta "Without eating, I went to bed."
[edit] i form
The i form, or ren'ykei, is very regular, and in almost all cases it is formed by replacing the u with i (and making any necessary phonetic changes: su to shi, and tsu to chi). Type i form Examples i form Irregular verbs benky suru benky shi
suru (do) shi kuru ki da de ari Regular consonant stem (v5) verbs - -u - -i tsukau (use) tsukai - -ku - -ki yaku (grill) yaki - -gu - -gi oyogu (swim) oyogi - -su - -shi shimesu (show) shimeshi - -tsu - -chi matsu (wait) machi - -nu - -ni shinu (die) shini - -bu - -bi yobu (call) yobi - -mu --mi yomu (read) yomi --ru - -ri hashiru (run) hashiri aru special class (v5aru) --ru - -i gozaru gozai Regular vowel stem (v1) verbs miru (see) mi --ru taberu (eat) tabe 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 o - -nasai: kore o tabenasai: "eat this", asoko e ikinasai: "go over there". o - -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. o arukinagara hon o yonda: "I read a book as I walked." When followed by the verb - -yagaru in yakuza 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).
[edit] 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. Type suru (do) kuru (come) da (copula) iku (go) tou (ask) Becomes shite kite Examples Irregular verbs aisuru (to love) Te form aishite
de itte tte kou (request) kte - - -masu stem akemasu (open) akemashite -mashite Regular consonant stem (v5) verbs - -u - -tte tsukau (use) tsukatte - -ku - -ite yaku (grill) yaite - -gu - -ide oyogu (swim) oyoide - -su - -shite shimesu (show) shimeshite - -tsu - -tte matsu (wait) matte - -nu - -nde shinu (die) shinde - -bu - -nde yobu (call) yonde - -mu - -nde yomu (read) yonde --ru - -tte hashiru (run) hashitte aru special class (v5aru) irassharu --ru - -tte irasshatte (polite) irashite Regular vowel stem (v1) verbs miru (see) mite --ru - -te taberu (eat) tabete Adjectives - -i - -kute yasui (cheap) yasukute - -na - -de kantan (simple) kantan de
Usage
As a simple command: o Tabete: "Eat." o Yonde: "Read." In requests with kureru and kudasai. o : "Please read the book." With the verbs : o 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. o oku: It means "to do in advance". obent o tsukutte oita: "I've made a boxed lunch (for later)". Colloquially, in this form, the "e" often disappears, so tsukutte oita becomes tsukuttoita. o 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. o 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 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. o miru: It means "to try doing". o iku: Can express continuous action or a change of state in the future. o 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: o yakkyoku e itte, kusuri o kau: "(I am going to) go to the pharmacy and buy medicine." o 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 o - -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.) o - -te mo ii: "You may do/It's ok if you do". For example, tabete mo ii: "You may eat it". o - -te mo kamawanai: "You may do/I don't mind if you do" o - -te hoshii: "I want you to do (for me)" o - -te sumimasen: "Sorry for making you go through the trouble of"
o
[edit] Potential
The general pattern is u becomes eru. Type Potential Examples Potential Irregular verbs benky benky suru dekiru sassuru (guess) aisuru sasserareru aiseru
kuru aru - -u - -ku - -gu - -su - -tsu - -nu - -bu - -mu --ru -
korareru koreru
ariuru, arieru --eru - -keru - -geru --seru --teru --neru - -beru --meru - -reru - Regular consonant stem (v5) verbs tsukau (use) tsukaeru yaku (grill) yakeru oyogu (swim) oyogeru shimesu (show) shimeseru matsu (wait) materu shinu (die) shineru yobu (call) yoberu yomu (read) yomeru hashiru (run) hashireru Regular vowel stem (v1) verbs miru mirareru
taberu
miru taberu
taberareru
The potential is used to express that one has the ability to do something. Direct objects are 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 koohii 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, koohii kau?, it is very casual and might also mean simply "Are you buying/Will you buy coffee?" in 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 correct 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. 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"
[edit] Passive
The general pattern for the passive voice is -u becomes -areru. Type suru kuru (come) - -u - -ku - -gu - -su - -tsu - -nu - -bu - -mu --ru Passive sareru Examples Irregular verbs benky suru (study) Passive sareru benky
--ru
korareru Regular consonant stem (v5) verbs - -wareru tsukau (use) tsukawareru - -kareru yaku (grill) yakareru - -gareru oyogu (swim) oyogareru - -sareru shimesu (show) shimesareru - -tareru matsu (wait) matareru - -nareru shinu (die) shinareru - -bareru yobu (call) yobareru - -mareru yomu (read) yomareru - -rareru hashiru (run) hashirareru Regular vowel stem (v1) verbs miru mirareru - -rareru taberu taberareru 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.
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?"
[edit] Causative
The causative forms are characterized by the final u becoming aseru for consonant stem verbs, and ru becoming saseru for vowel stem verbs.
Type
Causative
suru (do) saseru kuru (come) - -u - -ku - -gu - -su - -tsu - -nu - -bu - -mu --ru
--ru
kosaseru Regular consonant stem (v5) verbs - -waseru tsukau (use) tsukawaseru - -kaseru yaku (grill) yakaseru - -gaseru oyogu (swim) oyogaseru - -saseru shimesu (show) shimesaseru --taseru matsu (wait) mataseru - -naseru shinu (die) shinaseru - -baseru yobu (call) yobaseru - -maseru yomu (read) yomaseru --raseru hashiru (run) hashiraseru Regular vowel stem (v1) verbs miru misaseru - -saseru taberu tabesaseru 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.
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.
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: ryshin 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.
--ru
- -i
kureba de areba Regular consonant stem (v5) verbs - -eba tsukau (use) tsukaeba - -keba yaku (grill) yakeba - -geba oyogu (swim) oyogeba - -seba shimesu (show) shimeseba - -teba matsu (wait) mateba - -neba shinu (die) shineba - -beba yobu (call) yobeba - -meba yomu (read) yomeba - -reba hashiru (run) hashireba Regular vowel stem (v1) verbs miru mireba - -reba taberu tabereba Adjectives - -kereba samui samukereba
- -na
kantan kantan de areba Negative nai (negative) - -nakereba ikanai ikanakereba 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. 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:
- -de areba
nani 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."
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").
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(deatta) Suzuki.".
[edit] Imperative
Most of the imperative forms are characterized by the final u becoming e. Type Becomes shiro suru seyo ( se) kuru koi kureru kure masu stem - -mase Examples Irregular verbs kanben suru aisuru (love) Imperative kanben shiro kanben seyo aise
irasshaimase
da (copula) de are Regular consonant stem (v5) verbs - -u - -e tsukau (use) tsukae - -ku - -ke yaku (grill) yake - -gu - -ge oyogu (swim) oyoge - -su - -se shimesu (show) shimese - -tsu - -te matsu (wait) mate - -nu - -ne shinu (die) shine - -bu - -be yobu (call) yobe - -mu - -me yomu (read) yome --ru - -re hashiru (run) hashire aru special class (v5aru) irassharu irasshai --ru - -i nasaru nasai Regular vowel stem (v1) verbs - -iro, - kigaero -iyo - -iru, - kigaeru (change -eru kigaeyo - -ero, - -eyo
The 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.
in orders, such as in the military, or to inferiors, or in textbook exercises, 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).
dar nai (negative) Usage In general, the volitional form expresses intention, such as in these cases:
mienakar
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 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."
[edit] References
1. ^ Herr, John [1] Nihongo Web. University of Alabama. Retrieved May 19, 2010. 2. ^ " - () - goo [What is the past tense of "tou"? Other (Lit. & Edu.) - Tell Me! goo]" (in Japanese). 2002-06-18. http://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/294677.html. Retrieved 2011-01-19. "hyeon " 3. ^ Eri BANNO et al. GenkiAn Integrated Course In Elementar Japanese, volume 2. The Japan Times, 1999, p. 10
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