Verbs, congugations. Are there patterns for this?

こんにちは！

I've recently started looking at Japanese verbs and found most of the explanations I read very confusing. I am guessing this is the case for all beginners. A friend of mine who is japanese created a verb list for me with a few verbs. Tonight i started to work through this list and noticed a pattern.

For the positive form of a verb the indicative polite verb 'pattern' would be

'u' would become 'i' + 'masu'
'tu' would become 'chi' + 'masu'

For the past indicative form the pattern would be as follows:

'bu', 'mu' becomes 'nda'
'gu' becomes 'ida'
'ku', 'ru', 'tu', 'u' becomes 'tta'
'su' becomes 'sita'

And lastly the past indicative polite verbs would have this pattern

'u' becomes 'i' + 'mashita'
'tu' becomes 'chi' + 'mashita'

I tested my 'patterns' on the following words

こらす
わたす
おさまる

In all 3 cases above when i used the patterns i describe above i was able to get the correct forms of the verbs. I am guessing that irregular verbs wouldn't work in a similar way.

My Questions :

1. Are my patterns correct? Was i correct in determining what i did? The reason behind this is the amount of japanese verbs there are; I guess i wouldn't ever use every form of every verb but i would like to use any verb in any form if i had to.
2. How do japanese study verbs? Is there any page that you would recommend to a beginner who wants to learn how japanese verbs are conjugated?

つけてくれて、ありがとうございます

See the following wiki pages.

Japanese consonant and vowel verbs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Japanese verb conjugation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Japanese verb conjugations are so regular you would think they ate nothing but bran muffins.

Yeah, you just need to pay attention to godan verbs that end with -iru/-eru, as listed in the wiki page I linked above. It seems there are many exceptions, but actually commonly-used-verbs are not so many among them.

Another page about verb conjugations that I found useful:

Japanese Verb Conjugation

Unfortunately the original site now seems to be defunct, and this is an archived version. The links do not seem to work (you seem to have to search archive.org individually for each page), but most if not all of the relevant verb content is on this one page I think.

Verbs, conjugations*. Are there patterns for this?

Japanese verb conjugations are so regular you would think they ate nothing but bran muffins.

Click to expand...

I would like to be at a stage in learning japanese where the above rang true to me

Thanks for the urls; i'll take a look at them and see if i can get a better understanding of how verb conjugation works.

Am i correct in saying that a better way to understand verb conjugation is to use sentences with different verb conjugations in them?


* I see wrote 'congugations' instead of 'conjugations' in the post title; apologies.

You're at the stage already; the problem is your learning materials.

ok; are there any resources that you can recommend? wikipedia is ok but honestly it confuses the heck out of me; the url supplied by eeky is more suited to my style of learning

I have found this url Tim Sensei's Corner - Japanese Verbs - Lesson 1 which i will browse and see if my understanding improves

My unqualified two cents.

One problem is that everyone calls verb groups something else:

- I learned 一段、五段、例外
- YAMASA teachers tought us ①グループ、②グループ、③グループ
- A book I once used called them "vowel-stem" and "consonant-stem"
- Some people just call them "u verbs" and "ru verbs"

Just realize is that they all refer to the same thing. I like the first set of names on that list since this seems to be what Japanese children learn in school and mostly what jisho.org uses in the results display.

Some other suggestions would be:

- DON'T learn/conjugate backwards; e.g. dictionary form from ～ます form ( textbook authors love to make you do this :/ )
- DO remember dictionary forms of verbs and relevant conjugation rules
- DON'T remember the verb group for every verb since it's a waste of time; you can tell the verb group from the verb ending most of the time, but...
- DO remember the verb group for confusing 五段 verbs ending in ～{i;e}ru (e.g. 要る or 帰る)

IMHO the best way to learn conjugations is to memorize the rules, which is where the verb chart from the Wikipedia article linked to earlier comes in really handy. Provided you know the verb group, as long as you can follow some arrows and play lego with hiragana (remove this/add this), you can figure out the conjugation. Do this enough times and it will stick.

Alternatively, do it YAMASA style: make yourself flash cards and do those until you get good. >>;

Thanks for the pointers nameless;

I have on a previous occasion downloaded the chart on the wikipedia page and will take another look at it.

Seeing as how this may be good practice for me (and I sometimes get interested in doing things that are overly complicated), I may soon type up a guide with some explanations on how to conjugate verbs. It will be fairly long obviously. Maybe I'll just edit this post so as to not take up too much room.

Thanks in advance if you do decide to type up a guide i'll keep an eye on the thread

It's just easier if I add a new post, that way it should notify people that an update has been made. Here it is:

Note: I don't know those fancy names for conjugations such as imperfective etc., so I will be calling the conjugations by the names I learned for them. Thus, you will need to look up how to actually use them as that is beyond the scope of this guide.

If I mention a sound and write it in English (e.g. "an u sound"), I am referring to a sound that doesn't necessarily include the entire syllable (e.g. 行く ends with an u sound in its final く syllable, and かう ends with an u sound as its final syllable う).


Irregular verbs:

There are only two of these; する and くる.
Since they're irregular, you just have to memorize their conjugations.
Some verbs do have some irregular conjugations, I will point out some of the more important ones as we go along.


Ru / る / ichidan verbs

Always end in る, however only verbs that end in -iる or -eる can be る verbs.
These conjugations are usually very straightforward.


U / う / godan verbs

All of the rest.
Verbs ending in -aる, -uる -oる are always う verbs.
Verbs ending in -iる or -eる can be either う or る verbs, you just have to learn which are which, though, while I can't remeber which, I think most of those are る verbs.
These conjugations are slightly more involved.


Desu / です

The copula. "to be"
Some conjugations require the more formal である.
A more complete coverage of this verb (yes, I consider it a verb regardless of what others think) will appear at the end of this guide.

Dictionary form

This is the form in which verbs appear in dictionaries.
Examples: する, 行く, たべる
This is the same as the short form non-past positive.

Verb stem

This is a term you may see from time to time in other explanations on how to conjugate verbs

う verbs: replace final u sound with i
行く > 行き, よむ > よみ, まつ > まち

る verbs: drop る
たべる > たべ

Irregular verbs:
する > し
くる > き

Te form

う verbs:
Final syllable Becomes Examples
う, つ, る って てつだう > てつだって, まつ > まって, かえる > かえって
む, ぶ, ぬ んで よむ > よんで, あそぶ > あそんで, しぬ > しんで
く いて むく > むいて
ぐ いで およぐ > およいで
す して はなす > はなして

る verbs: Replace final る with て
たべる > たべて

Irregular verbs:
する > して
くる > きて

Exception: the て form of 行く （いく） is 行って not 行いて. There are a few other exceptions listed on that wikipedia page, but this is probably the one that you will encounter the most early on.

There are two negative て forms and they have different usages
1. Take the non-past negative short form, drop the final い, add くて. This is often used as a conjunctive form to join sentences.
行かない > 行かなくて, たべない > たべなくて
2. Take the non-past negative short form, add で. This is often used in negative requests.
行かない > 行かないで, たべない > たべないで

Short forms

Non-Past Positive (is, will)
This is the dictionary form of the verb.


Past Positive (did)
Same conjugation pattern as て form (not negative て forms), replace て/で with た/だ.
よんで > よんだ, 行って > 行った


Non-Past Negative (is not, will not)
う verbs: replace final u sound with an a sound, add ない. For verbs ending in う, replace う with わ, add ない.
行く > 行かない, よむ > よまない, まつ > またない, かう > かわない

る verbs: replace る with ない
たべる > たべない

Irregular verbs:
する > しない
くる > こない

Exception: The verb ある (inanimate existence) conjugates to ない not あらない.


Past Negative (did not)
Take Non-Past Negative, replace final い with かった.
行かない > 行かなかった, かわない > かわなかった, たべない > たべなかった, しないあ @> しなかった, こない > こなかった

Long forms

Non-Past Positive
う verbs: replace final u sound with an i sound, add ます
行く > 行きます, よむ > よみます, まつ > まちます

る verbs: replace る with ます
たべる > たべます

Irregular verbs:
する > します
くる > きます


Past Positive
う verbs: replace final u sound with an i sound, add ました
行く > 行きました, よむ > よみました, まつ > まちました

る verbs: replace る with ました
たべる > たべました

Irregular verbs:
する > しました
くる > きました


Non-Past Negative
う verbs: replace final u sound with an i sound, add ません
行く > 行きません, よむ > よみません, まつ > まちません

る verbs: replace る with ません
たべる > たべません

Irregular verbs:
する > しません
くる > きません


Past-Negative
う verbs: replace final u sound with an i sound, add ませんでした
行く > 行きませんでした, よむ > よみませんでした, まつ > まちませんでした

る verbs: replace る with ませんでした
たべる > たべませんでした

Irregular verbs:
する > しませんでした
くる > きませんでした

Volitional form

う verbs: replace final u sound with an o sound, add う. For verbs ending in う, replace う with お, add う.
行く > 行こう, よむ > よもう, まつ > まとう, かう > かおう

る verbs: replace る with よう
たべる > たべよう

Irregular verbs:
する > しよう
くる > こよう

Negative volitional form is formed by taking the short form non-past negative and replacing the final い with かろう.
行かない > 行かなかろう, たべない > たべなかろう, しない > しなかろう

Potential form

Potential form conjugations themselves conjugate as る verbs.
行ける > 行けます, たべられる > たべられます

う verbs: replace final u sound with e sound, add る.
行く > 行ける, よむ > よめる

る verbs: replace る with られる.
たべる > たべられる

Irregular verbs:
する > できる
くる > こられる

Exception: ある (inanimate existence) becomes ありえる or ありうる not あれる. (I have never used the potential of this verb, and simply took this conjugation off the aforementioned wikipedia article)

Passive form

Passive form conjugations themselves conjugate as る verbs.
行かれる > 行かれます, たべられる > たべられます

う verbs: replace final u sound with a sound, add れる.
行く > 行かれる, よむ > よまれる

For る verbs and the irregular くる, this is the same as potential form.
たべる > たべられる, くる > こられる

Irregular verbs:
する > される

Causative form

Causative form conjugations themselves conjugate as る verbs.
行かせる > 行かせます, たべさせる > たべさせます

う verbs: replace final u sound with a sound, add せる.
行く > 行かせる, よむ > よませる

る verbs: replace る with させる.
たべる > たべさせる

Irregular verbs:
する > させる
くる > こさせる

Causative-Passive form

Conjugate a verb into the causative and then the result into the passive.
行く > 行かせる > 行かせられる, たべる > たべさせる > たべさせられる

Note: う verbs can have this conjugation shortened. Replace final u sound with a sound, add される.
行く > 行かされる, よむ > よまされる, まつ > またされる
However, both forms of the conjugation are grammatically correct.

Ba form

ば form is created for all verbs by replacing the final u sound with e sound, and then adding ば.
行く > 行けば, たべる > たべれば, する > すれば

Negative ば form is created by taking the short form non-past negative and dropping the final い and replacing with ければ.
行かない > 行かなければ, たべない > たべなければ, しない > しなければ

Tara form

たら form is created for all verbs by taking the short form past positive of the verb and adding ら.
行った > 行ったら, よんだ > よんだら, たべた > たべたら, した > したら

Imperative form

う verbs: replace final u sound with e sound.
行く > 行け, よむ > よめ

る verbs: replace る with ろ or よ (I've never been taught the よ ending, but thats what wikipedia and another site I looked at said)
たべる > たべろ

Irregular verbs:
する > しろ or せよ
くる > こい

Negative imperative is formed for all verbs by adding な to the dictionary form of a verb.
行く > 行くな, たべる > たべるな, する > するな

Note: don't use imperative form...like ever, unless you're using it with your own child or the like. It's VERY impolite.

です

Short form
Non-past positive
だ
Past Positive
だった
Non-past negative
ではない or じゃない
Past negative
ではなかった or じゃなかった


Long form
Non-past positive
です
Past Positive
でした
Non-past negative
ではありません or じゃありません
Past negative
ではありませんでした or じゃありませんでした


Te form
で


ば form
であれば


たら form
だったら


That's it...I think. There may be some small conjugations that I didn't include such as なさい (which Toritoribe explains one post down from this); regardless, take the stem (yes, the only time I've referenced the stem in how to conjugate) and add なさい. If I've made any (other) errors, please let me know. (^_^)

Also, this had really nice formatting that has been completely destroyed by this posting system, so I'm sorry if it's a bit hard to read...*sigh*. Anyway, I hope this is useful.

You did quite well! Here's a few typos I found.

Imperative form
Irregular verbs:
する > しろ, せよ
くる > こい


なさい is an imperative form of a subsidiary verb なさる, which expresses respect.

Put " "(one-byte space) before しぬ, then the mojibake will be able to be avoided.

u -- tte -- tta -- wanai
ku -- ite -- ita -- kanai
gu -- ide -- ida -- ganai
su -- shite -- shita -- sanai
tsu -- tte -- tta -- tanai
nu -- nde -- nda -- nanai
bu -- nde -- nda -- banai
mu -- nde -- nda -- manai
ru -- tte -- tta -- ranai

Most "iru/eru" verbs

ru -- te -- ta -- nai

Add a tiny smattering of exceptions which you can pick up along the way, and there you have it.