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Japanese verb conjugations and adjective declensions 1

Japanese verb conjugations and adjectivedeclensionsThis is a list of Japanese verb and adjective conjugations. 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 .

A revision sheet visually summarizing the

conjugations and uses described below.

Imperfective

In Japanese, the basic verb form is 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, orlemma and no conjugation needs to be done. For example, using the

verb ("do"):

( ) (watashi wa) kaimono o 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 indicate one's current state, 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.

PerfectiveThe 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 one time:

Basu ga ki-ta ato de, ik-?

bus NOM come-PFV after AT, go-VOL

"After the bus comes (perfective), shall we leave?"

Type of verb Perfective Examples Perfective

Irregular verbs

suru (do) shita (none others)

kuru (come) kita (none others)

iku (go) itta (none others)

irassharu (polite)

irasshatta irashita [1]

(none others)

masu stem - -mashita ikimasu (go) ikimashita

Regular verbs

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Japanese verb conjugations and adjective declensions 2

u - -tta tsukau (use) tsukatta

u (See Usage) - -uta , -ota tou (ask) tta

ku - -ita yaku (grill) yaita

gu - -ida oyogu (swim) oyoida

su - -shita shimesu (show) shimeshita tsu - -tta matsu (wait) matta

nu - -nda shinu (die) shinda

bu - -nda yobu (call) yonda

mu - -nda yomu (read) yonda

ru (consonant stem) - -tta hashiru (run) hashitta

iru , eru (vowel stem) - -ita , - -eta kigaeru (change clothes) kigaeta

Adjectives

i adjective - -katta yasui (cheap) yasukatta

na adjective - -datta kantan (easy) kantan datta

Usage

Note that the perfective conjugation for verbs ending in - more commonly follows the second pattern listed abovefor speakers of Western Japanese. The in the perfective ending - may be pronounced either as an u or as ano 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, nihonni iku (I go to Japan) becomes nihon ni itta (I went to Japan).

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.)

NegativeThe basic pattern is u becomes anai (informal).

Type Negative Examples Negative

Irregular verbs

suru (do) shinai( sanai )

benky suru (study) aisuru (love)

benky shinai aisanai

kuru (come) konai

aru (be, exist) nai

da de wa nai ja nai

masu stem - -masen ikimasu (go) ikimasen

Regular verbs

u - -wanai tsukau (use) tsukawanai

ku - -kanai yaku (grill) yakanai

gu - -ganai oyogu (swim) oyoganai

su - -sanai shimesu (show) shimesanai

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Japanese verb conjugations and adjective declensions 3

tsu - -tanai matsu (wait) matanai

nu - -nanai shinu (die) shinanai

bu - -banai yobu (call) yobanai

mu - -manai yomu (read) yomanai

ru (consonant stem) - -ranai hashiru (run) hashiranai

iru , eru (vowel stem) - -inai , - -enai kigaeru (change clothes) kigaenai

Adjectives

i adjectives - -kunai itai (painful) itakunai

na adjectives - -de wa nai- -ja nai

kantan (simple) kantan de wanai

kantan ja nai

The nai ending conjugates in two ways.

1. As an i adjective. For example the past tense of tabenai is tabenakatta and the te

form is tabenakute .2. There is a special te form made by adding de . For example, tabenaide . This is used, for

example, in tabenaide kudasai : "Please don't eat (this)".

i formThe 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

suru (do) shi benky suru benky shi

kuru ki

ru (polite verbs) - -i gozaru gozai

da de ari

Regular 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 (consonant stem) - -ri hashiru (run) hashiri

iru , eru (vowel stem) - -i, - -e kigaeru (change clothes) kigae

The rule for polite verbs ending in ru applies to the consonant-stem honorific verbs irassharu , ossharu , kudasaru , gozaru , and nasaru , which have irregular i forms.

They are formed by replacing the ru with simply i, instead of ri .

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Japanese verb conjugations and adjective declensions 4

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 : "goover 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 yakuza speech, to express