Japanese Verbs
When it comes to learning the Japanese Verbs, there is good news, unlike English or most European language, Japanese verb conjugation is the same for all subjects, first person ("I", "we"), second person ("thou", "you") and third person ("he/she/it" and "they"), singular and plural. The plain form of all verbs ends in u. There are very few irregular verbs, but if you master the regular verbs and how to use them, then you would have taken care of 98% of the verbs use.
Japanese Present Tense
More good news is that the present and the future are the same in Japanese. To understand that better we will take examples in English, in English sometimes you can refer to the future using the present tense, for example a person might say: I'm taking the kids with me next time, even though the present tense was used here, it still refer to the future, usually it's understood by context or using words refering to the future "next time", "tomorrow"... The same goes with the Japanese future tense. For example:
(私は)買い物をする (watashi wa) kaimono wo suru: "(I) shop", or "(I) will shop". (私は)明日 勉強する (watashi wa) ashita benkyou suru: "Tomorrow, (I) will study". (Japanese pronouns usually are omitted when it is clear about whom the speaker is talking.) (check the list of verbs below)
Japanese Past Tense
More good news is that the present and the future are the same in Japanese. To understand that better we will take examples in English, in English sometimes you can refer to the future using the present tense, for example a person might say: I'm taking the kids with me next time, even though the present tense was used here, it still refer to the future, usually it's understood by context or using words refering to the future "next time", "tomorrow"... The same goes with the Japanese future tense. For example:
(私は)買い物をする (watashi wa) kaimono wo suru: "(I) shop", or "(I) will shop". (私は)明日 勉強する (watashi wa) ashita benkyou suru: "Tomorrow, (I) will study". (Japanese pronouns usually are omitted when it is clear about whom the speaker is talking.) (check the list of verbs below)
Japanese Past Tense
The easiness of the Japanese Verbs doesn't stop with the present and future tense. Even the past tense is very easy to conjugate. The past tense is very similar in conjugation to the "te" form. Most of the past tenses are formed by replacing "te" with "ta". Examine the table below:
As you can see, the table above shows the Japanese verbs in the raw format and then when it's in the past tense very straight forward method. There are some irregular forms but they're not too many, here are some examples:
する suru (do) becomes した shita.
来る kuru (come) becomes 来た kita.
行く iku (go) becomes 行った itta.
Japanese Verbs in the Negative Form
To use the negative with verbs it's very easy as well. The basic pattern is that "u" becomes "anai", for example: 焼く yaku (to burn) becomes 焼かない yakanai (not to burn). 読む yomu (to read) becomes 読まない yomanai (not to read), easy right?
する suru (do) becomes した shita.
来る kuru (come) becomes 来た kita.
行く iku (go) becomes 行った itta.
Japanese Verbs in the Negative Form
To use the negative with verbs it's very easy as well. The basic pattern is that "u" becomes "anai", for example: 焼く yaku (to burn) becomes 焼かない yakanai (not to burn). 読む yomu (to read) becomes 読まない yomanai (not to read), easy right?
Japanese Verb List
One of the characteristics of the Japanese language is that the verb generally comes at the end of the sentence. Japanese has two types of regular verbs:
consonant stem, godan katsuyō (五段活用?), Group I, or u verbs.
Vowel stem, ichidan katsuyō (一段活用?), Group II, or ru verbs.
Here is a list of verbs ending in "eru" which are Group 1 Verbs:
One of the characteristics of the Japanese language is that the verb generally comes at the end of the sentence. Japanese has two types of regular verbs:
consonant stem, godan katsuyō (五段活用?), Group I, or u verbs.
Vowel stem, ichidan katsuyō (一段活用?), Group II, or ru verbs.
Here is a list of verbs ending in "eru" which are Group 1 Verbs:
This is a list of verbs ending in "iru" which are Group 1 Verbs
This is a list of the most commonly used verbs:
