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Verbs

Notes

Person
Japanese verbs are not conjugated according to person: 「する」 can mean "I do", "you do", "he does", "she does", "it does", "we do" or "they do". Since the pronouns themselves rarely appear in sentences, Japanese understand the subject of a verb based on context and level of politeness. There are many common verbs which have completely different forms when used humbly or honorifically, such as 「まいります」= "Someone (either me or someone in my in-group) goes (humbly)" and 「いらっしゃいます」 = "Someone (either you or someone in my out-group) goes (honorifically)."

Tense
Japanese does not have the same idea of past, present or future tense that English does. The so-called present tense is used to describe actions that have not yet completed, and is used where English uses the present or future: 「いく」 = "I go" or "I will go". The so-called past tense is used to describe actions that have been completed, and is used where English uses the past or present perfect: 「いった」 = "I went" or "I have gone". I think of the difference between the two as more one of aspect than of tense.

Aspect
Japanese verbs often do not have the same implicit aspect as English verbs. I'll add an example when I think of a good one.

Formality
Japanese verbs have formal and informal forms. If you know how to speak French, use the formal forms in conversations where you would be addressing people as 'vous' and the informal forms where you would be talking to 'tu'. If you don't speak French, stick to the formal forms until you know when to use the informal forms. Note that the informal forms are used in subordinate clauses even in formal forms, but don't worry about this if you aren't sure what a subordinate clause is.

Positive and Negative
In English, we use the word 'not' to make a verb negative: "I eat, I do not eat." In Japanese, we use a different inflection of the verb: 「たべる、たべない。」

Active and Passive
In English, we use the auxiliary verb 'to be' to make a verb passive: "I eat, I am eaten." In Japanese, we use a different inflection of the verb: 「たべる、たべられる。」 Japanese passive forms all look like active verb forms, with an /-(r)are-/ added to the stem. Japanese sometimes uses the passive in an active sense in polite conversation, or to describe actions with an unfortunate nuance. Japanese therefore has passive forms for some verbs (such as 'to come' and 'to go') that either don't exist or sound strange in English.

Verbs, Nouns or Adjectives?
Japanese verbs aren't even always translatable as verbs in English, and vice versa. I'll add an example when I think of a good one.

Principal Parts
When you learn a verb, learn its Present Positive Informal, its Present Positive Formal, and its て form. The notes explain how to derive the rest. If you prefer, you can learn just the first form and the verb stem. The second form is then the verb stem plus '-masu' for vowel stems and '-imasu' for consonant and W stems, and the third form follows rules explained below.

If you know only the first (PPI, dictionary) form, the verb is a consonant stem unless it ends in '-eru' or '-iru'. If it does end in one of those, you can't tell what the stem is, but it's more likely to be a vowel stem than a consonant stem.

Irregular Verbs
Most Japanese verbs are regular. Those which are not are shown below, and their irregular forms are shown in the table in red.

Conjugations

Form Formation Irregular Regular
Vowel Stem Consonant Stem W Stem
です
to be (copula)
来る
to come
する
to do
行く
to go
ある
there is
食べる
to eat
書く
to write
買う
to buy
Stem This isn't a verb form, and can't even be written in Japanese, but can be useful to learn instead of the ます and て forms so that you can tell apart the vowel, consonant and W stems. (none) ki-/ku-/ko- shi-/su- ik- ar- tabe- kak- ka(w)-
 
Present Positive Informal Also called the "dictionary form", because it's how you'll find the verb listed in the dictionary. Except for です. They're also shown above in the headings, spelled in kanji.
I am
くる
I come
する
I do
いく
I go
ある
there is
たべる
I eat
かく
I write
かう
I buy
Present Negative Informal For vowel stems, drop the '-ru' of the positive and add '-nai'. For consonant stems, drop the '-u' of the positive and add '-anai'. For W stems, drop the '-u' of the positive and add '-wanai'. ではない、
じゃない

I am not
こない
I do not come
しない
I do not do
いかない
I do not go
ない
There is not
たべない
I do not eat
かかない
I do not write
かわない
I do not buy
Past Positive Informal Take the て form and change the '-e' to '-a'. だった
I was
きた
I came
した
I did
いった
I went
あった
There was
たべた
I ate
かいた
I wrote
かった
I bought
Past Negative Informal Take the Present Negative Informal and change the '-i' to '-katta'. ではなかった、
じゃなかった
I was not
こなかった
I did not come
しなかった
I did not do
いかなかった
I did not go
なかった
There was not
たべなかった
I did not eat
かかなかった
I did not write
かわなかった
I did not buy
 
て form For a vowel stem, drop the '-ru' and add 'te'. For a consonant stem, change '-ku' to '-ite', '-gu' to '-ide', '-su' to '-s(h)ite', '-t(s)u' to '-tte', '-nu' to '-nde', '-bu' to '-nde', '-mu' to '-nde', '-ru' to '-tte'. For a W stem, change '-u' to '-tte'. It's regular, but complicated enough that it's worth memorising the form when you learn the verb.
being
きて
coming
して
doing
いって
going
あって
there being
たべて
eating
かいて
writing
かって
buying
 
Present Positive Formal Also called the ます form. If you know this form and the Present Positive Informal, you can figure out what all the rest are. です
I am
きます
I come
します
I do
いきます
I go
あります
there is
たべます
I eat
かきます
I write
かちます
I buy
Present Negative Formal Take the Present Positive Formal, drop the '-u' and add '-en'. ではありません、
じゃありません

I am not
きません
I do not come
しません
I do not do
いきません
I do not go
ありません
There is not
たべません
I do not eat
かきません
I do not write
かいません
I do not buy
Past Positive Formal Take the Present Positive Formal, drop the '-su' and add '-s(h)ita'. でした
I was
きました
I came
しました
I did
いきました
I went
ありました
There was
たべました
I ate
かきました
I wrote
かいました
I bought
Past Negative Formal Take the Present Negative Formal and add '-deshita'. ではありませんでした、
じゃありませんでした
I was not
きませんでした
I did not come
しませんでした
I did not do
いきませんでした
I did not go
ありませんでした
There was not
たべませんでした
I did not eat
かきませんでした
I did not write
かいませんでした
I did not buy
 
Passive Present Positive Informal Begin with the (active) Present Positive Informal. For a vowel stem, drop the '-ru' and add '-rareru'. For a consonant stem, drop the '-u' and add '-areru'. For a W stem, drop the '-u' and add '-wareru'. The form you get is always a vowel stem, and can be inflected just like the active form to get the negative, past and formal. (none) こられる
(no passive meaning in English)
される
I am done
いかれる
(no passive meaning in English)
(none) たべられる
I am eaten
かかれる
I am written
かわれる
I am bought
Passive Present Negative Informal こられない
(no passive meaning in English)
されない
I am not done
いかれない
(no passive meaning in English)
たべられない
I am not eaten
かかれない
I am not written
かわれない
I am not bought
Passive Past Positive Informal こられた
(no passive meaning in English)
された
I was done
いかれた
(no passive meaning in English)
たべられた
I was eaten
かかれた
I was written
かわれた
I was bought