Learn How to Conjugate Japanese Verbs

Helpful Charts to Guide Verb Conjugation in Romaji

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Updated on February 28, 2020

In this lesson, you will learn how to conjugate Japanese verbs in the present tense, past tense, present negative, and past negative. If you are not familiar with verbs yet, read "Japanese Verb Groups" first. Then, learn "The ~te form," which is a very useful form of the Japanese verb.

The "Dictionary" or Basic Form of Japanese Verbs

The basic form of all Japanese verbs ends with "u". This is the form listed in the dictionary, and is the informal, present affirmative form of the verb. This form is used among close friends and family in informal situations.

The ~ Masu Form (Formal Form)

The suffix "~ masu" is added to the dictionary form of the verbs to make sentence polite. Aside from changing the tone, it has no meaning. This form is used in situations requiring politeness or a degree of formality, and is more appropriate for general use.

Check out this chart of different groups of verbs and the accompanying ~ masu forms of the basic verbs.

Group 1

Take off the final ~u, and add ~ imasu

For example:

kaku --- kakimasu (to write)

nomu --- nomimasu (to drink)

Group 2

Take off the final ~ru, and add ~ masu
For example:

miru --- mimasu (to watch)

taberu --- tabemasu (to eat)

Group 3

For these verbs, the stem will change

For examples:

kuru --- kimasu (to come)

suru --- shimasu (to do)

Note that the ~ masu form minus "~ masu" is the stem of the verb. The verb stems are useful since many verb suffixes are attached to them.

~ Masu Form	The stem of the verb
kakimasu	kaki
nomimasu	nomi
mimasu	mi
tabemasu	tabe

Present Tense

Japanese verb forms have two main tenses, the present and the past. There is no future tense. The present tense is used for future and habitual action as well.

The informal form of the present tense is the same as the dictionary form. The ~ masu form is used in formal situations.

Past Tense

The past tense is used to express actions completed in the past (I saw, I bought etc.) and present perfect tense (I have read, I have done etc.). Forming the informal past tense is simpler for Group 2 verbs, but more complicated for Group 1 verbs.

The conjugation of Group 1 verbs varies depending on the consonant of the last syllable on the dictionary form. All Group 2 verbs have the same conjugation pattern.

Group 1

Formal	Replace ~ u with ~ imashita	kaku --- kakimashita nomu --- nomimashita
Informal	(1) Verb ending with ~ ku: replace ~ ku with ~ ita	kaku --- kaita kiku (to listen) --- kiita
	(2) Verb ending with ~ gu: replace ~ gu with ~ ida	isogu (to hurry) --- isoida oyogu (to swim) --- oyoida
	(3) Verb ending with ~ u, ~tsu and ~ ru: replace them with ~ tta	utau (to sing) --- utatta matsu (to wait) --- matta kaeru (to return) --- kaetta
	(4) Verb ending with ~ nu, ~bu and ~ mu: replace them with ~ nda	shinu (to die) --- shinda asobu (to play) --- asonda nomu --- nonda
	(5) Verb ending with ~ su: replace ~ su with ~ shita	hanasu (to speak) --- hanashita dasu --- dashita

Group 2

Formal	Take off ~ru, and add ~ mashita	miru --- mimashita taberu ---tabemashita
Informal	Take off ~ru, and add ~ ta	miru --- mita taberu --- tabeta

Group 3

Formal	kuru --- kimashita, suru --- shimashita
Informal	kuru --- kita, suru ---shita

Present Negative

To make sentence negative, verb endings are changed into negative forms with the ~ nai form.

Formal (All Groups)	Replace ~ masu with ~ masen	nomimasu --- nomimasen tabemasu --- tabemasen kimasu --- kimasen shimasu --- shimasen
Informal Group 1	Replace the final ~ u with ~anai (If verb ending is a vowel + ~ u, replace with ~ wanai)	kiku --- kikanai nomu --- nomanai au --- awanai
Informal Group 2	Replace ~ ru with ~ nai	miru --- minai taberu --- tabenai
Informal Group 3	kuru --- konai, suru ---shinai

Past Negative

Formal	Add ~ deshita to the formal present negative form	nomimasen --- nomimasen deshita tabemasen --- tabemasen deshita kimasen--- kimasen deshita shimasen--- shimasen deshita
Informal	Replace ~ nai with ~ nakatta	nomanai --- nomanakatta tabenai --- tabenakatta konai --- konakatta shinai ---shinakatta

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Abe, Namiko. "Learn How to Conjugate Japanese Verbs." ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/how-to-conjugate-japanese-verbs-4058457. Abe, Namiko. (2020, August 26). Learn How to Conjugate Japanese Verbs. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-conjugate-japanese-verbs-4058457 Abe, Namiko. "Learn How to Conjugate Japanese Verbs." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-conjugate-japanese-verbs-4058457 (accessed March 22, 2023).