![]() The plain form conjugation is somewhat more difficult than the polite form, though. As we did with the polite form, we will learn the present affirmative, present negative, past affirmative and past negative conjugations. Now that we know how about the three Japanese verb groups, we can proceed to their verb conjugation. This is because there are other verbs that are mostly regular but have one or more irregular conjugation. I would rather say that きます and します are the only highly irregular verbs in Japanese, in the sense that none of their conjugations follow the standard patterns. Because they are the only verbs in this group, it is often said that Japanese only has two irregular verbs, which is not entirely correct. Group 3, finally, is comprised of only two verbs: きます (to come) and しますto do する – conveniently for us, the last two verbs of our list! We call them irregular verbs. ![]() Note that in their case, we simply remove the ます part and append る to obtain the plain form. They are called “one step” because they do not suffer the changes that the godan ones do. They are the second most common type of verb in Japanese. Group 2 is composed of the ichidan (“one step”) verbs. In easier to understand terms: Polite Form Notice that when we convert them from the polite form to the plain form, they lose the -ます part and then we change whichever -i Hiragana they had to -u. The first five verbs of the list above are all godan verbs (how convenient!). They are called five-steps because they suffer changes according to the verb conjugation. Group 1 – also called godan (“five steps”) – verbs are the most common type of verb. So far this distinction has not been of relevance for us, since in their polite form, all Japanese verbs are conjugated the same (hence them being easier to learn), but now that we will learn the plain form, it is worth knowing the three groups. Japanese verbs are divided according to the way they are conjugated. How can I conjugate plain form verbs? How can I convert the polite form into the plain form, and vice-versa? To answer these questions, we must learn about the three types of Japanese verbs. Checking some verbs we already know, for example, the plain form of 食べます is 食べ る, while the plain form of 飲みます is 飲 む, of 行きます is 行 く and of はなします is はな す. By –u, I mean a Hiragana character such as う, く, つ, る, etc. ![]() Just like all Japanese verbs in the polite form end in -ます, all plain form verbs end in –u. The table below conveys all the information in an easier to see way. Similarly, there are plain form equivalents for the present negative, past affirmative and past negative tenses: ではない, だった and ではなかった, respectively. The plain form of です is だ, and it is used pretty much in the same way as です is. While not properly a verb, we learned how to use and how to conjugate its polite form. When we started our studies of Japanese, one of the first things we saw was the copula (that is, a word used to link a subject to a predicate) です. ![]() This might be a bit hard and even a bit dry (although we will do our best to come across as simple and intuitive), but will be helpful for the entirety of your Japanese studies. Therefore, in this chapter we will also learn about the overall structure and grammar concerning Japanese verbs. As “polite” as the polite form is, once you start getting intimate with your friends, continuously using the polite form may make you sound “みずくさい”, that is, distant, reserved, or even stand-offish.įurthermore, just like we can make adverbs from adjectives, in Japanese we can form other verb conjugations from the plain form, such as the so-called “te form” or “participle”. Having said that, the plain form is arguably the one Japanese speakers use the most in their daily interactions, given that it is used with family and friends. As I mentioned, we started with the polite form because for new speakers, it is always smart to err on the side of politeness rather than informality, and also because they are easier to learn due to their regularity. ![]() – are the formal present affirmative form of the verb. The plain form of a verb, also called the dictionary form (since it is the one you will find in dictionaries) or basic form, is the informal present affirmative form of the verb. This time we will learn about the plain form of the verbs, rather than the polite ones we have seen so far. In this chapter, though, we will retrace our steps further, studying verb conjugation. Last chapter, we learned about how to form and use adverbs, as well as some basic information about onomatopoeia in Japanese. ![]()
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