おかえり！Welcome Back!
Welcome back to my blog! This entry will focus on verb types. I'm working on making my posts shorter and easier to grasp, and breaking them up more, so please bear with me! As a result, this entry may be shorter than the others, but it's not for lack of information.
がんばってください！Please do your best!
Verb Types
There are three types of verbs in Japanese. These are る verbs, う verbs, and irregular verbs. Both る verbs and う verbs follow their own sets of rules when it comes to conjugations, and, as you might guess, irregular verbs do not.
Before I continue on, I should explain the two main verb forms that you are likely to see: dictionary form and ます form. Dictionary form is the base form of the verb, and it is the form in which you are most likely to be able to guess what type a verb is. ます form does not actually change the meaning of the verb, but simply makes it sound a bit more polite. Also, the ます form of verbs (if you couldn't guess this) ends in ます. The verb type is what determines how you should alter the dictionary form to get to the ます form.
Dictionary form -- ますform
たべる -- たべます [る verb]
みる -- みます [る verb]
およぐ -- およぎます [う verb]
かく -- かきます [う verb]
する -- します [irregular verb]
くる -- きます [irregular verb]
る Verbs
る verbs are the first, and arguably easiest, verb type. The rule for converting from dictionary form to ます form is easy: drop る and add ます to the end.
To identify a る verb, keep this in mind: every る verb ends with る in its dictionary form, but not all verbs ending in る are る verbs. Some verbs ending in る, such as かえる (to return), are actually う verbs. There are no real rules to know when a verb ending in る is an う verb, but there are patterns that will be noticeable as you learn more and more verbs.
The basic rule to follow when guessing if a verb is a る verb or an う verb is this: if the verb's dictionary form ends in -eru or -iru (the "e" can either be a standalone え or a syllable ending in it, like べ, and the same goes for the "i"), it is most likely a る verb. There are exceptions to this, such as かえる, and the only way to get around that is memorization.
The basic rule to follow when guessing if a verb is a る verb or an う verb is this: if the verb's dictionary form ends in -eru or -iru (the "e" can either be a standalone え or a syllable ending in it, like べ, and the same goes for the "i"), it is most likely a る verb. There are exceptions to this, such as かえる, and the only way to get around that is memorization.
Examples of る verbs and their ます form
たべる (to eat) たべます
みる (to look) みます
ねる (to sleep) ねます
おちる (to fall) おちます
う Verbs
う verbs are a bit more complicated than る verbs when changing between dictionary form and ます form, but not by much. To change an う verb to ます form, change the last syllable of its dictionary form to the い counterpart of it, and add ます.
What does this mean? It's easier than it sounds. Take かえる (to return) for example. Despite ending in る, it is an う verb. To change it to ます form, take the last syllable (る) and change it to its い counterpart (り). Then add ます. That makes its ます form かえります.
Examples of う verbs and their ます form
かえる (to return) かえります
のむ (to drink) のみます
おくる (to send) おくります
はしる (to run) はしります
Irregular Verbs
There are only two irregular verbs in the entire Japanese language. Rejoice!
The irregular verbs that exist are called such because, no matter how you're conjugating them, they aren't following typical rules that other verb types follow. That means that you have to memorize their forms. Luckily for you, there are two irregular verbs total.
The first irregular verb is する (to do). Its ます form is します. This is one of the verbs you will see used the most, so make sure to remember it!
The second irregular verb is くる (to come). Its ます form is きます.
Next time on Japanese Lessons
Next time I will cover the past tense, both casual and formal (meaning the past tense of both dictionary form and ます form). It should be another shorter blog post like this one. Let me know if you prefer the longer, more detailed posts like the first two or shorter ones with less to take in all at once like this one!
Also, in another lesson or two, I plan on introducing a few basic kanji, so watch for that!
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がんばってね！
