Japanese conjugation

This page is a comprehensive list of Japanese verb and adjective conjugations. Since these are almost all regular, they can all be included on one page. Japanese verb conjugation is fairly simple. The plain form of all verbs ends in u. There are very few irregular verbs, and this page contains a comprehensive list of their conjugations. In modern Japanese, there are no verbs ending in zu, fu, pu, or yu. There is only one verb ending in nu, shinu, to die.

Causative

The causative forms are characterized by the final u becoming aseru for consonant stem verbs, and ru becoming saseru for vowel stem verbs.

Type	Causative	Examples	Causative
Irregular verbs
suru	saseru	kanben suru	kanben saseru
kuru	kisaseru
Regular verbs
u	waseru	tsukau (use)	tsukawaseru
ku	kaseru	kawaku (dry)	kawakaseru
gu	gaseru	oyogu (swim)	oyogaseru
su	saseru	shimesu (show)	shimesaseru
tsu	taseru	matsu (wait)	mataseru
nu	naseru	shinu (die)	shinaseru
bu	baseru	yobu (call)	yobaseru
mu	maseru	yomu (read)	yomaseru
ru (consonant stem)	raseru	hashiru (run)	hashiraseru
iru, eru (vowel stem)	isaseru, esaseru	kigaeru (change clothes)	kigaesaseru

• Negatives are not normally made into causatives. Instead, a negative ending is added to the causative of the verb.
• Adjectives are made causative by using the adverb form plus saseru.

Conditional eba form

The eba conditional form is characterized by the final u becoming eba for consonant stem verbs, and ru becoming reba for vowel stem verbs.

Type	Causative	Examples	Causative
Irregular verbs
suru	sureba	kanben suru	kanben sureba
kuru	koreba
da (copula)	de areba
Regular verbs
u	eba	tsukau (use)	tsukaeba
ku	keba	kawaku (dry)	kawakeba
gu	geba	oyogu (swim)	oyogeba
su	seba	shimesu (show)	shimeseba
tsu	teba	matsu (wait)	mateba
nu	neba	shinu (die)	shineba
bu	beba	yobu (call)	yobeba
mu	meba	yomu (read)	yomeba
ru (consonant stem)	raseru	hashiru (run)	hashireba
iru, eru (vowel stem)	ireba, ereba	kigaeru (change clothes)	kigaereba
Adjectives and negatives
i adjectives	kereba	samui	samukereba
na adjectives	de areba	kantan	kantan de areba
nai (negative)	nakereba	ikanai	ikanakereba

• Na adjectives are usually used with the nara conditional, but they can be used with de areba.
• The nakereba form used for the negative form can be colloquially contracted to nakya. Thus ikanakereba can become ikanakya.

Conditional ra form

The conditional ra form is formed from the past tense by simply adding ra. The only exception is the copula da, which becomes nara.

Imperative

Most of the imperative forms are characterized by the final u becoming e.

Type	Becomes	Examples	Imperative
Irregular verbs
suru	shiro seyo	kanben suru	kanben shiro kanben seyo
kuru	koi
ru polite verbs	i	irassharu nasaru	irasshai nasai
kureru	kure
masu stem	mase	irasshaimasu (come, go)	irasshaimase
Regular verbs
u	e	tsukau (use)	tsukae
ku	ke	yaku (burn)	yake
gu	ge	oyogu (swim)	oyoge
su	se	shimesu (show)	shimese
tsu	te	matsu (wait)	mate
nu	ne	shinu (die)	shine
bu	be	yobu (call)	yobe
mu	me	yomu (read)	yome
ru (consonant stem)	re	hashiru (run)	hashire
iru, eru (vowel stem)	iro, iyo, ero, eyo	kigaeru (change clothes)	kigaero kigaeyo

Negative

The basic pattern is u becomes anai.

Type	Negative	Examples	Negative
Irregular verbs
suru	shinai	benkyō suru	benkyō shinai
kuru	konai
da	de wa nai ja nai
masu stem	masen	ikimasu (go, polite)	ikimasen
Regular verbs
u	wanai	tsukau (use)	tsukawanai
ku	kanai	yaku (burn)	yakanai
gu	ganai	oyogu (swim)	oyoganai
su	sanai	shimesu (show)	shimesanai
tsu	tanai	matsu (wait)	matanai
nu	nanai	shinu (die)	shinanai
bu	banai	yobu (call)	yobanai
mu	manai	yomu (read)	yomanai
ru (consonant stem)	ranai	hashiru (run)	hashiranai
iru, eru (vowel stem)	inai, enai	kigaeru (change clothes)	kigaenai
Adjectives
i adjectives	ku nai	itai (painful)	itakunai
na adjectives	de wa nai ja nai	kantan	kantan de wa nai kantan ja nai

• The nai ending conjugates in two ways.
  1. As an i adjective. For example the past tense of tabenai is tabenakatta and the te form is tabenakute.
  2. There is a special te form made by adding de. For example, tabenaide. This is used, for example, in tabenaide kudasai: "Please don't eat (this)".

Potential

The general pattern is u becomes eru.

Type	Potential	Examples	Potential
Irregular verbs
suru	dekiru seru (in compounds)	benkyō suru aisuru	benkyō dekiru aiseru
kuru	korareru
Regular verbs
u	eru	tsukau (use)	tsukaeru
ku	keru	yaku (burn)	yakeru
gu	geru	oyogu (swim)	oyogeru
su	seru	shimesu (show)	shimeseru
tsu	tareru	matsu (wait)	materu
nu	neru	shinu (die)	shineru
bu	beru	yobu (call)	yoberu
mu	meru	yomu (read)	yomeru
ru (consonant stem)	reru	hashiru (run)	hashireru
iru, eru (vowel stem)	irareru, erareru ireru, ereru (*)	kigaeru (change clothes)	kigaerareru kigaereru (*)

(*) The shorter reru form is common but not considered standard.

Passive

The general pattern is u becomes areru.

Type	Passive	Examples	Passive
Irregular verbs
suru	sareru	benkyō suru	benkyō sareru
kuru	korareru
Regular verbs
u	wareru	tsukau (use)	tsukawareru
ku	kō	yaku (burn)	yakareru
gu	gareru	oyogu (swim)	oyogareru
su	sareru	shimesu (show)	shimesareru
tsu	tareru	matsu (wait)	matareru
nu	nareru	shinu (die)	shinareru
bu	bareru	yobu (call)	yobareru
mu	mareru	yomu (read)	yomareru
ru (consonant stem)	rareru	hashiru (run)	hashirareru
iru, eru (vowel stem)	irareru, erareru	kigaeru (change clothes)	kigaerareru

• The ru ending of the passives becomes the new verb ending. This is conjugates as a vowel stem verb. Thus past, te, or polite forms can all be added to the verb.
• The copula, da, does not form a passive.
• For the masu form, the masu is added to the passive of the plain verb.

Te form

The te form of a Japanese verb is used when the verb has some kind of connection to the following words. The conjugation of the te form is similar to the conjugation of the past tense.

Type	Becomes	Examples	Te form
Irregular verbs
suru	shite	aisuru	aishite
kuru	kite
iku (go)	itte
irassharu (polite)	irashite
masu stem	mashite	akemasu	akemashite
Regular verbs
u	tte	tsukau (use)	tsukatte
ku	ite	yaku (burn)	yaite
gu	ide	oyogu (swim)	oyoide
su	shite	shimesu (show)	shimeshite
tsu	tte	matsu (wait)	matte
nu	nde	shinu (die)	shinde
bu	nde	yobu (call)	yonde
mu	nde	yomu (read)	yonde
ru (consonant stem)	tte	hashiru (run)	hashitte
iru, eru (vowel stem)	ite, ete	ita, eta	taberu	tabete
Adjectives
i adjective	kute	yasui (cheap)	yasukute
na adjective	de	kantan (simple)	kantan de

Usage

• In requests with kure and kudasai.
• With the verbs
  • iru: It can mean "to be doing": matte iru: "I am waiting" or "to do": shitte iru: "I know". Collquially, in this form the "i" often disappears, so matte iru becomes matteru and shitte iru becomes shitteru.
  • oku: It means "to do in advance". o bentÅ o tsukutte oita: "I've already made a boxed lunch". Colloquially, in this form the "e" often disappears, so tsukutte oita becomes tsukuttoita
  • aru: This forms a kind of passive. It is very common with the verb kaku, to write. Koko ni moji ga kaite aru: "There are some characters written here".
• To join two sentences. Yasukute ii ne: "It's good that it's cheap".
• With particles in formations such as
  • te wa ikenai: "You must not ...". For example, tabete wa ikenai: "You must not eat this".
  • te mo ii: "You can do this". For example, tabete mo ii: "You can eat it".

Past tense

The past tense is very similar in conjugation to the te form. Most of the past tenses are formed by replacing "te" with "ta". The only exceptions are the adjective forms.

Type	Past	Examples	Past
Irregular verbs
suru	shita	aisuru	aishita
kuru	kita
iku (go)	itta
irassharu (polite)	irashita
masu stem	mashita	akemasu	akemashita
Regular verbs
u	tta	tsukau (use)	tsukatta
ku	ita	yaku (burn)	yaita
gu	ida	oyogu (swim)	oyoida
su	shita	shimesu (show)	shimeshita
tsu	tta	matsu (wait)	matta
nu	nda	shinu (die)	shinda
bu	nda	yobu (call)	yonda
mu	nda	yomu (read)	yonda
ru (consonant stem)	tta	hashiru (run)	hashitta
iru, eru (vowel stem)	ita, eta	taberu	tabeta
Adjectives
i adjective	katta	yasui (cheap)	yasukatta
na adjective	datta	kantan (simple)	kantan datta

• The English meanings in this table are for indication only and are not comprehensive.

Volitional

Type	Volitional	Examples	Volitional
Irregular verbs
suru	shiyō seyō	benkyō suru	benkyō shiyō benkyō seyō
kuru	koyō
da	darō
masu stem	mashō	ikimasu (go, polite)	ikimashō
Regular verbs
u	ō	tsukau (use)	tsukaō
ku	kō	yaku (burn)	yakō
gu	gō	oyogu (swim)	oyogō
su	sō	shimesu (show)	shimesō
tsu	tō	matsu (wait)	matō
nu	nō	shinu (die)	shinō
bu	bō	yobu (call)	yobō
mu	mō	yomu (read)	yomō
ru (consonant stem)	rō	hashiru (run)	hashirō
iru, eru (vowel stem)	iyō, eyō	kigaeru (change clothes)	kigaeyō

• In volitional statements: benkyō shiyō: "Let's study".
• In the form shiyō to suru: be about to, be trying to. Inu ga shinō to shite iru: "The dog is dying."