Basic Verb Conjugations - Plain Forms

Group 1: Ichidan Verbs

Group 1 or Ichidan verbs are the first set of verbs that we will learn the basic conjugations for. Ichidan verbs all end with the Hiragana る (ru), so you may also see them called ru-verbs in some textbooks.

Another characteristic of Ichidan verbs is that they all end in the Romaji (iru) or (eru). If you see a verb that ends in (aru), (uru) or (oro), then it is not an Ichidan verb. Be careful as Group 2 Godan verbs also contains some verbs that end in (iru) or (eru), for those exceptions you will need to memorize which are Ichidan verbs and which are Godan verbs as they conjugate differently.

To create each of the basic conjugations from the dictionary form, use the following rules:

• Plain Present Negative Form - Remove the final る (ru) and add ない (nai)
• Plain Past Form - Remove the final る (ru) and add た (ta)
• Plain Past Negative Form - Remove the final る (ru) and add なかった (nakatta)

You can see examples of how these conjugations are formed below:

Group 2: Godan Verbs

Godans verbs all end with the Romaji (u), and are sometimes called u-verbs in textbooks.

You may be wondering why Group 1 verbs are called Ichidan verbs and Group 2 verbs are called Godan verbs. In Japanese Ichi(一) means 1 and Go(五) means 5. When you form conjugations for Ichidan verbs, you create one stem by removing the final る(ru), and then add the appropriate ending (ie, nai, ta, nakatta).  When conjugating Godan verbs, there is 5 possible stems that could be created by changing the final (-u) sounding hiragana to one of the 5 possible sounds on the Hiragana chart (-a, -i, -u, -e, -o). This will make more sense as you progress through your lessons and learn more conjugation forms, but is a helpful tip to remember which verb group is Ichidan and which verb group is Godan.

Godan verbs may end in any of the following Hiragana (う,く,ぐ,す,つ,ぬ,ぶ,む or る). We will look at how to form the basic conjugations for each of these variations in turn.

For Godan verbs ending in う, to create each of the basic conjugations from the dictionary form, use the following rules:

• Plain Present Negative Form - Remove the final う (u) and add わない (wanai)
• Plain Past Form - Remove the final う (u) and add った (tta)
• Plain Past Negative Form - Remove the final う (u) and add わなかった (wanakatta)

You can see examples of how these conjugations are formed below:

For Godan verbs ending in く, to create each of the basic conjugations from the dictionary form, use the following rules:

• Plain Present Negative Form - Remove the final く (ku) and add かない (kanai)
• Plain Past Form - Remove the final く (ku) and add いた (ita)
• Plain Past Negative Form - Remove the final く (ku) and add かなかった (kanakatta)

The verb 行く(iku) [to go] is an exception to this rule, to form the plain past form:

• Plain Past Form - Remove the final く (ku) and add った (tta)

For Godan verbs ending in ぐ, to create each of the basic conjugations from the dictionary form, use the following rules:

• Plain Present Negative Form - Remove the final ぐ (gu) and add がない (ganai)
• Plain Past Form - Remove the final ぐ (gu) and add いだ (ida)
• Plain Past Negative Form - Remove the final ぐ (gu) and add がなかった (ganakatta)

For Godan verbs ending in す, to create each of the basic conjugations from the dictionary form, use the following rules:

• Plain Present Negative Form - Remove the final す (su) and add さない (sanai)
• Plain Past Form - Remove the final す (su) and add した (shita)
• Plain Past Negative Form - Remove the final す (su) and add さなかった (sanakatta)

For Godan verbs ending in つ, to create each of the basic conjugations from the dictionary form, use the following rules:

• Plain Present Negative Form - Remove the final つ (tsu) and add たない (tanai)
• Plain Past Form - Remove the final つ (tsu) and add った (tta)
• Plain Past Negative Form - Remove the final つ (tsu) and add たなかった (tanakatta)

For Godan verbs ending in ぬ, to create each of the basic conjugations from the dictionary form, use the following rules:

• Plain Present Negative Form - Remove the final ぬ (nu) and add なない (nanai)
• Plain Past Form - Remove the final ぬ (nu) and add んだ(nda)
• Plain Past Negative Form - Remove the final ぬ (nu) and add ななかった (nanakatta)

For Godan verbs ending in ぶ, to create each of the basic conjugations from the dictionary form, use the following rules:

• Plain Present Negative Form - Remove the final ぶ (bu) and add ばない (banai)
• Plain Past Form - Remove the final ぶ (bu) and add んだ(nda)
• Plain Past Negative Form - Remove the final ぶ (bu) and add ばなかった (banakatta)

For Godan verbs ending in む, to create each of the basic conjugations from the dictionary form, use the following rules:

• Plain Present Negative Form - Remove the final む (mu) and add まない (manai)
• Plain Past Form - Remove the final む (mu) and add んだ(nda)
• Plain Past Negative Form - Remove the final む (mu) and add まなかった (manakatta)

For Godan verbs ending in る, to create each of the basic conjugations from the dictionary form, use the following rules:

• Plain Present Negative Form - Remove the final る (ru) and add らない (ranai)
• Plain Past Form - Remove the final る (ru) and add った(tta)
• Plain Past Negative Form - Remove the final る (ru) and add らなかった (ranakatta)

The verb ある(aru) [to exist] is an exception. To create each of the basic conjugations from the dictionary form of ある(aru), use the following rules:

• Plain Present Negative Form - The plain present negative form is ない (nai)
• Plain Past Form - Remove the final る (ru) and add った(tta)
• Plain Past Negative Form - The plain past negative from is なかった (nakatta)

Group 3: Irregular Verbs

Group 3 contains just two irregular verbs 来る(kuru) [to come] and する(suru) [to do].

As you will use these two verbs quite often, you will find that you will learn the conjugations for them quite quickly, even though they are irregular and do not follow the patterns of the previous two groups.

For 来る(kuru), to create each of the basic conjugations from the dictionary form, use the following rules:

• Plain Present Negative Form -  The plain present negative form is 来ない - こない (konai)
• Plain Past Form - The plain past form is 来た - きた (kita)
• Plain Past Negative Form - The plain past negative form is 来なかった - こなかった (konakatta)

Note that even though the first hiragana character has changed from く to こ and き in the above conjugations, the Kanji 来 stays the same, just the reading has changed.

For する(suru), to create each of the basic conjugations from the dictionary form, use the following rules:

• Plain Present Negative Form -  The plain present negative form is しない (shinai)
• Plain Past Form - The plain past form is した (shita)
• Plain Past Negative Form - The plain past negative form is しなかった (shinakatta)