Verb Basics
Vocabulary
食べるた・べるru-verbto eat
見るみ・るru-verbto see, watch
起きるお・きるru-verbto wake up
寝るね・るru-verbto sleep
行くい・くu-verbto go
書くか・くu-verbto write
話すはな・すu-verbto speak
読むよ・むu-verbto read
買うか・うu-verbto buy
するirregularto do
来るく・るirregularto come
Japanese verbs always come at the end of the clause. There are two main categories of verbs: Ru-verbs and U-verbs.
Ru-verbs (Class 2)
To conjugate these, you simply drop the る and add the suffix.
Examples
食べる
—to eat
見る
—to see
起きる
—to wake up
寝る
—to sleep
U-verbs (Class 1)
These end in a u-sound (not necessarily just the character う). To conjugate, you often change the vowel sound.
Examples
行く
—to go
書く
—to write
話す
—to speak
読む
—to read
Irregular Verbs
There are only two main irregular verbs:
する
—to do
来る
—to come
Dictionary Form
The basic form found in the dictionary is often called the “dictionary form” or “plain form”. It represents the non-past (present/future) affirmative tense.
Examples
食べる
—eat / will eat
行く
—go / will go
読む
—read / will read
買う
—buy / will buy