Verbal Conjugation Regular I Regular II and Irregular

Verbal Conjugation Regular I, Regular II, and Irregular verbs

You need to be able to do 2 things 1. 2. You need to be able to identify each verb’s type of conjugation, such as regular I, regular II, or irregular verb. You need to know each type’s conjugation rule, such as how to make ない form, -て form, 　ます form, Potential form, and so on.

Step 1 Identifying type of conjugation There are three types of conjugation n Regular I (sometimes called 5 vowel or Type I) n Regular II (also called as single vowel or Type II) n Irregular verbs, such as ある, する, and くる

Because it is easier to explain Regular II and Irregular conjugation, we are going to take a look at them first.

Regular II (from ますform) To identify Regular II verbs you need to do: n From ますform, check the vowel right before ます. If there is either い sound　or え sound, it is Regular II. (You can also write the verb in Roma-ji to see if they have “e” or “i” right before “masu. ”) Examples: たべます　(tabe masu) =to eat みます　(mi masu) =to see

Regular II (from Dictionary form) n From Dictionary form, you also check the vowel before る. If there is either い sound　or え sound, it is Regular II. (You can also write the verb in Roma-ji to see if they have “e” or “I” right before “ru. ”) Examples: あける (ake ru) =to open みる (mi ru) =to see Attention: Even though かえる (to return) seems Regular II, this is Regular I, because る is what we conjugate （かえらない, かえります, etc. ), instead of え, like other Regular II verbs. 　

Regular II (Tips for identifying) n n え sound Regular II is relatively easy to identify because if there is え sound in front of ます or る, it MUST be Regular II! However, い sound Regular II is hard to identify by looking at ますform. Therefore, I recommend to identify types of conjugation by looking at Dictionary forms. Attention: Some of Regular I verbs end with る, such as はいる, and those need to be memorized since it is impossible to identify types of conjugation by looking neither ます form or Dictionary form.

Regular II (Diagram) n n Conjugation for Regular II verbs is very simple. You simply need to take off “ます” from -ますform or “る” from Dictionary form. （Bold and underlined part doesn‘t change！) Similarly, you simply need to put “られる” in the end for Potential form (=can do) after taking off “ます” from -ますform or “る” from Dictionary form. (In the chart, there are potential form for ます-form and for Dictionary form) ます form たべます みます Dictionary form たべる みる ない form たべない みない って/った form Potential form たべて たべた みて みた たべられます たべられる みられます みられる

Irregular Verbs There are only 3 irregular verbs. You can remember those 3 as A-ある S-する K-くる ASK

Regular I n n n If a verb is neither Regular II or Irregular, it is Regular I. Most verbs are categorized as Regular I. Besides –て/–た forms, verbal conjugation isn’t so complicated.

Regular I (Basic Rules) n In Regular I conjugation, what we have to pay attention to is what letter, not sound, in ひらがな column the verb ends in Dictionary form or right before ます form. Examples: かく (=to write) is か column because く is from かきくけこ よむ (=to read) is ま column because む is from まみむめも ききます (=to listen) is か column because き is from かきくけこ

Regular I (Basic Rules Cont) Once you identify what column a Regular I verb ends in: n n First letter in the column, which includes vowel あ, connect with ない -> ない form. Second letter in the column, which includes vowel い, connect with　ます-> ます form. Third letter in the column, which includes vowel う, makes Dictionary form. Forth letter in the column, which includes vowel え, connect with る/ます -> Potential form. (Potential means “can” do a certain action. )

Regular I (Diagram) Important Note: For verbs ending with う, such as あう, ない form is --わない. (Take away the letter in the column and put わない!) Memorizing Tip: “In Japanese, there is no expression, ‘Uhh. ’” If you translate this sentence to Japanese, it will be; にほんごには“Uhh”はない。＝“う”　->　“わない”(はない) ます form Dictionary form Potential form ない form かきます かく かけます/かける かかない よみます よむ よめます/よめる よまない ききます きく きけます/きける きかない あいます あう あえます/あえる あわない

Regular I (-て/-た form) Before explaining about て/-た forms: n Many teachers and books focus on the letters in front of Dictionary form or　ます form. However, here, I recommend teachers and students to focus on the column, instead of the letter. This is because…

The reasons n Memorizing a single letter is confusing if students have to conjugate from other forms. For instance, If memorized “a Regular I verb ends with す needs to be changed to し to make –て-た form, such as はなす (Dictionary form) to はなして (–て/-た form) But think about if this is from ます form, ” … Students, first, have to think dictionary form of はなします, then can make –て/-た form. What if students don’t remember dictionary form?

Regular I (-て/-た form) Therefore, I recommend students memorize what column each verb ends. If it is dictionary form, the last letter, and if it is ま す form, right before ます. n n n いかが？(=“how do you like? ”) =Verbs ends with か and が columns change to いて わらった(=“laughed”) =Verbs ends with わ, ら, and た columns change to って　Caution: (わcolumn includes わいう えを) なまばん=Verbs ends with な, ま, and ば columns change to んで Attention: Conjugation for いく (=to go) does not meet this rule. -て いって/いった -て/-た form of いく is いって/

Regular I (-て/-た forms) n Examples: かく is か column and from the rule “いかが” –て/-た form is かいて よむ is ま column and from the rule “なまばん” –て/-た form is よんで はいります is ら column and from the rule “わらった” –て/-た form is はいって かいます is わ column and from the rule “わらった” –て/-た form is かって (There is no あ column in this rule!)