Negative Form
Verb Types
In this section, we'll learn how to conjugate verbs to the negative form. However, before we can learn any verb conjugations, we first need to learn how verbs are categorized. With the exception of only two verbs, all verbs fall into the category of ru-verb or u-verb.
All ru-verbs end in 「る」 while u-verbs can end in a number of u-vowel sounds including 「る」. Therefore, if a verb does not end in 「る」, it will always be an u-verb. For verbs ending in 「る」, if the vowel sound preceding the 「る」 is an /a/, /u/ or /o/ vowel sound, it will always be an u-verb. Otherwise, if the preceding sound is an /i/ or /e/ vowel sound, it will be a ru-verb in most cases.
Examples
- 食べる - 「べ」 is an e-vowel sound so it is a ru-verb
- わかる - 「か」 is an a-vowel sound so it is an u-verb
If you're unsure which category a verb falls in, you can verify which kind it is with most dictionaries. There are only two exception verbs that are neither ru-verbs nor u-verbs as shown in the table below.
| ru-verb | u-verb | exception |
|---|---|---|
| 見る 【み・る】 - to see | 話す 【はな・す】 - to speak | する - to do |
| 食べる 【た・べる】 - to eat | 聞く 【き・く】 - to ask; to listen | 来る 【く・る】 - to come |
| 寝る 【ね・る】 - to sleep | 泳ぐ 【およ・ぐ】 - to swim | |
| 起きる 【お・きる】 - to wake; to occur | 遊ぶ 【あそ・ぶ】 - to play | |
| 考える 【かんが・える】 - to think | 待つ 【ま・つ】 - to wait | |
| 教える 【おし・える】 - to teach; to inform | 飲む 【の・む】 - to drink | |
| 出る 【で・る】 - to come out | 買う 【か・う】 - to buy | |
| 変える 【か・える】 - to change | 帰る 【かえ・る】 - to go home | |
| いる - to exist (animate) | ある - to exist (inanimate) | |
| 着る 【き・る】 - to wear | 死ぬ 【し・ぬ】 - to die |
Negative Form
We can now learn the rules for conjugating the verb into the negative form based on the different verb types. Be extra careful of 「ある」 which is one extra exception verb for this conjugation only.
- For ru-verbs: Drop the 「る」 and attach 「ない」
Example: 食べる+ ない = 食べない - For u-verbs that end in 「う」: Replace 「う」 with 「わ」 and attach 「ない」
Example: 買う+ わ + ない = 買わない - For all other u-verbs: Replace the u-vowel sound with the a-vowel equivalent and attach 「ない」
Example: 待つ+ た = 待たない - Exceptions:
- する → しない
- くる → こない
- ※ある → ない
| ru-verb | u-verb | exception |
|---|---|---|
| 見る → 見ない | 話す → 話さない | する → しない |
| 食べる → 食べない | 聞く → 聞かない | くる → こない |
| 寝る → 寝ない | 泳ぐ → 泳がない | ある → ない |
| 起きる → 起きない | 遊ぶ → 遊ばない | |
| 考える → 考えない | 待つ → 待たない | |
| 教える → 教えない | 飲む → 飲まない | |
| 出る → 出ない | 買う → 買わない | |
| 変える → 変えない | 帰る → 帰らない | |
| 着る → 着ない | 死ぬ → 死なない |
You don't have a TV?
- ね - hey
- テレビ - TV
- 番組 【ばん・ぐみ】 - program (e.g. TV)
- どう - how
- 思う 【おも・う】 (u-verb) - to think
- 全然 【ぜん・ぜん】 - not at all (when used with negative)
- 面白い 【おも・しろい】 (i-adj) - interesting; funny
- 分かる 【わ・かる】 (u-verb) - to understand; to know
- 見る 【み・る】 (ru-verb) - to see
- なんで - why
- うち - one's own home, family, or household
- うそ - lie; no way (casual)
- 本当 【ほん・とう】 - truth; reality
ジョン： ね、最近のテレビ番組はどう思う？全然面白くないよね？
John: Hey, as for recent TV shows, how (do you) think? It's not interesting at all, huh?
アリス： 分からないね。私は、テレビを見ないから。
Alice: (I) don't know. As for me, I don't watch TV so.
ジョン： え？なんで見ないの？
John: Huh? Why don't (you) watch it?
アリス： うちは、テレビがないの。
Alice: As for our house, there's no TV.
ジョン： うそ！
John: No way!
アリス： 本当。
Alice: (It's) true.
ジョン： ・・・うそ！
John: ... No way!
アリス： 本当よ。
Alice: (It's) true, you know.
I had this problem and was
I had this problem and was very fteutrarsd when I tried to learn French at school. I didn’t understand what was going on, all I remember doing was some past papers and then passing an exam at the end of the year. Unfortunately today I can’t speak French at all and would really love to learn the language as we recently bought a small apartment in South of France. Nobody seems to speak English there and I really struggle to communicate.
I usually play the baphalet
I usually play the baphalet game. I write the baphalet on the board and the students have to say things using the verb LIKE.E.g.:I like applesHe likes apples and I like bananasHe likes apples, she likes bananas and I like carrots...After some letters are done you can ask the student to use the negative form:I don't like applesHe doesn't like apples and I don't like bananasHe doesn't like apples, she doesn't like bananas and I don't like carrots.I really works!!!
You did not include this
You did not include this among the examples of negative verb conjugation:
いる → いない
It is the only one from "examples of different verb types" that you did not show the negative form of.
考える 【かんが・える】 - to think 思う
考える 【かんが・える】 - to think
思う 【おも・う】 (u-verb) - think
is there any difference between these verbs or is this a case of two ways to say the same thing?
I might be wrong on this one,
I might be wrong on this one, but as I understand it:
"考える 【かんが・える】 - to think" refers to the process of thinking itself,
while
"思う 【おも・う】 (u-verb) - think" refers to "having some oppinion/thoughts" on something.
If I'm wrong, hopefully someone will correct me too.
RE: アリス： うちは、テレビがないの。 Is の
RE: アリス： うちは、テレビがないの。
Is の used here because the question ended in の, or is this an unrelated particle?
Also, I read here (http://www.japanforum.com/forum/japanese-language-help/37238-whats-point...) that おもしろい is usually kana, and that using kanji for that word is considered poor style. Is there any truth at all to this?
I finally found this post
I finally found this post again :p Thanks for the answers!
Adding の to the end of a
Adding の to the end of a sentence is making it explanatory.
This means that if someone wants an explanation they will add の and the answer will come with の(or in the case of なーadjectives and nouns なん)
The difference is this.
"Is it that there isn't a Tv in your house?" (possibly a follow up question to "did you see the game last night?" if the answer was no) would be with a の in Japanese as opposed to
"Is there no Tv in your house?" Which in English doesn't seem weird to say, but in Japanese if you don't have it you will just be stating a stand alone fact.
Another example.
あなたはねむいの？ Is is that you are tired?
うん、ねむい。 Yes, I am tired. <---- don't say that, it sounds weird even in English given the context.
うん、ねむいのだ。 Yes, it is that I am tired.
Well I think the の is just
Well I think the の is just providing explanation particle:
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/complete/explanation
About the kanji - i really dont know, but since a native speaker claims that teachers corrected 面白い to おもしろい I guess he is right
can someone respond to this
can someone respond to this if they have the answer, i need to know this too i'm confused
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