Verb Basics
Role of Verbs
Vocabulary
- 食べる 【た・べる】 (ru-verb) - to eat
- 分かる 【わ・か】 (u-verb) - to understand
- 見る 【み・る】 (ru-verb) - to see
- 寝る 【ね・る】 (ru-verb) - to sleep
- 起きる 【お・きる】 (ru-verb) - to wake; to occur
- 考える 【かんが・える】 (ru-verb) - to think
- 教える 【おし・える】 (ru-verb) - to teach; to inform
- 出る 【で・る】 (ru-verb) - to come out
- いる (ru-verb) - to exist (animate)
- 着る 【き・る】 (ru-verb) - to wear
- 話す 【はな・す】 (u-verb) - to speak
- 聞く 【き・く】 (u-verb) - to ask; to listen
- 泳ぐ 【およ・ぐ】 (u-verb) - to swim
- 遊ぶ 【あそ・ぶ】 (u-verb) - to play
- 待つ 【ま・つ】 (u-verb) - to wait
- 飲む 【の・む】 (u-verb) - to drink
- 買う 【か・う】 (u-verb) - to buy
- ある (u-verb) - to exist (inanimate)
- 死ぬ 【し・ぬ】 (u-verb) - to die
- する (exception) - to do
- 来る 【く・る】 (exception) - to come
- お金 【お・かね】 - money
- 私 【わたし】 - me, myself, I
- 猫 【ねこ】 - cat
We've now learned how to describe nouns in various ways with other nouns and adjectives. This gives us quite a bit of expressive power. However, we still cannot express actions. This is where verbs come in. Verbs, in Japanese, always come at the end of clauses. Since we have not yet learned how to create more than one clause, for now it means that any sentence with a verb must end with the verb. We will now learn the three main categories of verbs, which will allow us to define conjugation rules. Before learning about verbs, there is one important thing to keep in mind.
Or to rephrase, unlike English, the only thing you need to make a grammatically complete sentence is a verb and nothing else! That's why even the simplest, most basic Japanese sentence cannot be translated into English!
A grammatically complete sentence:
- 食べる。
Eat. (possible translations include: I eat/she eats/they eat)
Classifying verbs into ru-verbs and u-verbs
Before we can learn any verb conjugations, we first need to learn how verbs are categorized. With the exception of only two exception 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. A list of common exceptions are at the end of this section.
Examples
- 食べる - 「べ」 is an e-vowel sound so it is a ru-verb
- 分かる - 「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 | 話す | する |
| 食べる | 聞く | 来る |
| 寝る | 泳ぐ | |
| 起きる | 遊ぶ | |
| 考える | 待つ | |
| 教える | 飲む | |
| 出る | 買う | |
| いる | ある | |
| 着る | 死ぬ |
Examples
Here are some example sentences using ru-verbs, u-verbs, and exception verbs.
- アリスは食べる。
As for Alice, eat. - ジムが来る。
Jim is the one that comes. - ボブもする。
Bob also do. - お金がある。
There is money. (lit: As for money, it exists.) - 私は買う。
As for me, buy. - 猫はいる。
There is cat. (lit: As for cat, it exists.)
Appendix: iru/eru u-verbs
Vocabulary
- 要る 【い・る】 - to need
- 帰る 【かえ・る】 - to go home
- 切る 【き・る】 - to cut
- しゃべる - to talk
- 知る 【し・る】 - to know
- 入る 【はい・る】 - to enter
- 走る 【はし・る】 - to run
- 減る 【へ・る】 - to decrease
- 焦る 【あせ・る】 - to be in a hurry
- 限る 【かぎ・る】 - to limit
- 蹴る 【け・る】 - to kick
- 滑る 【すべ・る】 - to slippery
- 握る 【にぎ・る】 - to grasp
- 練る 【ね・る】 - to knead
- 参る 【まい・る】 - to go; to come
- 交じる 【まじ・る】 - to mingle
- 嘲る 【あざけ・る】 - to ridicule
- 覆る 【くつがえ・る】 - to overturn
- 遮る 【さえぎ・る】 - to interrupt
- 罵る 【ののし・る】 - to abuse verbally
- 捻る 【ひね・る】 - to twist
- 翻る 【ひるが・える】 - to turn over; to wave
- 滅入る 【めい・る】 - to feel depressed
- 蘇る 【よみがえ・る】 - to be resurrected
Below is a list of u-verbs with a preceding vowel sound of /i/ or /e/ ("iru" or "eru" sound endings). The list is not comprehensive but it does include many of the more common verbs categorized roughly into three levels.
| Basic | Intermediate | Advanced |
|---|---|---|
| 要る | 焦る | 嘲る |
| 帰る | 限る | 覆る |
| 切る | 蹴る | 遮る |
| しゃべる | 滑る | 罵る |
| 知る | 握る | 捻る |
| 入る | 練る | 翻る |
| 走る | 参る | 滅入る |
| 減る | 交じる | 蘇る |

Oh no, U and Ru verbs,
Oh no, U and Ru verbs, really? It's so much simpler to classify it as Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3.
One thing I would like to point out, for T1 verbs, "U" verbs, ending in -iru/-eru with multiple syllables in the stem (with the exception of 交じる and 落ちる, less commonly 交る and practically never 落る), the entire stem is "often" encompassed by the kanji, whereas T2 verbs, "Ru" verbs, always have a syllable hanging out. This method naturally isn't as successful with one syllable stems, but then again, there can only be so many of them, and most of them are pretty common. There are probably more exceptions out there, of course.
入る vs 入れる (hairu >< ireru)
焦る vs 褪せる (aseru >< aseru)
帰る vs 変える (kaeru >< kaeru)
握る vs 逃げる (nigiru >< nigeru)
滑る vs 統べる (suberu >< suberu)
喋る vs 食べる (shaberu >< taberu)
蘇る vs 考える (yomigaeru >< kangaeru)
嘲る vs 見つける (azakeru >< mitsukeru)
Various other T2 verbs with the hanging stem (Pretty much all of them do, it seems):
忘れる、諦める、閉める、始める、燃える、焼ける、暖める、破れる、壊れる
With a few tweaks, it could be a set rule. Maybe there should be some movement to further standardize the writing of Japanese, haha. But I wouldn't doubt it if Japan's already on such a venture.
Verb 猛る, たける is also
Verb 猛る, たける is also -eru-enging u-verb. It's quite rare, though. It means something like to be violent, to show violent/fighting spirit.
今日は キムさん 面白いサイト! I would
今日は キムさん
面白いサイト!
I would suggest for simplicity sake that you re-think how you describe ichidan(katsuyou) and godan(katsuyou) doushi. I think it might be better to call them ichidan and godan instead of ru and u verbs. ichidan (doushi) conjugate with the same base (one base -> ichidan) and godan conjugate with the five bases (godan). That can make it easier to remember.
Also, rather than ru-verbs as ichidan and u-verbs as godan, you might consider eru/iru endings for ichidan and all other u endings for godan. This eliminates that whole mess of ~aru, ~oru and ~uru in the mix of the rules to be followed. It is very simple. If a verb ends in ~eru or ~iru it is most likely a ichidan verb. This leaves all other ~u and ~ru ending verbs as godan doushi.
~tjhappy
Using the terms ru- and
Using the terms ru- and u-verb is the way that verbs are taught in most high school and college level Japanese courses.
It is easier for students to understand Japanese vocabulary terms after they have a grasp on Japanese grammar and a basic vocabulary. Once students have been conjugating for a while and have memorized the number system and start to understand compound words, they have a much easier time associating Japanese terms with Japanese concepts, though I do agree that introducing the terms ichidan and godan to students early certainly wouldn't hurt.
Doesn't 滑る/すべる mean to glide
Doesn't 滑る/すべる mean to glide or to slide or even to fall, while 滑る/ぬめる means to be slippery or slimey?
Why did you use が in example
Why did you use が in example sentence #4 and は in example sentence #6
Correction(?) for Mr. Kim: I
Correction(?) for Mr. Kim:
I think that the literal translation for #4 should be (since it uses が): "The money is the thing that exists." Is that better?
To others:
I'm using the example at the end of the particles lesson as a model here. That lesson explains well why someone would use が in such a sentence as example #4. I hope that this is helpful.
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