3.1 Verbs: Dictionary form and polite form

Note on tense in Japanese verbs

When talking about tense, Japanese verbs make a simple distinction:

• non-past (present and future)
• past

There is no separate future tense. The same verb form is used for actions happening now and actions that will happen later. Time is understood from context or from time words like “tomorrow” or “next week”.

Both sentences use the same non-past verb form.

Past tense will be covered in a later lesson.

Verb dictionary form

The dictionary form is the plain, informal non-past form of a verb. It is the form you will find in dictionaries.

This form is used:

• In casual conversation
• In explanations and narration
• Before many grammar patterns

Examples:

～ます — Polite non-past form

～ます is the polite non-past form of a verb. It is used in neutral and polite speech.

Structure:

Verb（ます-stem）＋ます

Examples:

Verb groups

Japanese verbs fall into three main groups. Knowing the group helps you conjugate verbs correctly.

る-verbs (ichidan verbs, group II verbs)

These verbs end in る, more specifically in eru or iru.

When conjugating to the ～ます form, る is simply removed and ます is added.

Pattern: る → drop → + ます

Examples:

• たべる食べる きごう→ たべます食べます
• みる見る きごう→ みます見ます
• おきる起きる きごう→ おきます起きます
• ねる寝る きごう→ ねます寝ます
• おしえる教える きごう→ おしえます教えます
• かりる借りる きごう→ かります借ります

う-verbs (godan verbs, group I verbs)

These verbs end in a う-sound （う、く、す、つ、ぬ、ぶ、む、る）

When conjugating to the ～ます form, the final u-vowel changes to the i-vowel, and ます is added.

Pattern: う → い + ます

Examples covering all u-verb endings:

• のむ飲む きごう→ のみます飲みます
• かく書く きごう→ かきます書きます
• はなす話す きごう→ はなします話します
• まつ待つ きごう→ まちます待ちます
• しぬ死ぬ きごう→ しにます死にます
• あそぶ遊ぶ きごう→ あそびます遊びます
• よむ読む きごう→ よみます読みます
• かう買う きごう→ かいます買います
• とる取る きごう→ とります取ります

Note: Some verbs ending in る are u-verbs. You cannot rely on る alone — the verb group must be learned.

Irregular verbs

There are only two common irregular verbs in Japanese.

• する きごう→ します　— to do
• くる来る　くる → きます来ます　きます　— to come

These do not follow the normal u-verb or ru-verb patterns and must be memorized.