る-Verb

A る-verb, also called an ichidan verb, ends in る in its dictionary form, and the sound before る is in the い-row or the え-row: たべる食べる, みる見る, おきる起きる, ねる寝る. The dictionary form is the plain non-past: it says what you do as a habit or what you will do, in casual speech.

Every ending goes on in place of る, which is what makes these verbs easy.

• たべる食べる → たべます食べます, たべない食べない, たべて食べて, たべた食べた
• みる見る → みます見ます, みない見ない, みて見て, みた見た

Verbs that only look like る-verbs

Some verbs end in いる or える but are う-verbs, and the う-verb endings change る to り, ら or っ. You learn these one by one: かえる帰る, はいる入る, はしる走る, きる切る, しる知る, いる要る.

• × 帰ます → 帰ります
• × 見ります → 見ます

Usage notes

These go beyond the verb at the end of a casual sentence.

Inside a longer sentence

The dictionary form also goes in front of nouns and many grammar patterns, even when the sentence ends politely.

Casual questions

With a rising tone, the dictionary form asks a casual question.