Conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from one basic form. In Japanese, there are two major classes of verbs, and two irregular verbs. In addition to verbs, Japanese adjectives and various auxilliary particles also conjugate. Collectively, these are known as conjugable words.
Stem forms edit
Prior to discussing the conjugable words, a brief note about stem forms. Conjugative suffixes and auxiliary verbs are attached to the stem forms of the affixee. In modern Japanese there are the following six stem forms.
- Imperfective form (未然形 mizenkei)
- is used for plain negative (of verbs), causative and passive constructions. The most common use of this form is with the -nai auxiliary that turns verbs into their negative (predicate) form. (See Verbs below.)
- Continuative form (連用形 ren'yōkei)
- is used in a linking role. This is the most productive stem form, taking on a variety of endings and auxiliaries, and can even occur independently (which is the infinitive form) in a sense similar to the -te ending. This form is also used to negate adjectives.
- Terminal form (終止形 shūshikei)
- is used at the ends of clauses in predicate positions. This form is also variously known as plain form (基本形 kihonkei) or dictionary form (辞書形 jishokei).
- Attributive form (連体形 rentaikei)
- in modern Japanese is practically identical to the terminal form, but differs in use: it is prefixed to nominals and is used to define or classify the noun. In this function, the root of this stem form is called a prenominal adjective (連体詞 rentaishi).
- Hypothetical form (仮定形 kateikei)
- is used for conditional and subjunctive forms, using the -ba or -domo ending.
- Imperative form (命令形 meireikei)
- is used to turn verbs into commands. Adjectives do not have an imperative stem form.
Conjugation table edit
The following table is a summary of the conjugation paradigms in Japanese:
| Verbs | Adj. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Class 2a | Class 2b | suru | kuru | Adj. | da | desu | masu | ||
| Irrealis | -a | -i | -e | se | ko | -kara | mase | Used with the auxilliaries nai and zu to express negation; however, suru has shi-nai and adjectives have -ku nai; masu only has mase-n. | ||
| -ō | -iyō | -eyō | shiyō | koyō | -karō | darō | deshō | mashō | The conjectural/volitional auxilliary u causes a euphonic change when suffixed. | |
| Continuative / Infinitive | -i | -i | -e | shi | ki | -ku | de / ni | mashi | Used with many auxilliaries, and in an adverbial capacity. | |
| Varies | -kat | dat | deshi | Used with the auxilliaries ta and te; however, adjectives have -kute not -katte. | ||||||
| Terminal | -u | -iru | -eru | suru | kuru | -i | da | desu | masu | |
| Attributive | na | masu | masu is rarely used. | |||||||
| Conditional | -e | -ire | -ere | sure | kure | -kere | nara* | masure | Used with the auxilliary ba to express a condition. nara is a suppletive form and does not usually take ba. masure is rarely used. | |
| Imperative | -e | -i(ro) | -e(ro) | shi(ro) | koi | mase | Various verbs expressing politeness have an alternate imperative form. | |||
Verbs edit
Class 1 (五段) edit
Class 1 conjugation (Japanese: 五段活用 godan conjugation - lit. 5-grade conjugation), also called consonant-stem conjugation, is what most verbs use.
The passive and the causative are formed by suffixing -reru and -seru respectively to the irrealis stem.
| k | g | s | t | n | b | m | r | w | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ka-ku | oyo-gu | hana-su | ma-tsu | shi-nu | to-bu | ka-mu | oku-ru | uta-u | |
| Irrealis | -ka | -ga | -sa | -ta | -na | -ba | -ma | -ra | -wa |
| Volitional | -kō | -gō | -sō | -tō | -nō | -bō | -mō | -rō | -ō |
| Continuative | -ki | -gi | -shi | -chi | -ni | -bi | -mi | -ri | -i |
| With -te | -ite | -ide | -shite | -tte | -nde | -tte | |||
| Terminal | -ku | -gu | -su | -tsu | -nu | -bu | -mu | -ru | -u |
| Attributive | |||||||||
| Conditional | -ke | -ge | -se | -te | -ne | -be | -me | -re | -e |
| Imperative | -ke | -ge | -se | -te | -ne | -be | -me | -re | -e |
However, there are some slightly irregular verbs in this conjugation:
| a-ru | i-ku | irassha-ru ossha-ru kudasa-ru nasa-ru |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irrealis | -ra* | -ka | -ra | nai is not suffixed to ara as in *aranai, it simply replaces it. |
| Continuative | -ri | -ki | -ri | -ri is the bare form, and used with the auxilliaries ni, tai, tagaru, and sō da. |
| -i | -i is used with masu and also functions an imperative. | |||
| With -te | -tte | -tte | -tte | |
| Imperative | -re | -ke | -re | |
| -i |