| This page will give you a complete overview of all the conjugations
in the Japanese language, including all irregular verbs. For detailed
information on how each conjugation is used click the appropriate
links.
In modern Japanese there are two types of words which are conjugated:
Verbs have five conjugations in modern Japanese and verbal adjectives
have four:
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1. Rentaikei
2. Ren'youkei
3. Izenkei
4. Mizenkei
5. Meireikei |
(This conjugation has many contractions.
If you are unable to identify the conjugation, you are probably
dealing with the ren'youkei.)
(Verbs ending on "-ou" have the mizenkei as conjugation.)
(Verbs only) |
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Verbs
Verbs are divided into two groups, known as group 2
verbs, or nidan katsuyou (二段活用) and group 4 verbs,
or yodan katsuyou (四段活用). Each group has its own conjugations. There
are two irregular verbs, and a group of
five honorific verbs that have two irregular conjugations.
Verbs belong to group 2*
when the rentaikei conjugation ends on "-eru" or "-iru".
NOTE: There are verbs belonging to
group 4 where the rentaikei conjugation ends on "-iru"
or "-eru", these verbs are indicated in the vocabulary
list with the ④
mark.
All other verbs belong to group 4.
NOTE: Pay special attention to the
mizenkei of verbs ending on the hiragana う (u), this conjugation
uses the hiragana わ (wa) instead of あ (a).
Irregular
verbs
There are two truly irregular verbs.
NOTE: There are various conjugations
for the mizenkei for the verb する (suru). し (shi) is reserved for
the negative form, せ (se) and さ (sa) are reserved for the causative
form and the passive form.
Pay special attention to the ren'youkei and the mizenkei conjugations
of 来る (kuru). Though they are written the same way, their pronunciations
are different.
These honorific verbs have irregular ren'youkei and meireikei conjugations.
All five verbs have the same irregularity.
Verbal
adjectives
Verbal adjectives have only 4 conjugations in modern Japanese. The
meireikei conjugation does not exist. There is one irregular verbal
adjective: いい (ii).
*
The Japanese make a further distinction between these two as the
lower group 2, or shimo nidan katsuyou (下二段活用), ending on "-eru";
and the higher group 2, or kami nidan katsuyou (上二段活用), ending on
"-iru", but for all practical purposes there is no difference
between the two. |