Please watch this “Homework Club” video below to practice what we have learned!
みなさんこんにちは。花子です。
Hi everyone. It’s Hanako.
とうとう、日本語勉強の最初の壁、動詞活用の勉強です！
Finally, it’s time to learn verb conjugation, which is the first wall (obstacle) in learning Japanese.
これもまた覚えるのは大変ですが、これから何度も復習するので一度で覚えられなくてもがっかりしないでくださいね。
This also might be daunting to memorize, however, we will review it over and over, so please don’t be discouraged if you don’t remember everything the first time.
でも、一度で覚える努力はしてください。
But, please still make an effort to memorize it the first time.
これは数学の公式と似ています。公式を覚えなければ、あとはもうクラスについていけません。
This is similar to a math formula. If you don’t memorize the formula, you can’t follow the class.
ここががんばりどきです！がんばりましょう！
Now is the time to put all your effort it! Let’s do our best!
今日は、dictionary form, ru-verb/u-verb, stem (masu) formについて勉強します。
Today, we will learn about the dictionary form, ru-verbs/u-verbs, and the stem (masu) form.
(1) Dictionary form
As the name implies, when you look up the verb in a dictionary, you will see the dictionary form.
Ex.) 食べる (to eat)
(2) Ru-verb / U-verb
In order to conjugate verbs, you need to know this ru-verb / u-verb rule.
Basic rule
If the verb ends with “-iru” or “-eru”, it’s a ru-verb.
If not, it’s u-verb.
*Note: There are exceptions to this rule which I will explain later. For now, just remember this.
【Ru-verb】
Verbs ends with “-iru” or “-eru” sound.
Ex.)
見る (to see / miru) – Ru-verb
食べる (to eat / taberu) – Ru-verb
【U-verb】
Verbs do not end with “-iru” or “-eru” sound.
Ex.)
行く (to go/ iku) – It does not end with “-iru” or “-eru” sounds, so it’s an “u-verb”.
言う (to say / iu) – same as above – U-verb
This is the most fundamental in conjugating verbs, so please memorize it!
(3) Stem (masu) form
The dictionary form is used for casual Japanese, and stem form is used for formal Japanese.
Ex.)
食べる – Dictionary form / casual form
食べます – Stem (masu) form / formal form
How we form stem (masu) form changes depending on whether or not it’s a “ru-verb” or an “u-verb”.
【For Ru-verb】
Drop “る” from the end of dictionary form, and add ”ます”
食べる → 食べます
【For U-verb】
“U” sound at the end of the verb changes into “I” sound, and add “ます”
行く → 行き → 行きます
I made a “Ru-verb & U-verb” video a while back.
Please watch it if you got confused about these rules.
OK, we learned how to differentiate “ru-verbs” and “u-verbs”, but there is more you need to know!
There are a couple irregular verbs which do not fall under these categories, as well as exceptions to the above rules.
Irregular (する・くる）
する (to do) and くる (to come) conjugate irregularly.
For stem (masu) form, する changes to し＋ます, くる changes to き＋ます.
する → します
来る → 来ます (The kanji for くる is 来る)
~Exceptions (Looks like a ru-verb, however, it is actually an u-verb)~
Those verbs look like “ru-verbs” because they end with “-iru” or “-eru” sounds, however, they conjugate like “u-verbs”. You just have to memorize those, but luckily there aren’t too many of them.
帰る (かえる / to go home) – かえります (not かえます）
切る (きる / to cut) – きります(not きます）
知る (しる / to know) – しります (not します)
入る (はいる) to enter – はいります(not はいます）
走る (はしる) to run – はしります(not はします）
*Editor’s Note: You would not normally say “知ります” for “I know”. If you want to express that you know something in Japanese, you would say the equivalent of “I am knowing”, which we will learn later.
練習しましょう！
Let’s practice!
Is it Ru-verb? U-verb? Irregular?
Differentiate the types of verbs and then convert them into their masu forms!
1. 歩く (to walk) U-verb 歩きます
2. 住む (to live) U-verb 住みます
3. 呼ぶ (to call) U-verb 呼びます
4. 見る (to look) Ru-verb 見ます
5. する (to do) Irregular します
6. 言う(to say) U-verb 言います
7. 覚える (to memorize) Ru-verb 覚えます
8. 使う (to use) U-verb 使います
9. 借りる (to borrow) Ru-verb 借ります
10. 勉強する (to study) Irregular 勉強します
11. くる (to come) Irregular きます
12. 起きる (to wake up) Ru-verb 起きます
13. 着る (to wear) Ru-verb 着ます
14. 切る (to cut) U-verb 切ります
15. 買う(to buy) U-verb 買います
16. 走る (to run) U-verb 走ります
17. 歌う(to sing) U-verb 歌います
18. 開ける (to open) Ru-verb 開けます
19. 勝つ (to win) U-verb 勝ちます
20. 教える (to teach) Ru-verb 教えます
はい、今日は以上です！
All right! That’s it for today!
Conjugationはたしかに大変です。
Conjugation certainly is a pain.
でも、ちゃんと練習すれば覚えられます。
However, if you really practice you can memorize it.
あとで宿題を送りまーす。
I will send the homework later~.
じゃあまたね。
See you later.