japanese-verb-basics - faqjapan.com

In Japanese grammar, the use of only a single verb in a sentence is grammatically correct. So, Japanese verb basics are an important rule to understand to ensure you express yourself correctly. For example, it could be the difference between eat and ate or did eat and didnt eat. Additionally, this makes it very difficult to directly translate Japanese verbs into languages like English.nFor those looking to brush-up on their basic Japanese grammar, you may want to review our initial post on the state-of-being. As this is a fundamental concept and a recommended starting point for Japanese beginners.nIn this guide, we also assume you are familiar with reading basic Japanese Hiragana characters.nnnnBeing Grammatically CorrectnLets explore our initial concept of using a single verb, including the state-of-being, in a Japanese sentence. For example:n () which could have multiple translations depending on context, such as I walk, she walks, he walks or they walk.nOf course, context is very important in Japanese, and the use of single verbs will only work when the context of usage is clear. That is, the subject will always be identified initially, and so it could be me, he, she or them.nBasic Verb GroupsnIt is also essential to understand the importance of Japanese verb classification. Meaning that certain verbs will fit into a particular category. The main groups are verbs ending in ru or ru-verbs, verbs ending in u or u-verbs and a few minor exceptions.nIn order to understand the difference, we will need to learn how to distinguish between the different groups. Basically, ru-verbs will have the same ending in on the other hand, u-verbs can end in any u sounding word including . Simply, where a verb does not end in , means it will always be a u-verb.nSpecifically, for all verbs ending in , we focus on the vowel preceding the . For instance, if the vowel is an a, u or o, it will always be an u-verb. Otherwise, if the preceding vowel sound is an i or e, it will generally be a ru-verb. There are some exceptions which we have provided in the table below.nHow to differentiate between ru-verbs and u-verbs:n contains the e-vowel sound so it is a ru-verbn contains the a-vowel sound so it is an u-verbnLets look at some examples below (you can also download a copy of this table):nRU-verbnEnglishnnTo eatnnTo seennTo thinknnTo wake up/occurnnTo sleepnnTo exist (animate)nnTo teach/tellnnTo wearnnTo leavennnU-verbnEnglishnnTo ask/listennnTo speaknnTo buynnTo swimnnTo play/hang outnnTo exist (Inanimate)nnTo waitnnTo diennTo drinknnnExceptionsnEnglishnnTo donnTo come

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