All Japanese verbs can be classified, according to the way they make their forms, into two major groupings or conjugations. We are going to discuss them on this post.
1. The consonant or U dropping conjugation or consonant conjugation
Most of the verb in this conjugation are easy to recognize. If the end syllables of the dictionary form of a verb are anything at all but -eru or -iru, the verb is automatically a member of the u-dropping conjugation. The possible endings are,
-bu ぶ, -mu む, -nu ぬ, -ku く, -gu ぐ, -su す, -tsu つ, -au あう, -iu いう, -ou おう, -aru ある, -oru おる, -uru うる.
All of these verbs form their basic stem by dropping the final -u and making whatever phonetic changes are necessary ;
Present form : basic stem
tobu 飛ぶ To fly : tob-
yomu 読む to read : yom-
shinu 死ぬ to die : shin-
kaku 書く to write : kak-
isogu 急ぐ to hurry : isog-
dasu 出す to take out, to present : das-
matsu 待つ to wait : mat-
shimau しまう to finish : shama-
kau 買う to buy : ka-
iu 言う to say : i-
omou 思う to think : omo-
aru ある to be, to have : ar-
toru 取る to take : tor-
nuru 塗る to paint : nur-
If the final syllables of a verb are -eru and -iru, however, it is not possible to tell from present form to which comjugation a verb belongs. A few verbs ending in -eru and -iru are members of the u-dropping conjugation, and form their basic stem by dropping the final -u
shiru 知る to know : shir-
hairu 入る to enter : hair-
kaeru 帰る to return : kaer-
2. The vowel or Ru dropping conjugation or vowel conjugation
Most verb ending in -eru or -iru, however, are member of the second, or ru-dropping conjugation. They form their basic stem by dropping -ru
dekiru できる to be able : deki-
iru いる to be : i-
hajimeru 始める to begin : hajime-
kangaeru 考える to think : kangae-
taberu 食べる to eat : tabe-
ageru あげる to raise, to give : age-
miru 見る to see : mi-
In both conjugations the basic stem gives rise to all other verb forms in an entirely regular manner. For this reason it is very important that you understand how to isolate it. So there are two types of verb. Next post, we are going to learn the combining stem and the polite form. See you soon.