Japanese Verbs Part 2
Dictionary-form and Nai-form -
Free Japanese Lessons: 19

In this lesson, you will get to learn how to change Japanese verbs from dictionary-form to ます-form (masu-form) and ない-form (nai-form).

There are some rules that you need to follow in order to change verbs from dictionary-form to other forms.

Rules for Changing dictionary-form to masu-form

The following are the rules for the 3 groups of Japanese verbs.

Group 1 Verbs

Group 1 verbs always end up with words containing u-sound. To change group 1 verbs to masu-form, change the u-sound to i-sound in the last word.

After that append ます (masu) to the changed words and you will get the masu-form of the verb.

For example, this group 1 verb のむ (nomu) ends up with む (mu). If you change the u-sound to i-sound, む (mu) becomes み (mi).

Adding ます (masu) at the end, you will get のみます (nomimasu).

Let's look at one more example, this group 1 verb かわる (kawaru) ends up with る (ru).

If you change the u-sound to i-sound, る (ru) becomes り (ri). Adding ます (masu) at the end, you will get かわります (kawarimasu).

Group 2 Verbs

Changing group 2 verbs from dictionary-form to masu-form is much simpler.

All group 2 verbs end up with る (ru). To change to masu-form, simply replace る (ru) with ます (masu) and you will get the masu-form of the verb.

For example, this Japanese verb たべる (taberu) is a group 2 verb. To change to masu-form, replace る (ru) with ます (masu) and you will get たべます (tabemasu).

I will use another example to show the change. This group 2 verb ねる (neru) means go to bed. Change る (ru) to ます (masu) and you will get ねます (nemasu).

Group 3 Verbs

Group 3 verbs are irregular verbs. You just need to memorize them. The masu-form of くる (kuru) is きます (kimasu) and the masu-form of する (suru) is します (shimasu).

In summary, the following diagram shows the rules when changing dictionary-form to masu-form for Japanese verbs.

Rules for Changing dictionary-form to nai-form

For this section you will learn how to change dictionary-form (Plain Present Affirmation) to nai-form (Plain Present Negative).

The following are the rules for the 3 groups of Japanese verbs.

Group 1 Verbs

To change group 1 verbs from dictionary-form to nai-form, change the u-sound to a-sound in the last word. After that append ない (nai) to the changed words and you will get the nai-form of the verb.

For example, this group 1 Japanese verb かく (kaku) ends up with く (ku). If you change the u-sound to a-sound, く (ku) becomes か (ka). Adding ない (nai) at the end, you will get かかない (kakanai).

However there is one exception. For group 1 verbs end up with the word う (u), instead of changing it to あ (a), you need to change it to わ (wa).

For example, this group 1 verb かう (kau) ends up with う (u). Therefore you need to change う (u) to わ (wa). Adding ない (nai) at the end, you will get かわない (kawanai).

Group 2 Verbs

Group 2 verbs are much simpler. You just need to change る (ru) to ない (nai) and you will get the nai-form Japanese verbs.

Group 3 Verbs

Group 3 verbs are irregular verbs. You just need to memorize them. The nai-form of くる (kuru) is こない (konai) and the nai-form of する (suru) is しない (shinai).

In summary, the following diagram shows the rules when changing dictionary-form to nai-form for Japanese verbs.

Examples of Changing Japanese Verbs to masu-form and nai-form

Let's see some examples of changing Japanese verbs from dictionary-form to masu-form and nai-form.

Group 1 Verbs

Group 2 Verbs

Group 3 Verbs

Related Pages

Lesson 18: Verbs.

Lesson 20: Verbs on give and receive.

Lesson 21: Verbs te-form.

Lesson 22: Verbs on Progress Action, Habitual Action & Occupation.

Lesson 23: Verbs of Motion & How to Make Request in Japanese.

Lesson 29: Verbs on State Continuation.

Lesson 30: Verbs - Transitive and Intransitive verbs.

Lesson 31: Verbs on State Continuation Transitive/Intransitive.

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