This guide covers all ten forms learners need through JLPT N3: dictionary, masu, te, ta, nai, potential, passive, causative, volitional, and imperative — each with full conjugation tables, real examples, what the form is for, and the mistakes that actually happen.
Step Zero: The Three Verb Groups
Every conjugation in this guide depends on knowing which group a verb belongs to. Get this classification right and everything downstream is mechanical.
| Group | Common names | How to identify | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1 | う-verbs, godan | everything that isn't Group 2 or 3 | 書く, 飲む, 話す, 買う, 帰る |
| Group 2 | る-verbs, ichidan | ends in る, with え or い sound before it | 食べる, 見る, 起きる, 寝る |
| Group 3 | irregular | only two | する, 来る(くる) |
The trap: Group 1 verbs in disguise
Some verbs end in -iru/-eru but are Group 1. The most common impostors:
| Verb | Meaning | Group |
|---|---|---|
| 帰る kaeru | return home | 1 |
| 入る hairu | enter | 1 |
| 走る hashiru | run | 1 |
| 知る shiru | know | 1 |
| 切る kiru | cut | 1 (着る "wear" is Group 2!) |
| 要る iru | need | 1 (いる "exist" is Group 2!) |
| しゃべる shaberu | chat | 1 |
How to know for sure: check the ます form. If the る drops cleanly (食べる→食べます), it's Group 2. If る becomes り (帰る→帰ります), it's Group 1. Dictionaries always mark the group.
The vowel-row machine (Group 1's secret)
Group 1 verbs conjugate by sliding their final syllable along the five vowel rows. Take 書く (kaku):
| Row | Syllable | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| あ row | 書か | nai form, passive, causative |
| い row | 書き | masu form |
| う row | 書く | dictionary form |
| え row | 書け | potential, imperative, ば-conditional |
| お row | 書こ | volitional |
This single chart is Group 1 conjugation. Every form below just tells you which row to use and what to attach.
Form 1: Dictionary Form (辞書形)
The base form, ending in -u. Used for: dictionary lookup, casual present/future tense, and as the attachment point for grammar like つもり, ことができる, 前に.
明日、友達に会う。 — "I'll meet a friend tomorrow." (casual)
日本語を話すことができます。 — "I can speak Japanese."
Form 2: Masu Form (ます形) — Polite
| Group | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | い-row + ます | 飲む → 飲みます |
| 2 | drop る + ます | 食べる → 食べます |
| 3 | する → します, 来る → 来ます(きます) | — |
Four endings: ～ます (do/will do), ～ません (don't), ～ました (did), ～ませんでした (didn't).
The masu-stem (ます minus the ます: 飲み, 食べ) is itself a building block: ～たい (want to), ～ながら (while), ～やすい/にくい, ～すぎる, ～に行く all attach to it.
Common mistake: treating ます as present-only. 行きます covers future too — Japanese has no separate future tense.
Form 3: Te Form (て形) — The Connector
The most important conjugation in Japanese. Used for: requests (～てください), ongoing actions (～ている), permission (～てもいい), prohibition (～てはいけない), chaining actions, and dozens of N4–N3 patterns (～てしまう, ～ておく, ～てある, ～てあげる/くれる/もらう).
Group 1 sound-change table (memorize this!)
| Ending | Changes to | Example |
|---|---|---|
| う, つ, る | って | 買う→買って, 待つ→待って, 帰る→帰って |
| む, ぶ, ぬ | んで | 飲む→飲んで, 遊ぶ→遊んで, 死ぬ→死んで |
| く | いて | 書く→書いて |
| ぐ | いで | 泳ぐ→泳いで |
| す | して | 話す→話して |
| 行く (exception) | 行って | — |
Group 2: drop る + て (食べて). Group 3: する→して, 来る→来て(きて).
Study tip: Japanese children learn this with the "te-form song" (to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle"): って・って・って (u-tsu-ru), んで・んで・んで (mu-bu-nu)… Silly, but it works. Sing it until the changes are reflexes.
シャワーを浴びて、朝ご飯を食べて、出かけました。
"I showered, ate breakfast, and went out."
Form 4: Ta Form (た形) — Plain Past
Identical sound changes to the te form — just swap て/で for た/だ:
| Te form | Ta form |
|---|---|
| 買って | 買った |
| 飲んで | 飲んだ |
| 書いて | 書いた |
| して | した |
Used for: casual past tense, ～たことがある (experience), ～たほうがいい (advice), ～たり～たり (listing), ～たら (conditional), ～たばかり/たところ (just did).
富士山に登ったことがありますか。 — "Have you ever climbed Mt. Fuji?"
Common mistake: learning te and ta as separate systems. They are one system — if your te form is solid, your ta form is free.
Form 5: Nai Form (ない形) — Plain Negative
| Group | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | あ-row + ない | 書く → 書かない |
| 1 (う-ending) | う → わ + ない | 買う → 買わない |
| 2 | drop る + ない | 食べる → 食べない |
| 3 | する → しない, 来る → 来ない(こない) | — |
| Special | ある → ない | — |
Used for: casual negative, ～ないでください (please don't), ～なければならない (must), ～なくてもいい (don't have to), ～ないほうがいい (shouldn't), ～ずに (without doing).
今日は何も買わないつもりです。 — "I don't plan to buy anything today."
Common mistakes: 買あない ✗ (it's 買わない — う-ending verbs take わ); あらない ✗ (ある's negative is just ない).
Form 6: Potential Form (可能形) — Can Do
| Group | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | え-row + る | 読む → 読める, 話す → 話せる |
| 2 | drop る + られる | 食べる → 食べられる |
| 3 | する → できる, 来る → 来られる(こられる) | — |
The result conjugates as a Group 2 verb: 読める → 読めます, 読めない, 読めた.
辛い料理が食べられますか。 — "Can you eat spicy food?"
昨日は全然寝られませんでした。 — "I couldn't sleep at all last night."
Common mistakes:
- Particle shift: を usually becomes が (漢字が読める).
- ら抜き: casual speech says 食べれる/見れる, but the JLPT requires 食べられる/見られる.
- 分かる already means "can understand" — 分かれる is a different verb ("to split"). Never put 分かる in potential form.
Form 7: Passive Form (受身形) — Is Done To
| Group | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | あ-row + れる | 読む → 読まれる, 言う → 言われる |
| 2 | drop る + られる | 食べる → 食べられる |
| 3 | する → される, 来る → 来られる(こられる) | — |
Note: for Group 2 verbs, passive and potential are identical (食べられる) — context decides.
Three uses
- Direct passive: この本は多くの人に読まれています。 — "This book is read by many people."
- Suffering passive (it happened to me — uniquely Japanese): 雨に降られました。 — "I got rained on." 隣の人にタバコを吸われた。 — "The person next to me smoked (and I suffered)."
- Honorific passive: 先生はもう帰られました。 — "The teacher has (honorably) gone home." (see the Keigo Guide)
Common mistake: translating English passives mechanically. Japanese often prefers intransitive verbs where English uses passive: "the door was opened" is usually ドアが開いた, not ドアが開けられた.
Form 8: Causative Form (使役形) — Make/Let Someone Do
| Group | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | あ-row + せる | 行く → 行かせる, 飲む → 飲ませる |
| 2 | drop る + させる | 食べる → 食べさせる |
| 3 | する → させる, 来る → 来させる(こさせる) | — |
Two readings, disambiguated by context:
母は子供に野菜を食べさせた。 — "Mom made the child eat vegetables." (coercion)
部長は私を早く帰らせてくれた。 — "The manager let me go home early." (permission)
The killer phrase: ～させてください — "please let me…":
この仕事は私にやらせてください。 — "Please let me do this job."
Bonus: Causative-passive (使役受身) — Be Made To Do
Causative + passive stacked: 食べさせられる "be made to eat."
飲み会で歌わされました。 — "I was made to sing at the drinking party."
(Group 1 verbs commonly contract せられる → される: 歌わせられる → 歌わされる.)
Form 9: Volitional Form (意向形) — Let's / I Shall
| Group | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | お-row + う | 行く → 行こう, 飲む → 飲もう |
| 2 | drop る + よう | 食べる → 食べよう |
| 3 | する → しよう, 来る → 来よう(こよう) | — |
Used for: casual "let's" (行こう！), inner resolution, and the patterns ～(よ)うと思う (thinking of doing) and ～(よ)うとする (attempt).
今年こそ、JLPTに合格しようと思います。 — "This year for sure, I intend to pass the JLPT."
The polite equivalent is ～ましょう (行きましょう).
Form 10: Imperative Form (命令形) — Commands
| Group | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | え-row | 行く → 行け！, 飲む → 飲め！ |
| 2 | drop る + ろ | 食べる → 食べろ！ |
| 3 | する → しろ, 来る → 来い(こい)！ | — |
Usage warning: the bare imperative is harsh — drill sergeants, sports coaches, emergencies (逃げろ！ "Run!"), road signs (止まれ "Stop"), and anime villains. In real life, use ～てください or ～なさい (gentle parental command: 早く寝なさい).
Negative command: dictionary form + な — 行くな！ ("Don't go!"). Equally harsh.
Where you'll actually need it: reading signs, manga, and game dialogue — and the JLPT N4/N3 test it in exactly those contexts.
The Master Conjugation Table
Three model verbs, all ten forms:
| Form | 書く (G1) | 食べる (G2) | する (G3) | 来る (G3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | 書く | 食べる | する | くる |
| Masu | 書きます | 食べます | します | きます |
| Te | 書いて | 食べて | して | きて |
| Ta | 書いた | 食べた | した | きた |
| Nai | 書かない | 食べない | しない | こない |
| Potential | 書ける | 食べられる | できる | こられる |
| Passive | 書かれる | 食べられる | される | こられる |
| Causative | 書かせる | 食べさせる | させる | こさせる |
| Volitional | 書こう | 食べよう | しよう | こよう |
| Imperative | 書け | 食べろ | しろ | こい |
Notice 来る changes its reading in every form (くる→きて→こない→こられる) — the single most irregular word in Japanese. Drill it aloud.
How to Practice Conjugation
- Classify before you conjugate. When you learn a new verb, immediately note its group. One second now saves a hundred errors later.
- Drill verticeally and horizontally. Vertical: one verb through all ten forms. Horizontal: one form across twenty verbs. You need both directions to be automatic.
- Say it, don't write it. Conversation gives you ~0.5 seconds to conjugate. Oral drills (use a verb list from our vocabulary pages and a timer) build that speed; written drills alone don't.
- Learn forms with their grammar. The potential form is boring alone but vital inside ～ようになりました. Our N4 grammar guide and N3 grammar guide show every form in its natural habitat.
- Test under pressure. Conjugation questions saturate JLPT grammar sections — practice with mock tests and verify by ear with listening practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many verb forms does Japanese have?
About 10–14 core forms depending on how you count, built from 5 stem rows plus attachments. Crucially, verbs never change for person, number, or gender — 食べる works for I/you/he/we/they.
How many irregular verbs does Japanese have?
Two: する (do) and 来る (come). A handful of verbs have single irregular spots (行く→行って, ある→ない, special honorifics like いらっしゃる→いらっしゃいます), but full irregularity is limited to those two.
What's the fastest way to tell Group 1 from Group 2?
If it doesn't end in -iru/-eru, it's Group 1, guaranteed. If it does, check the masu form: clean る-drop (見る→見ます) = Group 2; る→り (知る→知ります) = Group 1. Memorize the common impostors: 帰る, 入る, 走る, 知る, 切る, 要る.
Which form should I learn first?
Masu form for politeness from day one, then te form as your top priority — it unlocks more grammar than any other form. Dictionary and nai forms next (they feed the conditionals and obligation patterns), then the rest in JLPT order: potential/volitional (N4), passive/causative (N4–N3), causative-passive (N3).
Why are potential and passive identical for Group 2 verbs?
Historical merger: both derive from the same classical auxiliary. Context disambiguates 食べられる ("can eat" vs "is eaten"). This ambiguity is exactly why casual speech invented ら抜き (食べれる for "can eat") — though the JLPT still counts it as wrong.
Is the imperative form rude?
The bare imperative (行け, 食べろ) is too blunt for almost all conversation. But you must recognize it: road signs (止まれ), emergencies (逃げろ), set phrases (頑張れ! "Go for it!" — which is friendly), and fiction use it constantly.
Summary and Next Steps
Japanese conjugation is a small machine: classify the verb (Group 1's vowel-row slider, Group 2's る-drop, two irregulars), then apply the form rules. The te/ta sound changes are the one table requiring real memorization — everything else is assembly. Drill aloud, learn forms inside their grammar patterns, and treat 来る with the suspicion it deserves.
Continue on NihongoDoya:
- See every form in context: N5 Grammar · N4 Grammar · N3 Grammar
- Honorific verb forms: Complete Keigo Guide
- Verbs to practice on: Vocabulary lists
- Drill under exam conditions: Mock tests