Japanese Verbs: Types, Conjugation, and Essential Verb List

Key takeaways

• Japanese verbs fall into three groups: godan (u-verbs), ichidan (ru-verbs), and two irregular verbs (する and くる).
• The group a verb belongs to determines how it changes across polite, negative, past, and te-form endings.
• Mastering the masu form first gives you a solid, polite foundation for everyday conversations.
• A core set of 20-25 verbs plus the suru compound pattern will cover the majority of everyday communication needs.

Japanese verbs follow clear, predictable rules once you know which group a verb belongs to. That one classification, godan or ichidan, tells you exactly how the verb will behave in every tense and form you learn.

The challenge early on is identifying the group, and that is where practicing with a real tutor on italki makes a big difference, because you can ask questions, try sentences, and hear corrections the moment something goes wrong.

This guide covers the three Japanese verb groups, polite masu form conjugations, negative and past forms, the te-form and its everyday uses, a reference list of 20+ essential verbs, and suru verb compounds. italki tutors can help you work through every form here in real conversational contexts so the patterns become second nature.

Find a qualified Japanese tutor and start practicing verb conjugation in real sentences from your very first lesson.

The three Japanese verb groups

Every Japanese verb belongs to one of three groups. The group tells you which rules to apply when you conjugate it. This is the single most important classification to understand before anything else in Japanese verb grammar.

Group 1: godan verbs (u-verbs)

Godan verbs are also called u-verbs because their dictionary form ends in one of the following sounds: く (ku), ぐ (gu), す (su), つ (tsu), ぬ (nu), ぶ (bu), む (mu), or る (ru) when the sound before る is not an i or e vowel.

The name godan means five steps because the verb stem moves across five vowel rows (a, i, u, e, o) in Japanese kana depending on the conjugation form being used.

Japanese	Romaji	English
書く	kaku	to write
泳ぐ	oyogu	to swim
話す	hanasu	to speak
待つ	matsu	to wait
飲む	nomu	to drink
遊ぶ	asobu	to play
読む	yomu	to read
行く	iku	to go
買う	kau	to buy
帰る	kaeru	to return home

An important point: 帰る (kaeru), 分かる (wakaru), and 終わる (owaru) end in る but are godan verbs. This is one of the trickier verb classifications for beginners. With time and exposure, you will recognize these exceptions naturally.

Group 2: ichidan verbs (ru-verbs)

Ichidan verbs are also called ru-verbs. Their dictionary form always ends in る (ru), and the syllable immediately before る is always either an i or e sound. Ichidan means one step because the stem stays the same across all conjugation forms, and only the ending changes.

Japanese	Romaji	English
食べる	taberu	to eat
見る	miru	to see
起きる	okiru	to wake up
着る	kiru	to wear (clothing)
教える	oshieru	to teach
覚える	oboeru	to remember, to memorize
寝る	neru	to sleep
開ける	akeru	to open
閉める	shimeru	to close

A quick check: 食べる (taberu) has be (an e-sound) before る, so it is ichidan. 見る (miru) has mi (an i-sound) before る, so it is ichidan. 飲む (nomu) does not end in る, so it is godan.

Irregular verbs

There are only two truly irregular verbs in Japanese. This is genuinely good news. You learn these two as special cases and everything else follows predictable rules.

Japanese	Romaji	English
する	suru	to do
くる / 来る	kuru	to come

Japanese	Romaji	English
する	suru	to do
くる	kuru	to come

する is one of the most important verbs in the language because it forms hundreds of compound verbs with nouns. くる follows its own conjugation pattern that you will absorb through repeated use. Both verbs are covered in more detail below.

Polite form: the masu form

The masu form (ます形, masu-kei) is the polite present and future tense. Learners typically study it first because it is the standard form for speaking with anyone outside your immediate inner circle. Use it at work, in class, in shops, and in any conversation where being polite matters.

Forming ます from godan verbs

For godan verbs, you replace the final u-row sound with the i-row equivalent and add ます.

The pattern: く becomes き, す becomes し, つ becomes ち, ぬ becomes に, ぶ becomes び, む becomes み, ぐ becomes ぎ, る (godan) becomes り.

Japanese	Romaji	English
書きます	kakimasu	to write (polite)
話します	hanashimasu	to speak (polite)
飲みます	nomimasu	to drink (polite)
待ちます	machimasu	to wait (polite)
行きます	ikimasu	to go (polite)
帰ります	kaerimasu	to return home (polite)

Forming ます from ichidan verbs

For ichidan verbs, you simply remove the final る and add ます. The stem never changes, which is why this group is called one step.

Japanese	Romaji	English
食べます	tabemasu	to eat (polite)
見ます	mimasu	to see (polite)
起きます	okimasu	to wake up (polite)
教えます	oshiemasu	to teach (polite)
寝ます	nemasu	to sleep (polite)

Irregular masu forms

する becomes します (shimasu, to do). くる becomes きます (kimasu, to come). These are the two forms you memorize directly.

Negative and past forms

Once you have the masu form, the negative and past forms follow a consistent pattern. Here are the four main politeness-level forms using 食べる (taberu, to eat) as the example:

Japanese	Romaji	English
食べない	tabenai	don’t eat (plain negative)
食べません	tabemasen	don’t eat (polite negative)
食べた	tabeta	ate (plain past)
食べました	tabemashita	ate (polite past)

Plain negative: ない (nai)

For ichidan verbs, drop る and add ない: 食べる – 食べない. For godan verbs, change the final sound to the a-row and add ない: 飲む – 飲まない (nomanai), 書く – 書かない (kakanai), 話す – 話さない (hanasanai). する – しない (shinai). くる – こない (konai).

Use ない-form with friends and in informal writing. It sounds direct and casual.

Polite negative: ません (masen)

Replace ます with ません. This is always the polite negative regardless of verb group: 食べません (tabemasen), 飲みません (nomimasen), 行きません (ikimasen). To express did not in a polite way, use ませんでした (masendeshita): 食べませんでした (tabemasen deshita).

Plain past: た (ta)

For ichidan verbs, drop る and add た: 食べる – 食べた (tabeta). For godan verbs, the past ending depends on the verb’s final sound:

• く – いた: 書く – 書いた (kaita)
• ぐ – いだ: 泳ぐ – 泳いだ (oyoida)
• す – した: 話す – 話した (hanashita)
• つ, う, る (godan) – った: 待つ – 待った (matta), 帰る – 帰った (kaetta)
• ぬ, ぶ, む – んだ: 飲む – 飲んだ (nonda)

する – した (shita). くる – きた (kita).

Polite past: ました (mashita)

Replace ます with ました. This is consistent across all verb groups: 食べました (tabemashita), 飲みました (nomimashita), 行きました (ikimashita), しました (shimashita), きました (kimashita).

For a full set of conjugation practice exercises, see the guide on Japanese conjugation practice.

The te-form and its uses

The te-form is one of the most versatile and important forms in Japanese grammar. You use it to connect actions, make requests, ask for permission, and express what you are currently doing, so it becomes much easier to use once you understand basic Japanese sentence structure.

What the te-form does

• Connects two actions in sequence: 食べて、出かけた (tabete, dekaketa) = I ate and then went out.
• Makes polite requests: 食べてください (tabete kudasai) = Please eat.
• Asks for permission: 食べてもいいですか (tabete mo ii desu ka) = May I eat?
• Expresses the progressive tense: 食べています (tabete imasu) = I am eating.
• Describes a continuing state: 窓が開いています (mado ga aite imasu) = The window is open.

How to form the te-form

For ichidan verbs: drop る and add て. 食べる – 食べて (tabete), 見る – 見て (mite).

For godan verbs, the ending depends on the verb’s final sound, following the same pattern as the plain past but with て/で instead of た/だ:

• く – いて: 書く – 書いて (kaite)
• ぐ – いで: 泳ぐ – 泳いで (oyoide)
• す – して: 話す – 話して (hanashite)
• つ, う, る (godan) – って: 待つ – 待って (matte), 帰る – 帰って (kaette)
• ぬ, ぶ, む – んで: 飲む – 飲んで (nonde), 遊ぶ – 遊んで (asonde)

する – して (shite). くる – きて (kite).

Note: 行く (iku, to go) is an exception. Its te-form is 行って (itte), not 行いて.

Common te-form verbs

Japanese	Romaji	English
食べて	tabete	eating / please eat
飲んで	nonde	drinking / please drink
書いて	kaite	writing / please write
話して	hanashite	speaking / please speak
待って	matte	waiting / please wait
見て	mite	looking / please look
来て	kite	coming / please come
して	shite	doing / please do
行って	itte	going / please go
聞いて	kiite	listening / please listen

Learning the suffixes that attach after the te-form, such as ください (kudasai, please), います (imasu, currently), and もいい (mo ii, it’s okay), will significantly expand what you can say with this one verb form.

Essential Japanese verbs: reference table

These are the verbs you will use most often in everyday communication. Learn these first before expanding to less common vocabulary.

Group 1 (godan) verbs

Japanese	Romaji	English
行く	iku	to go
帰る	kaeru	to return home
書く	kaku	to write
読む	yomu	to read
飲む	nomu	to drink
話す	hanasu	to speak
聞く	kiku	to listen, to ask
買う	kau	to buy
使う	tsukau	to use
会う	au	to meet
乗る	noru	to ride, to board
走る	hashiru	to run
働く	hataraku	to work
遊ぶ	asobu	to play
待つ	matsu	to wait
作る	tsukuru	to make, to create
分かる	wakaru	to understand

Group 2 (ichidan) verbs

Japanese	Romaji	English
食べる	taberu	to eat
見る	miru	to see, to look at
起きる	okiru	to wake up
寝る	neru	to sleep
着る	kiru	to wear
教える	oshieru	to teach
覚える	oboeru	to remember, to memorize
忘れる	wasureru	to forget
考える	kangaeru	to think, to consider
出かける	dekakeru	to go out
始める	hajimeru	to begin, to start

Suru verb compounds

する (suru, to do) is one of the most powerful tools in Japanese vocabulary. You can attach する to a huge range of nouns to create verb phrases. This is how Japanese builds many new action words, especially for activities borrowed from other languages.

The pattern is simple: noun + する = to do [noun]. If the noun is Chinese-origin (kanji-based), the result is nearly always grammatical. If the noun is borrowed from English or another language (katakana), する often works as well.

Japanese	Romaji	English
勉強する	benkyou suru	to study
運動する	undou suru	to exercise
電話する	denwa suru	to phone, to call
仕事する	shigoto suru	to work
旅行する	ryokou suru	to travel
練習する	renshuu suru	to practice
説明する	setsumei suru	to explain
準備する	junbi suru	to prepare
確認する	kakunin suru	to confirm, to check
紹介する	shoukai suru	to introduce
相談する	soudan suru	to consult, to discuss
コピーする	kopii suru	to copy
チェックする	chekku suru	to check

Suru verbs conjugate exactly like する itself:

• Polite present: 勉強します (benkyou shimasu)
• Polite past: 勉強しました (benkyou shimashita)
• Polite negative: 勉強しません (benkyou shimasen)
• Te-form: 勉強して (benkyou shite)
• Plain negative: 勉強しない (benkyou shinai)

Because the conjugation pattern is always the same, every suru verb you learn gives you instant access to all its forms. This makes suru compounds one of the most efficient vocabulary-building tools available to Japanese learners.

Working through Japanese verb groups with a tutor means you get to test each form in real sentences and hear corrections in the moment. Conjugation rules are easy to read but surprisingly tricky to apply automatically under the pressure of a real conversation. A good tutor will help you move from I know the rule to I use it without thinking.

italki’s 30,000+ expert tutors include Japanese grammar specialists who teach verb conjugation at every level. Trusted by over 10 million learners worldwide, italki matches you with a tutor who works at your pace and targets your specific weak points. Book a trial lesson and start building fluency in Japanese verbs from your very first session.

FAQ

What is the difference between godan and ichidan verbs in Japanese?

Godan verbs (u-verbs) change their stem vowel sound across different conjugation forms. Ichidan verbs (ru-verbs) keep a stable stem and only change the ending. Godan verbs end in a range of sounds (く, す, ぬ, ぶ, む, る with non-i/e preceding sound), while ichidan verbs always end in る preceded by an i or e sound.

How do I know if a verb ending in る is godan or ichidan?

Check the sound immediately before る. If it is an i or e vowel sound (like -iru or -eru), the verb is almost certainly ichidan: 食べる (taberu), 起きる (okiru). If the sound before る is anything else, the verb is likely godan: 帰る (kaeru), 分かる (wakaru). There are a small number of exceptions to memorize, such as 帰る, which sounds like it should be ichidan but is godan.

What is the te-form used for in Japanese?

The te-form connects two actions (I ate and then left), forms polite requests with ください (please do), asks for permission with もいい (is it okay to), and creates the progressive tense with いる (I am currently doing). It is one of the most frequently used verb forms in everyday Japanese and appears constantly in both spoken and written language.

What is a suru verb?

A suru verb is a noun combined with する (to do) to create a verb phrase. 勉強する (benkyou suru) means to study, and 旅行する (ryokou suru) means to travel. Suru verbs all conjugate the same way as する itself, so once you know the suru conjugation pattern, you can handle hundreds of compound verbs automatically.

Should I learn the plain form or the masu form first?

Most learners start with the masu form because it is polite and works in the widest range of situations. It is safer for conversations with teachers, coworkers, and strangers. The plain form (dictionary form) is essential too, especially for reading and casual speech, but the masu form gives you a usable, socially appropriate foundation to build from first.