Grammar and Main Parts of Speech in JapaneseAs we learn to speak and understand any language, we also learn to distinguish between the “parts of speech” that make up that language.
For example, we use different “kinds” of words to serve different purposes in language.
You have learned these “parts of speech” or “kinds” of words in English (or another first/native language) but you may not have thought about how they apply in Japanese.
The MAIN parts speech in Japanese are much like those in English speech, including the following:
Nouns: めいし（名詞）People, Places and Things
Verbs: どうし（動詞）Actions, Occurrences, and States of Being
Adjectives: けいようし（形容詞）Modify, Describe, or Name an Attribute of Nouns
Adverbs: ふくし（副詞）Modify or Express a Relation between Verbs, Adjectives or Word Groups
Particles: In Japanese, there is also a whole group of “connectors” and word “markers” and “conjunctions” we generally lump together and call “Particles” in English. Some of these “particles” have parallel meanings in English, but some don’t. There are a WIDE variety of these used for MANY different purposes!
In Japanese Three, we will review ALL of the parts of speech and kinds of words we have learned so far, including particles, and then adding new and different forms as well.
We start in this unit, (The Body), with Verbs.
Verb Conjugation in Japanese
Verb Conjugation in Japanese is pretty straightforward, overall, and you have covered most of the verb forms you will need in this course in previous levels of Japanese.
This is a brief review of the verb groups you will use this year in this course. The Verb Groups are important to helping you conjugate verbs correctly.
Use the review provided here in this section, and the more-detailed resources provided in the assignment folder for the Verb Conjugation Worksheet to review all of the forms covered in Japanese Levels I and II, and a few additional forms to add for Japanese Level III. When the Verb Review Worksheet assignment is completed, you will take a quiz on verb conjugation to demonstrate your skills.
Three Verb Groups in Japanese
Please click each verb type below to review.
Irregular Verbs: These two verbs are called “irregular” because you must change the first syllable of each to conjugate it to its other forms.
(To Do) する します しています （す Becomes し）
(To Come) くる きます きています（く Becomes き） 来る 来ます 来ています
Regular II Verbs (る Verbs):
These verbs end in the character る and are easy to conjugate because they do not require any syllable changes to change forms. The original ending is simply removed and the new ending is added to complete the verb conjugation.
NOTE: Some verbs that end in るfit in the next group of verbs, so this can be a little tricky.
Sample Regular II る Verbs:
(To Eat) たべる たべます たべています （食べる 食べます 食べています）
(To Get Up) おきる おきます おきています (起きる 起きます 起きています)
(Go Out) でる でます でています（出る 出ます 出ています）
Regular I Verbs (う Verbs): These verbs are the most difficult and tricky to conjugate because they require syllable changes as you conjugate from form to form, and these changes are different for each type of ending on the various verbs. Each of these verbs ends in a syllable that contains the sound “u” but not necessarily the character う. They can end in う、く、す、つ、ぶ、む、る, etc）.
Sample Regular I う Verbs:
(To Buy) かう かいます かっています（買う 買います 買っています）
(To Go) いく いきます いっています（行く 行きます 行っています）
(To Speak) はなす はなします はなしています（話す 話します 話しています）
(To Wait) まつ まちます まっています（待つ 待ちます 待っています）
(To Play) あそぶ あそびます あそんでいます（遊ぶ 遊びます 遊んでいます）
(To Drink) のむ 飲みます のんでいます（飲む 飲みます 飲んでいます）
(To Run) はしる はしります はしています（走る 走ります 走っています）
Verb Conjugation Forms: Plain and Formal
Verbs in Japanese can be conjugated in various ways in different situations to convey different kinds of meanings. You have already learned most of the ways you will need for this course in your previous courses, but they are reviewed here to help you recall them.
Please click each link below to review plain and form forms of verb conjugation.
Plain/Informal /Dictionary Forms of Verbs in Japanese
Plain or Informal verbs are often referred to as “dictionary” forms of verbs. They convey the base meaning of the verb without further conjugation. These forms are also used in certain, specific grammar forms for use in the middle of sentences. Note that the plain/informal forms of past tense are often used in informal speech, but we will not use them for formal speech.
You should already be familiar with the plain forms of the present positive forms (the first one shown in each example) but you may not be as familiar with the other forms since they are not used much up to this point in the Japanese courses since they are used more for informal speech.
Notice in each example of the present negative tense (the second form in each example) that each includes ない（です）as the negative ending instead of ません。You will also see that syllable changes are required for many of these in the Irregular and Regular I groups of verbs. These can be tricky so be sure to use and study these examples as you complete the worksheet assignment for this part of the verb review.
Notice in each example of the past tense positive forms (the third form in each example) that each one ends in た. These forms will be EXACTLY the same conjugation as used for the て forms previously studied except て is replaced with た. The て forms of some verbs in Japanese are very tricky, so that will be true for the た forms as well.
Finally, notice in the past tense negative forms (the last form in each example) that each ends in なかった（です）. These can be tricky too, but note how much like the い-Adjective conjugation the negative forms of these informal verbs are and that may help you to remember and see the patterns for each.
Examples of Plain/Informal/Dictionary Verb Forms in Present and Past Tenses:
(To Do) する しない した しなかった
(To Come) くる こない きた こなかった （来る 来ない 来た 来なかった）
(To Eat) たべる たべない たべた たべなかった（食べる 食べない 食べた 食べなかった）
(To Drink) のむ のまない のんだ のまなかった (飲む 飲まない 飲んだ 飲まなかった)
(To Go) いく いかない いった いかなかった （行く 行かない 行った 行かなかった）
Formal Forms of Verbs in Japanese
Formal verbs are used for most sentence-ending verbs in Japanese (with some exceptions). They convey the base meaning of the verb plus the tense (present or past) and the positive or negative context of the verb (whether it does/did or does not/did not occur). These are the sentence-ending verbs used in this course most of the time.
Examples of Formal Verb Forms in Japanese:
(To Do) します しません しました しませんでした
(To Come) きます きません きました きませんでした（来ます 来ません 来ました 来ませんでした）
(To Eat) たべます たべません たべました たべませんでした（食べます 食べません 食べました 食べませんでした）
(To Drink) のみます のみません のみました のみませんでした（飲みます 飲みません 飲みました 飲みませんでした）
(To Go) いきます いきません いきました いきませんでした（行きます 行きません 行きました 行きませんでした）
Verb Conjugation Forms: "て Form Verbs"
Verbs in Japanese can be conjugated into the “te” てform so that they can be used in different and specific ways. This conjugation is the most difficult form for Japanese verbs, but once it is mastered it can be used for a variety of different reasons. It is very important to master the three verb groups previously discussed in order to perform this type of conjugation.
NOTE: This type of conjugation is used in the same way to conjugate the plain past tense forms reviewed previously as the て is simply replaced with た in these verb forms.
てForms in Japanese: When conjugating verbs into the て (or た) forms of verbs in Japanese, you need to consider the three groups of verbs in Japanese.
Examples of て Forms of Verbs:
Irregular Verbs
(To Do) する Becomes して （Note the syllable change）
(To Come) くる Becomes きて （Note the syllable change）来る 来てRegular II Verbs（るVerbs）
(To Eat) たべる Becomes たべて （No syllable change needed）食べる 食べて
Regular I Verbs (う Verbs)
(To Drink) のむ Becomes のんで （Note the syllable changes）飲む 飲んで
(To Go) いく Becomes いって（Note the syllable changes）行く 行って
Uses for て Forms in Japanese
The て forms of verbs in Japanese have a variety of uses. This is a summary of some of the ways they can be used to express different things in different situations.
Please click each link below to see a summary of some of the ways て forms of verbs can be used in Japanese.
Present Progressive (Doing Things Right Now) or Ongoing (Things That Continue)
In this form, the て form is combined with います to make the completed verb form.
(To Do) しています (しています) （Doing it right now or doing it every day or on a regular basis）
(To Come) きています(来ています) （Coming right now or coming every day or on a regular basis）
(To Eat) たべています(食べています) (Eating right now or eating every or on a regular basis)
(To Live) すんでいます (住んでいます) (Living somewhere right now and on a regular basis)
(To Go) いっています(行っています)（Going right now or going on a regular basis）Making Requests to Do Things: Please do…
In this form, the て form is combined with ください（下さい） to mean “Please do.”
(To Do) してください（して下さい）Please Do
(To Come) きてください（来て下さい）Please Come
(To Eat) たべてください（食べて下さい）Please Eat
(To Go) いってください（行って下さい）Please GoMaking Requests NOT to Do Things:
In this form, the て form of the verbs becomes (で) following the verb in plain negative form (Verbない) with “please” ください added at the end.
This is the format for this pattern: Verbないでください。
Note that a syllable change is required to express the Verbない pattern.
Examples: Please don’t….
(To NOT Do) しないでください（しないで下さい） Please don’t do
(To NOT Come) こないでください（来ないでください）Please don’t come
(To NOT Eat) たべないでください（食べないで下さい）Please don’t eat
(To NOT Go) いかないでください（行かないで下さい）Please don’t go
Asking Permission to Do Things:
In this form, the て form of verbs is used to ask permission to do something. It is combined with the pattern もいいですか (as a question) or もいいです(as an answer). In this pattern the adjective いい (which generally means “okay” or “good”) takes on the meaning of “it’s okay to do” as in the situation of asking permission to do something.
Examples: May I do… or You may do…
(May I do?) してもいいですか。
(May I come?) きてもいいですか。（来てもいいですか。）
(May I eat?) たべてもいいですか。（食べてもいいですか。）
(May I go?) いってもいいですか。（行ってもいいですか。）
Connecting Verbs in a Sequence Using the て Form:
The て form of verbs can be used to connect multiple verbs in a sequence with the meaning of “and” between each. Note that the noun connectors for “and” と and や can NOT be used for this purpose and they can ONLY be used to connect nouns (they are not used for adjectives either). In this form, only the て form of each verb in the sequence is used (with no ending), but the LAST verb in the sequence that ends the sentence is in the normal, formal form.
Example: Verb AND Verb AND Verb
I will study (DO studying), and go home, and eat dinner.
わたしは べんきょうして、うちにかえって、ばんごはんをたべます。
（私は勉強して、家に帰って、晩御飯を食べます。）
Verb Conjugation Forms: "Other Forms "
While we have covered the main forms of verb conjugation already, there are some specific verb forms and situations we will review here, and there are additional verb forms possible that we have not covered yet.
Using PLAIN Verb Forms in Specific Verb Forms
Although plain/informal/dictionary forms of verbs are generally used only in informal speech for sentence-ending verbs, they are used in formal speech for certain mid-sentence verbs. We have learned how to use these plain forms to talk about some specific types of things, as shown in the following examples of Plain Form Verbs Used Mid-Sentence.
Please click each link below to see examples of Plain Form Verbs Used Mid-Sentence.
Describing things you LIKE to DO or WISH to DO or are SKILLED at DOING (and other adjective possibilities).
Verb Plain Form ＋のが＋Adjectiveです。I like/want/am skilled at doing something (or other possibilities such as enjoyable/fun/boring to do).
Examples:
I like to play (do) tennis. わたしは テニスを するのが すきです。（私はテニスをするのが好きです。）
You are skilled/good at taking exams. あなたは しけんを とるのが じょうずです。（あなたは試験を取るのが上手です。）
Talking About Things You PLAN to DO or INTEND to DO
You can also use the plain form before certain specific verb endings within an appropriate context. For example, you have already learned how to say you PLAN to DO something, or you INTEND to DO something, using the patterns shown here.
PLAN to DO: VerbPlainFormよていです。
INTEND to DO: VerbPlainFormつもりです。
Examples:
I PLAN to eat sushi for dinner. わたしは ばんごはんに すしを たべるよていです。（私は晩御飯に寿司を食べるよていです。）
I INTEND to go to Japan next year. わたしは らいねん にほんに いくつもりです。（私は来年日本に行くつもりです。）
Using VERB STEMS In Specific Verb Forms
Some verb forms use only the “verb stem” (the root beginning and meaning part of the verb) to make forms for specific purposes.
We have learned how to use these “verb stem” forms to talk about some specific types of things, as shown in the following examples.
Please click each link below to see examples of VERB STEMS Used in Specific Verb Forms.
Stating a Purpose for Going Somewhere:
Sometimes more than one verb is used in a sentence, and in this context, the MAIN verb of the sentence is “going” somewhere (at the end of the sentence), but the “purpose” for going there (what you will do when you get there) is also included in the sentence (mid-sentence).
In this case, the following pattern is used to express these two verbs:
Subjectは Purpose/Activity（VerbStemに）Placeに いきます（Go）.
To determine the Verb Stem of a particular verb, you simply remove the ending (る、う、Etc OR ます for example) and what is left is the “verb stem”.
Examples:
I am going to school to study Japanese. (For the purpose of studying Japanese, or In order to study Japanese).
わたしは にほんごを べんきょうしに がっこうに いきます。
（私は日本語を勉強しに学校に行きます。）I am going to the department store to buy clothes. (For the purpose of buying clothes, or in order to buy clothes).
わたしは ふくを かいに デパートに いきます。
（私は福を買いにデパートに行きます。）
Saying That you WANT to DO Things
You can also use the Verb Stem combined with a special verb ending to say you WANT to DO Things (or Don’t Want to Do Things).
NOTE: You will find this pattern for VERBS is very similar to the conjugation pattern for い-Adjectives, with the only difference being the addition of the syllable た for the verb pattern. It can be very useful to review this Verb Form at the same time as reviewing adjective conjugation.
Here is the pattern to use for this verb form (in both tenses and positive and negative forms):
WANT to DO: VerbStem＋たいです
DON’T WANT to DO: VerbStem＋たくないです
WANTED to DO: VerbStem＋たかかったです
DID NOT Want to Do: VerbStem＋たかくなかったです
Examples:
I WANT to play (do) golf. わたしは ゴルフを したいです。（私はゴルフをしたいです。）
I DON’T WANT to go to school. わたしは がっこうに いきたくないです。（私は学校に行きたくないです。）
I WANTED to go to Japan last year. わたしは きょねん にほんに いきたかったです。（私は去年日本に行きたかったです。）
I DIDN’T WANT to eat vegetables for lunch. わたしは ひるごはんに やさいを たべたくなかったです。（私は昼ご飯に野菜を食べたくなかったです。）
Graded Assignment(s)
Please return to the Section 4 Tasks & Assignment(s) folder to complete the graded assignment for Section 4.
This completes this section.