JAPANESE PLAIN FORM VERBS

The Japanese plain form of a verb is also known as also the dictionary form (辞書形) as you will find in dictionaries.

It is the basic form and is used as the informal form of verbs. So this is the form you will use while talking with friends.

Having said that, you can never use this form in formal settings.

PLAIN FORM OF です

The most basic, the plain form of です is だ (da).

Previously we learned about basic sentence structure that ends withです. While it is not properly a verb, we have learned how to use it. 

だ is used pretty much in the same way as です is.

Similarly, there are plain form equivalents for the present negative, past affirmative and past negative tenses: ではない, だった and ではなかった, respectively.

The table below conveys all the information in an easier to digest way.

PLAIN FORM VERBS

Just like all Japanese verbs in the polite form, the ending will be -ます. All plain form verbs end in sound –u.

This includes verbs ending with う, く, つ, る, す etc.

PLAIN FORM CONJUGATION || GROUP 3 VERBS

Now that we know about the three Japanese verb groups, we can proceed to discover their respective verb conjugations.

Let’s learn the present affirmative, present negative, past affirmative and past negative conjugations below.

Remember Group 3 only has two verbs. As always, you are better off just memorising these two verbs.

PLAIN FORM CONJUGATION || GROUP 2 VERBS

Now, let’s move on to the Group 2 conjugation. Learning these will also make learning the other ones easier.

First, remove the る (or the ます, if you are conjugating them from the polite form) part of the verb, then add ない for the present negative, た for the past affirmative, and なかった for the past negative.

In easier terms:

These conjugations look somewhat similar, right?

They might remind you of the i-keiyoushi (adjective) conjugation, especially the negative ones.

PLAIN FORM CONJUGATION || GROUP 1 VERBS

The Group 1 conjugation is the hardest one. The reason is that not only does it differ from the other two groups, but the conjugations also differ among themselves depending on the ending of the verb.

But there is a pattern that will make learning Group 1 conjugation easier for you. You just need to change their –u Hiragana into –a, then add ない for the negative present tense, or なかった for the negative past tense like we have done so far with all other verbs.

Also, the past affirmative form won’t be hard for you as we have already practiced verb ‘te’ forms. You just have to replace て with た.

Don’t worry, this is easier to understand when shown. So here’s a table we have prepared to make it all easier for you!

Also, we have examples of verbs with different endings, so check them all and don’t get confused.

Notice that for verbs that end in う, when we conjugate the verb in the negative, we substitute the う for わ, never for あ.

Also, pay attention to 行く!  

 行く(to go) has an irregular past affirmative conjugation, as we write 行った, not 行いた.

Another exception, though, is the very basic verb ある (“to be” or “to exist” for inanimate objects), whose negative forms are simply ない and なかった.

In a certain way, when you conjugate a verb or adjective in the negative tense, what you are doing is appending this ない – this “is not” or “does not exist” – to the original verb.

Learn Japanese with FlexiClasses

Book online classes with the best teachers in the industry.

REGISTER

FAQs

MORE FREE LESSONS

• Asking questions in Japanese

  いつ, 何時, なん, いくら, どう, どなた

• Katakana

  -

• Relative quantities in Japanese

  -

• How to say "because" with から, ので & more

  なぜなら + Phrase + から / ので