Let’s talk about Japanese Verbs – U-Verbs

Let’s talk about Japanese Verbs – U-Verbs

For today’s blog, I will talk about Japanese verbs, especially U-verbs.
Verb in Japanese is Doushi (動詞)(どうし).


Verbs in Japanese are categorized into three groups:

I. U-Verbs

à referred to as Godan Verb (五段動詞). The plain form of the verb in this category ends in the u-line (う-verb)of the Hiragana chart (く,す,つ,ぬ,ふ,む,ゆ,る). When we conjugate the u-verbs, the u-line character will be changed to the five vowel sounds (あ,い,う,え,お). That’s why it is called Godan Verb or Five-stage verb. (The verb conjugation will be explained in future blogs.)  

II. RU-Verbs

à referred to as Ichidan Verb (一段動詞). The plain form of the verb in this category always ends in the ru-line (る-verb) of the Hiragana chart. The verb conjugation of ru-verbs will be replaced with a new verb ending. The words before ru will be unaffected during the verb conjugation. That’s why it is called 一段動詞 or a One-step verb. (The verb conjugation will be explained in future blogs.) 

III. Irregular Verbs

à there are only two irregular verbs, する (suru) and くる (kuru). These two verbs did not belong to the ru-verb because the verb conjugation is different. (The verb conjugation will be explained in future blogs.) 

U-verbs disguised as Ru-verbs. à Some u-verbs ends with る character. That’s why it may confused us. à When the vowel sound before る is あ,う,お, then it falls in u-verb category. à If the vowel sound before る is い,え, it is probable falls to ru-verb category. There are verbs that ends with る but falls under u-verb category. à For me, in order not to be confused with u-verb or ru-verb, I tend to memorize what will be its verb conjugation.

We will only focus on the plain form of verbs in u-line characters. Verb conjugation will be discussed in future blogs.

List of U-verbs:

English	Japanese	Romaji
To exist	ある	Aru
To play	あそぶ (遊ぶ)	Asobu
To meet	あう (会う)	Au
To choose (To pick)	えらぶ (選ぶ)	Erabu
To speak	はなす (話す)	Hanasu
To pay	はらう (払う)	Harau
To pull	ひく (引く)	Hiku
To go	いく (行く)	Iku
To say	いう (言う)	To say
To hurry	いそぐ (急ぐ)	Isogu
To write	かく (書く)	Kaku
To hide	かくす (隠す)	Kakusu
To buy	かう (買う)	Kau
To listen	きく (聞く)	Kiku
To learn	まなぶ (学ぶ)	Manabu
To wait	まつ (待つ)	Matsu
To receive (To get)	もらう	Morau
To be fixed (To fix)	なおる (直る)	Naoru
To drink	のむ (飲む)	Nomu
To take off	ぬぐ (脱ぐ)	Nugu
To put	おく (置く)	Oku
To push	おす (押す)	Osu
To swim	およぐ (泳ぐ)	Oyogu
To search	さがす (探す)	Sagasu
To die	しぬ (死ぬ)	Shinu
To know	しる (知る)	Shiru
To move on (To forward, To advance)	すすむ (進む)	Susumu
To inhale	すう (吸う)	Suu
To stand	たつ (立つ)	Tatsu
To fly (To jump)	とぶ (飛ぶ)	Tobu
To arrive	つく (着く)	Tsuku
To move	うごく (動く)	Ugoku
To smile (To laugh)	わらう (笑う)	Warau
To hand over	わたす (渡す)	Watasu
To bake (To grill)	やく (焼く)	Yaku
To call	よぶ (呼ぶ)	Yobu
To read	よむ (読む)	Yomu

Sample sentences using plain u-verb:

コーヒーをのむ。

(コーヒーを飲む。)

(Ko-hi- wo nomu.)

I drink coffee.

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わたしはどようびはケーキをやく。

(私は土曜日はケーキを焼く。)

(Watashi ha doyoubi ha ke-ki wo yaku.)

I bake cakes on Saturday.

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ジョンはとうきょうにつくころころにはばんしゅうとなっているだろう。

(ジョンが東京に着くころ頃には晩秋となっているだろう。)

(John ga Toukyou ni tsuku koro koro niha banshuu to natte iru darou.)

It will be late Autumn by the time John arrives in Tokyo.

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とりはとぶ。

(鳥は飛ぶ。)

(Tori ha tobu.)

Birds fly.

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かれはタバコをすう。

(彼はタバコを吸う。)

(Kare ha tabako wo suu.)

He smokes tabaco.

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わたしはうたをかく。

(私は詩を書く。)

(Watashi ha uta wo kaku.)

I write poetry.

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わたしはあなたのいえにいく。

(私はあなたの家に行く。)

(Watashi ha anata no ie ni iku.)

I’m going to your house. --------------------------------

わたしはにほんごをすこしはなす。

(私は日本語を少し話す。)

(Watashi ha nihongo wo sukoshi hanasu.)

I speak little Japanese.

 

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Other topic:  >> Basic Greetings in Japanese using Hiragana sound >> The Japanese Sentence Structure >> Japanese Pronouns

Japanese i-Adjectives: >> Japanese Words| Hiragana | i-adjectives >> Japanese Words| Hiragana | I-adjectives PART 2 >> Japanese Words| Hiragana | I-adjectives PART 3 Japanese Kanji: >> Kanji: 土 >> Kanji: 山 >> Kanji: 田 Japanese Particles: >> The Japanese particle は >> The Japanese particle か >> The Japanese Particle を

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