Part 1

1. There are 3 kinds of verbs in Japanese. Godan verbs Ichidan verbs Irregular verbs 2. There are two kinds of speech in Japanese (Formal/Informal) Therefore all verbs have two forms (Informal/formal)

3. Japanese verbs have no future tenses. “Go” and “Will go” both mean the same thing in Japanese. There is no distinction between the two. 4. There are 4 verb tenses in Japanese. Present affirmative ( I walk/I will walk) Present negative (I don’t walk/I won’t walk) Past affirmative (I walked) Past negative (I didn’t walk)

1. What are Godan verbs? Godan verbs are also known as “ u verbs” because they end in (u). (but not in –iru/-eru *with some exceptions) Let’s look at some examples of Godan verbs

Godan verbs (notice how they all end in –u)

“I know what they look like now, but how do I conjugate them?!” :O Don’t worry ! First, let's begin with Godan verb conjugations in the present affirmative tense. *(Remember that Japanese verbs don’t conjugate in the future tense so I do & I will do mean the same thing.)

Step 1 : Drop the final –u ( aruku becomes aruk ) Step2: Add –imasu to the stem ( aruk  Becomes  arukimasu) arukimasu = (I) walk/(I) will walk Done! You have just conjugated your first Godan Verb in the present affirmative. aruku (to walk)

Notes You may be asking yourself why aruku was changed to arukimasu. The reason for this is that aruku is the dictionary form of the verb “to walk”. This means that if you look up aruku in a Japanese dictionary you will find it but if you look up arukimasu you won’t. The verb aruku is considered informal, while arukimasu is the formal form. They both mean the same thing. In fact you can interchangeably say them to a native Japanese speaker and they will understand you perfectly, but it is important to keep in mind that formality is necessary since Japanese is a very formal language. So we use arukimasu.

The “stem” is what is left of the word after you remove the final -u. ex: aruku /aruk  “aruk” is the stem of aruku When speaking with friends you can use aruku because the conversation is casual/informal, but if you are speaking to a stranger or a superior, you must use the formal “arukimasu” instead.

Ready to conjugate another Godan verb? Step 1: Drop the final –u ( oyogu  becomes  oyog ) Step 2: Add –imasu to the stem ( oyog  becomes  oyogimasu ) oyogimasu = (I) swim/(I) will swim Done! You have now turned the informal oyogu into it’s formal form (oyogimasu) oyogu ( to swim)

Let’s try one more! kiku  drop the final u kik  you are left with the stem “kik” kik + imasu  add –imasu to the stem kikimasu = (I) listen/(I) will listen Done! kiku ( to listen)

Up until now you have learned how to conjugate Godan verbs in the present affirmative tense Ex:( I walk/I will walk) Now it’s time to learn how to conjugate verbs in the present negative tense Ex: ( I don’t walk/I won’t walk)

1.aruku  drop the final u 2.aruk  you now have the stem “aruk” 3.aruk + imasen  add -imasen to the stem arukimasen = (I) don’t walk/(I) won’t walk Compare: arukimasu = I walk / I will walk Present affirmative arukimasen = I don’t walk / I won’t walk  Present negative aruku (to walk)

oyogu (to swim) oyogu  drop the final u oyog  now you have the stem “oyog” oyog + imasen  add imasen to the stem oyogimasen = (I) don’t swim/ (I) will not swim Compare: oyogimasu=I swim/I will swim oyogimasen=I don’t swim/I won’t swim

kiku  drop the final u kik  you get the stem “kik” kik + imasen  add imasen to the stem kikimasen = (I) don’t listen/(I) won’t listen Compare : kikimasu= I listen / I will listen kikimasen = I don’t listen/ I won’t listen kiku (to listen)

Now , that we have gone over conjugations of verbs in the present affirmative and present negative. It’s time to inform you about the exceptions to these rules. Don’t fear the exceptions. Just follow closely!

hanasu (to speak)  This here is a Godan verb because it ends in (u), but this Godan verb conjugates a bit differently from it’s other Godan buddies. *Anytime that a Godan verb ends in -su , you must change the -su to -shi. Let’s look at an example of how hanasu is conjugated. Topic: Exceptions to the rule.

-su ending godan verb conjugations Present affirmative: Step 1: replace the -su with -shi (hanasu = hanashi) Step 2: add -masu (hanashi + masu = hanashimasu) Present negative: Step 1: replace -su with -shi (hanasu = hanashi) Step 2: hanashi  add -masen (hanashi + masen = hanashimasen ) Hanashimasu = I have/ I will have  present affirmative Hanashimasen= I don’t have / I won’t have  present negative

-su ending verbs are not the only exception, you must also watch out for –tsu ending verbs. such as  motsu = to have Anytime you encounter a -tsu ending verb you must change the –tsu to –chi. Let’s look at how motsu is conjugated….

-tsu ending verb conjugations Present affirmative: 1: replace –tsu with –chi *ex: (motsu=mochi) 2: add –masu *ex : (mochi + masu= mochimasu) Present negative: 1. replace –tsu with -chi *ex: (motsu=mochi) 2. add masen *ex: (mochi + masen = mochimasen) Compare: mochimasu = I have / I will have mochimasen= I don’t have/ I won’t have

Recap We learned: There are 3 kinds of verbs (godan,ichidan and irregular verbs) Japanese verbs have no future tense. Godan verbs end in –u but never in –iru/-eru.(w/some exceptions) The dictionary form of a verb is Informal. In order to make an informal verb formal we must add a –masu or –masen ending. Every verb has a formal and informal form. When dropping the final –u of a godan verb we are left with what is called the “stem.” -su and -tsu ending verbs conjugate differently than other Godan verbs.(They are the exception to the rule and their conjugations must be memorized because they don’t follow any specific rule.)

Use the following charts as your guide on how to conjugate Godan verbs in the present affirm. and present neg. Dictionary form(informal) Present affirmative (formal) Present negative (formal)

Dictionary form(informal) Present affirmative (formal) Present negative (formal)

Please note that tobu can mean either jump or fly.

The verb tatsu is a Godan verb just like the rest but remember that when a Godan verb ends in –tsu, you conjugate it differently than the other Godan verbs. Remember that the –tsu ending is replaced by the –chi ending!

The verb hanasu is a Godan verb as well , but conjugates differently from the rest. Remember that a verb ending in –su must be replaced with the ending –shi.

Part 2 will be uploaded shortly! In part 2 we will discuss: Conjugating Godan verbs in the past affirmative & past negative.(Formal)