Verbs

[Kakashiluvr]

I have a question about verbs.
How are they conjugated? How many different types are there?...all i know is a couple masu verbs...

[xdj220]

It's much too large a topic to cover in a forum post (or even in a single textbook, for that matter) but here is a very brief explanation.

Verbs in Japanese are generally categorized for the student as -u and -ru verbs (though, don't call them that to a native speaker, they will just look at your wierd). -Ru verbs are very easy to conjugate - you just drop the -ru and stick whatever you need to on the end of the verb (there are a TON of suffixes in Japanese so I won't explain them here). The -u verbs are a bit tougher to conjugate in some cases. Most of the time it involves dropping the final 'u', switching it some other letter, and then adding the ending. Of course, what you switch it to depends entirely on what you're trying to do, and also exactly what the ending for the verb is. For example, -u verbs that end with 'u', 'ku', and 'nu' will all be conjugated very differently in different cases.

Once you have a basic understanding of what the two general groupings of verbs are (which is probably one of the biggest tasks involved in learning Japanese), you'll be able to conjugate them naturally by feel. For now, just take a look at the various different verb grammar lessons on this site, and try to see how the two different groups of verbs are separate. Good luck with that.

[Kakashiluvr]

so there's no like diiferent conjugations for i, you, us, them, and all of you like in spanish and italian?

[xdj220]

No, there is no verb/subject agreement like in most Romance and Germanic languages. There are a tremendous number of verb suffixes to learn though. The different forms of verbs actually change the meaning in some way, they aren't just cosmetic.

[Kakashiluvr]

sounds...really confusing....

[Mukade]

It's actually a lot easier than it sounds.

One really nice thing is that there are really only two or three irregular verbs in Japanese. What that means is that if you've learned the basic pattern of conjugation, then you can conjugate every verb you run across.

And with no number/gender/person agreement of any kind, you only need to learn 1 present tense, 1 past tense, etc.

You won't find yourself memorizing verb chart after verb chart as you would in Spanish or French class (or English class, for that matter!).

[Kakashiluvr]

you don't know how happy that makes me. *tears of joy*

so do you know the basic conjugation pattern?

[Kakashiluvr]

anyone here?

[spin13]

Rather than having somebody retype it, I suggest looking at Clay's basic verb congugation schemes, or using another source. A personal favorite are the lessons at nihongoresources.com. Lessons 1 and 2 should answer the majority of your questions, for now. I suggest reading through the lessons before skipping to the tables at the end.

-Eric

[Kakashiluvr]

I didn't know clay had a basic conjugation pattern on the site...what catagory is it under?

[kossori]

I found this to be a little clear on verb conjugations:

http://www.guidetojapanese.org/

maybe it will help, it outlines verbs quite well i think.

[Kurisuchen]

Japanese verbs don't conjugate by subject as they do in spanish but they do conjugate by formality and the time or manner the action ocurred.
The earliest conjugations end in -masu present possitive, masen present negative, mashita past possitive, and masen deshita past negative.
Ganbatte ne