Actually, I've realized that it will take forever to type up all this stuff. And also that I have no site traffic, so nobody will even be reading this stuff. So, I'm not planning to finish this section anytime in the near future. It's incomplete and has errors.

Verb Basics

Verbs are really the essence of Japanese.

Introduction
Verb forms in Japanese tend to express more subtle shades of emotion than their English counterparts. However, there are only two tenses in Japanese verbs, which will be described below. English verb forms, on the other hand, seem geared to distinguish between more subtle differences in time. Whereas in English, we need to add additional words to clarify the emotion/intention of the action, in Japanese you'll need to add additional words to clarify the time at which the action took place.

Tenses
There are only two tenses in Japanese verbs - perfect and imperfect. The perfect tense indicates an action that has been completed. The imperfect tense indicates an action that has not yet been completed. That's it. You can call the "perfect" tense the "past" tense if you'd like, but it really is best to think of things as completed or not, since that's the native meaning.

Types of Verbs
There are two main types of verbs. Different sources call them different things, but I like the terms "Type 1" and "Type 2". That's rather vague, though, so I'll also use -ru and -u. -u verbs are also called "godan" verbs. Type 1 corresponds to -u (godan) verbs, while Type 2 corresponds to -ru verbs. There are also the irregular verbs. But get this -- there are only two verbs in this category. As you read this guide, you'll find that there really are very few exceptions to the rules I present.

Type 1 (-u) Verbs
Type 1 verbs are the more complex of the two types, since they have several different endings. They all end in a consonant (English definition) and then 'u'.

-ku	kaku	書く	to write
-gu	oyogu	泳ぐ	to swim
-su	hanasu	話す	to speak
-tsu	matsu	待つ	to wait
-nu	shinu	死ぬ	to die
-bu	tobu	飛ぶ	to fly
-mu	yomu	読む	to read
-ru	toru	取る	to take
-(w)u	ka(w)u	買う	to buy

"But, wait," I hear you cry. What are those w's doing there? Isn't it kau? Doesn't that not end in a consonant plus 'u'? Well, in older times, it was actually "wu". In modern Japanese, 'w' disappears in all these cases, except before 'a' (the negative form).

Type 2 (-ru) Verbs
Type 2 verbs are simpler than their type 1 cousins because they all end in -ru, and there is only one set of transformations for them. In fact, they all end in -iru or -eru.

-eru	taberu	食べる	to eat
-iru	miru	見る	to see, look, watch

Unfortunately, type 1 verbs can also end in -iru or -eru, so in some cases, you will just have to memorize the fact that a verb that ends in -eru or -iru is actually a type 1 verb. The following are verbs that look like type 2 verbs but are not:

kaeru	帰る	to return [home]
hairu	入る	to enter
iru	要る	to need
hashiru	走る	to run
kiru	切る	to cut
shiru	知る	to know

To complicate the matter further, some verbs are romanized the same way (iru and iru for instance). One is a type 1 verb and the other is a type 2 verb, and you can only tell the difference by context, or by looking at the kanji. However, it just takes practice, and roomaji is really not the best way to study Japanese. If you're using roomaji (romanized Japanese), I'd really suggest that you start learning hiragana and katakana right away! I will, however, continue to use roomaji on this site mainly because it's easier to type.

Type 3 (irregular) Verbs
There are two verbs that have different forms from type 1 and type 2 verbs. You'll just have to memorize these, but thankfully, they're used often enough that it'll be second nature in no time.

kuru	来る	to come
suru	する	to do