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 Conjugation
The Six Bases
My "six base" system is based on the "five base" system presented by Taeko
Kamiya. I think her system is most excellent, but mine is even more regular and systematic. This is
probably completely different from whatever you learned/are learning in school. It's also much
better. There are six bases, each for a single general purpose and from which most other forms stem. These
forms are created by attaching (and often chaining) helpers onto one of the six bases, except for the cases
in which the base can also be used as a form in itself. In that case, nothing is attached. In addition to
the six bases, there are the -ta/-te/-tara/-tari forms/bases which, for type 1 verbs, are not attached to any
base, but are actually created by altering the Dictionary base. If it weren't for a single annoying case, the
ta/te/tara/tari forms could be integrated into the "bases" system very nicely to present a simple and unified
set of instructions for conjugating verbs. Oh well.
- The first base (Negative base) is used in creating the plain negative form of a verb. The negative helper
-nai attaches to the Negative base to accomplish this.
- The second base (Conjunctive base) functions like the conjunction "and". It also creates the polite style
of speech, as the helper "masu" connects to the Conjunctive base.
- The third base (Dictionary base) is the dictionary form, which is used in the plain style of speech as
the imperfect tense.
- The fourth base (Imperative base) is used in creating the imperative form of a verb which is used to give
commands (not necessarily politely!).
- The fifth base (Volitional base) is used to create the volitional form. by making the final vowel 'o' a
long sound 'oo'. (Some romanize this as 'ou', or 'o' with a line on top, which is the best way of all, but
one which I don't know how to do).
- The sixth base (Conditional base) is used to create the conditional (-eba) form.
The helpers listed here are not the only ones. There are many more. But, given a verb, how does one create these
bases?
Type 1 (-u, godan) verbs
Type 1 verbs are, as usual, the most complex, but I'll try to keep it simple. You know the 5 vowel
sounds in Japanese? a, i, u, e, o? And you know how there are also various similar phoneme groups, like
"ka, ki, ku, ke, ko", "na, ni, nu, ne, no", "sa, shi, su, se, so", etc?
Well, for type 1 verbs, take the last syllable in the verb. The first five bases correspond to the five vowel
sounds in the group for that syllable! Simple! And the sixth (Conditional) base is exactly the same as the
fourth (Imperative) base. To create the base, just replace the last syllable with another
from the same group. Here's an example for the verb kaku (書く - to write). We're looking at the last syllable,
'ku', which is in the group "ka, ki, ku, ke, ko".
| Base | Sound | Conjugation |
|---|
| 1st/Negative | -ka | kaka |
| 2nd/Conjunctive | -ki | kaki |
| 3rd/Dictionary | -ku | kaku |
| 4th/Cond,6th/Imp | -ke | kake |
| 5th/Volitional | -ko | kako |
Do you see how that works? Here's an example for oyogu (泳ぐ - to swim):
| Base | Sound | Conjugation |
|---|
| 1st/Negative | -ga | oyoga |
| 2nd/Conjunctive | -gi | oyogi |
| 3rd/Dictionary | -gu | oyogu |
| 4th/Cond,6th/Imp | -ge | oyoge |
| 5th/Volitional | -go | oyogo |
Finally, I'll give an example for ka(w)u (買う - to buy). Remember that in modern Japanese, 'w' disappears
before all vowels except 'a'.
| Base | Sound | Conjugation |
|---|
| 1st/Negative | -wa | kawa |
| 2nd/Conjunctive | -(w)i | ka(w)i - kai |
| 3rd/Dictionary | -(w)u | ka(w)u - kau |
| 4th/Cond,6th/Imp | -(w)e | ka(w)e - kae |
| 5th/Volitional | -(w)o | ka(w)o - kao |
Yes, forming the six bases is really that simple. What can you do with these bases? Well, for
starters, you can attach -nai to the negative base to negate a verb. From the examples above, kakanai ([i]
don't write), oyoganai ([i] don't swim), and kawanai ([i] don't buy). Adding -masu to the conjunctive base
creates the polite speech style: kakimasu ([i] write), oyogimasu ([i] swim), and kaimasu ([i] buy). The
dictionary base can be used by itself as the plain imperfect form: kaku ([i] write), oyogu ([i] swim), kau
([i] buy). "ba" can be attached to the conditional base to create a conditional: kakeba (if/when [i] write),
oyogeba (if/when [i] swim), kaeba (if/when [i] buy). The imperative base can also be left as is to form the
imperative form, as described above. However, this is a -very- impolite imperative form: kake (WRITE!),
oyoge (SWIM!), kae (BUY!). The volitional base can be modified as described above (extending -o to -oo) to
create the volitional form: kakoo (i will write), oyogoo (i will swim), kaoo (i will buy). There are many
more helpers that can be attached. They are described in the helpers section.
Type 2 (-ru) verbs
Type 2 verbs are simpler than type one verbs. With only one exception, you just drop -ru and you have your base.
All bases, with the exception of the Conditional base, are the same for type 2 verbs. Extremely simple to
create, but how do you tell them apart? Well, you tell them apart by how they are used and by what helpers are
attached. For instance, "nai" only attaches to the negative base, so the "tabe" in "tabenai" is the negative
base. "ro" is attached to the imperative base, so the "tabe" in "tabero" must be the imperative base.
However, since five of the six all the same, and the one that isn't is very recognizeable, there's
little use in even thinking about the bases for type 2 verbs. All you need to think about are the forms that
are created by attaching helpers.
| Base | What to do | Example |
|---|
| 6th/Conditional | Change -ru into -re | taberu (食べる) to tabere |
| All others | Drop -ru | miru (見る) to mi |
Type 3 (irregular) verbs
Type 3 verbs are different from the rest, of course. You'll just have to memorize them.
kuru (来る - to come)
| Base | Base |
|---|
| 1st/Negative | ko |
| 2nd/Conjunctive | ki |
| 3rd/Dictionary | kuru |
| 4th/Imperative | koi |
| 5th/Volitional | koyo |
| 6th/Conditional | kure |
suru (する - to do)
| Base | Base |
|---|
| 1st/Negative | shi |
| 2nd/Conjunctive | shi |
| 3rd/Dictionary | suru |
| 4th/Imperative | seyo/shiro |
| 5th/Volitional | shiyo |
| 6th/Conditional | sure |
Basic/Common Forms
Most bases aren't too useful by themselves, so I'll briefly present common usages of each base here. More detail
about each base's use will be provided in the section about that particular base.
- Negative base - Adding the helper -nai will negate the plain (Dictionary) form of the verb. -nai
itself has several conjugations, which are discussed more thoroughly in the helpers section.
- Conjunctive base - Adding the helper -masu will create the polite form of the verb. -masu also has
several conjugations, which are discussed in the helpers section. The conjunctive base can also be used by
itself as discussed in the section about the conjunctive base.
- Dictionary base - Generally this is used by itself to form the plain imperfect form.
- Imperative base - For type 1 verbs, the imperative base is used by itself to give (very impolite)
commands. For type 2 verbs, either -ro or -yo are added for the same effect.
- Volitional base - Adding -o to the volitional base will create the volitional form.
- Conditional base - Adding -ba to the conditional base will create the conditional form.
-ta, -te, -tara, and -tari forms/bases
The -ta form is used to express the perfect tense of a verb, that is, an action which is already
completed. The -te form can be used conjunctively, but can also be used as a general connector which
attaches to many types of helpers. The -tara form expresses a conditional similar to the -eba conditional
form, but with somewhat different meaning and usage. The -tari is used to express alternate actions (I do X
or Y) or an indeterminate number of actions. These forms act very much like bases, but all of them are forms
by themselves. Unfortunately, the creation of these forms is not regular enough for type 1 verbs that I can
roll them into a base of their own. So think of them as bases or pseudo bases.
Type 1 verbs
There are five rules for creating the -ta form for type 1 verbs.
| Verb Ending | What to do | Example |
|---|
| -ku | Change -ku to -ita | kiku becomes kiita |
| -gu | Change -gu to -ida | oyogu becomes oyoida |
| -su | Change -su to -shita | hanasu becomes hanashita |
| -nu, -bu, -mu | Change ending to -nda | yomu to yonda, shinu to shinda |
| -tsu, -ru, -(w)u | Change ending to -tta | matsu to matta, hairu to haitta |
Exception: iku (行く - to go) becomes itta
To create the create the -te, -tara, and -tari forms, just change the 'a' of the -ta form to 'e', 'ara', and
'ari', respectively.