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Conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from one basic form. In Japanese, there are two major classes of verbs, and two irregular verbs. In addition to verbs, Japanese adjectives and various auxilliary particles also conjugate. Collectively, these are known as conjugable words.

Contents 1 Stem forms 2 Conjugation table 2.1 Verbs 2.1.1 Class 1 (五段)

[edit] Stem forms

Prior to discussing the conjugable words, a brief note about stem forms. Conjugative suffixes and auxiliary verbs are attached to the stem forms of the affixee. In modern Japanese there are the following six stem forms.

Imperfective form (未然形 mizenkei) 

is used for plain negative (of verbs), causative and passive constructions. The most common use of this form is with the -nai auxiliary that turns verbs into their negative (predicate) form. (See Verbs below.)

Continuative form (連用形 ren'yōkei) 

is used in a linking role. This is the most productive stem form, taking on a variety of endings and auxiliaries, and can even occur independently in a sense similar to the -te ending. This form is also used to negate adjectives.

Terminal form (終止形 shūshikei) 

is used at the ends of clauses in predicate positions. This form is also variously known as plain form (基本形 kihonkei) or dictionary form (辞書形 jishokei).

Attributive form (連体形 rentaikei) 

in modern Japanese is practically identical to the terminal form, but differs in use: it is prefixed to nominals and is used to define or classify the noun. In this function, the root of this stem form is called a prenominal adjective (連体詞 rentaishi).

Hypothetical form (仮定形 kateikei) 

is used for conditional and subjunctive forms, using the -ba or -domo ending.

Imperative form (命令形 meireikei) 

is used to turn verbs into commands. Adjectives do not have an imperative stem form.

[edit] Conjugation table

The following table is a summary of the conjugation paradigms in Japanese:

	Verbs					Adj.
	Class 1	Class 2a	Class 2b	suru	kuru	Adj.	da	desu	masu
Irrealis	-a	-i	-e	se	ko	-kara			mase	Used with the auxilliaries nai and zu to express negation; however, suru has shi-nai and adjectives have -ku nai; masu only has mase-n.
	-ō	-iyō	-eyō	shiyō	koyō	-karō	darō	deshō	mashō	The conjectural/volitional auxilliary u causes a euphonic change when suffixed.
Continuative	-i	-i	-e	shi	ki	-ku	de / ni		mashi	Used with many auxilliaries, and in an adverbial capacity.
	Varies					-kat	dat	deshi		Used with the auxilliaries ta and te; however, adjectives have -kute not -katte.
Terminal	-u	-iru	-eru	suru	kuru	-i	da	desu	masu
Attributive							na		masu	masu is rarely used.
Conditional	-e	-ire	-ere	sure	kure	-kere	nara*		masure	Used with the auxilliary ba to express a condition. nara is a suppletive form and does not usually take ba. masure is rarely used.
Imperative	-e	-i(ro)	-e(ro)	shi(ro)	koi				mase	Various verbs expressing politeness have an alternate imperative form.

[edit] Verbs

[edit] Class 1 (五段)

Class 1 conjugation (Japanese: 五段活用 godan conjugation - lit. 5-grade conjugation), also called consonant-stem conjugation, is what most verbs use.

The passive and the causative are formed by suffixing -reru and -seru respectively to the irrealis stem.

	k	g	s	t	n	b	m	r	w
	ka-ku	oyo-gu	hana-su	ma-tsu	shi-nu	to-bu	ka-mu	oku-ru	uta-u
Irrealis	-ka	-ga	-sa	-ta	-na	-ba	-ma	-ra	-wa
Volitional	-kō	-gō	-sō	-tō	-nō	-bō	-mō	-rō	-ō
Continuative	-ki	-gi	-shi	-chi	-ni	-bi	-mi	-ri	-i
With -te	-ite	-ide	-shite	-tte	-nde			-tte
Terminal	-ku	-gu	-su	-tsu	-nu	-bu	-mu	-ru	-u
Attributive
Conditional	-ke	-ge	-se	-te	-ne	-be	-me	-re	-e
Imperative	-ke	-ge	-se	-te	-ne	-be	-me	-re	-e

However, there are some slightly irregular verbs in this conjugation:

	a-ru	i-ku	irassha-ru ossha-ru kudasa-ru nasa-ru
Irrealis	-ra*	-ka	-ra	nai is not suffixed to ara as in *aranai, it simply replaces it.
Continuative	-ri	-ki	-ri	-ri is the bare form, and used with the auxilliaries ni, tai, tagaru, and sō da.
			-i	-i is used with masu and also functions an imperative.
With -te	-tte	-tte	-tte
Imperative	-re	-ke	-re
			-i