Japanese verb conjugation rules with chart

There are three groups for Japanese verb conjugation.

I will teach you the groups and polite form in this article.

Japanese conjugation

There are three groups for verb conjugation.

Let’s take a closer look.

Group1

Basically, group 1 verb’s end with a “u” sound.

For example, かう(kau), かく(kaku), きく(kiku), のむ(nomu) and so on.

Some text books explain group 1 verbs as U verbs.

Group2

Basically, group 2 are verbs which ends with iru or eru.

For example, みる(miru), たべる(taberu), きる（kiru）and so on.

Some text books explain group 2 as Ru verb.

However, there are many exceptions and you will need to memorize the exceptions.

Group3

group 3 are composed of irregular verbs.

There are two irregular verbs in Japanese, which are くる(kuru) and する(suru).

Polite form

Group1

Some text books explain polite form as ます(masu) form because we add ます end of verb.

u changes into i sound and we add masu.

For example, あるく(aruku) changes into あるき(aruki) and then you add ます, so you get あるきます(arukimasu).

はしる（hashiru), this is an exception to group 1, it becomes はしります（hashirimasu).

Group2

Group 2 is easier than group 1.

Just take る(ru) and add ます(masu).

For example, みる(miru).

We take る and ます, so it becomes みます(mimasu).

たべる(taberu) becomes たべます(tabemasu).

Group3

These are irregular verbs, so you will need to remember them.

する（suru）becomes します(shimasu).

くる(kuru) becomes きます(kimasu).

Polite form chart

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