Japanese Verb Conjugation Made Simple: A Beginner's Guide (2026)

Here is the good news about Japanese verb conjugation: it is dramatically simpler than you have been led to believe. No gendered forms. No person agreement. No singular versus plural. In English, you juggle "I eat, he eats, they ate, we were eating." In Japanese, the verb stays the same no matter who is doing the action. Learn the pattern once — it works for every subject, every time.

If you are also working on particles and adjectives, we have guides for those too.

This guide covers the three verb groups, the polite forms you will use every day, the dictionary form, and the て form that unlocks intermediate Japanese. By the end, you will be conjugating verbs — not memorizing them.

The Three Verb Groups#

Every Japanese verb belongs to one of three groups. Identify the group, and you know exactly how to conjugate it.

Group 1: Ichidan Verbs (る-verbs)#

Ichidan means "one-step" — and that is exactly how many steps it takes to conjugate them. These verbs end in -いる or -える in dictionary form. To conjugate, you simply drop the る and attach the new ending. That is it.

Examples: 食べる (to eat), 見る (to watch), 起きる (to wake up), 寝る (to sleep)

Group 2: Godan Verbs (う-verbs)#

Godan means "five-step" because the verb stem moves through different vowel sounds during conjugation. These verbs end in one of nine possible う-column syllables: う, く, ぐ, す, つ, ぬ, ぶ, む, る.

Examples: 飲む (to drink), 行く (to go), 買う (to buy), 書く (to write), 話す (to speak)

Group 3: Irregular Verbs#

Japanese has exactly two irregular verbs: する (to do) and 来る (くる, to come). That is it. Two. Compare that to English, where "go/went/gone," "be/am/is/are/was/were/been," and dozens of others break the rules. Two irregular verbs is a gift.

How to Tell Them Apart#

The shortcut: if a verb ends in -いる or -える, it is probably ichidan. If it ends in any other う-column sound, it is godan. But there are exceptions — verbs like 帰る (かえる, to return) and 走る (はしる, to run) look like ichidan but are actually godan. When in doubt, check Jisho.org — it labels every verb as ichidan or godan.

The Polite Forms — ます, ません, ました#

The ます form is where every learner starts. It is polite, appropriate for daily conversation, and simple to construct. As explained in Tofugu's ます guide, it is the form you will use with anyone you are not close friends with.

Here is how to build it for each verb group:

Ichidan: Drop る, add ます.

• 食べる → 食べます (I eat)
• 見る → 見ます (I watch)

Godan: Change the final う-column sound to its い-column equivalent, then add ます.

• 飲む → 飲みます (I drink) — む becomes み
• 行く → 行きます (I go) — く becomes き
• 買う → 買います (I buy) — う becomes い

Irregular:

• する → します (I do)
• 来る → きます (I come)

Once you have the ます form, the other polite forms are mechanical:

Let us see these in real sentences:

Notice how the casual form uses 食べる (dictionary form) while the polite form uses 食べます. Same verb, same meaning — just a different level of formality. If you have read our guide on casual vs polite Japanese, you already know when to use each.

飲む is a godan verb — notice how む changes to み before ます. That う-to-い shift is the one rule you need for every godan verb.

This sentence uses the past negative polite form — 買いませんでした. It is long, but it is just the stem (買い) plus ませんでした. No surprises.

Dictionary Form — The Verb's True Face#

The dictionary form is the base form of every verb — the one you find when you look a word up in a dictionary. It is also the form used in casual speech, plain writing, and as a building block for other conjugations.

You already know what it looks like:

• Ichidan verbs end in -る: 食べる, 見る, 起きる
• Godan verbs end in an う-column sound: 飲む, 行く, 買う
• Irregular: する, 来る (くる)

Many textbooks teach the dictionary form first and derive ます from it. Others teach ます first and work backward. Either approach works — the important thing is that you can move between both forms freely. Here is a sentence that uses the dictionary form naturally:

Toggle between polite and casual on the card above — 見ます versus 見る. Same verb, same meaning. The only difference is formality.

The て Form — The One Conjugation That Unlocks Everything Else#

If ます is the first form you learn, て is the most important form you learn. It is the gateway to intermediate Japanese — nearly every major grammar pattern builds on it.

The て form is used for:

• Requests: 食べてください (please eat)
• Connecting actions: 朝起きて、ご飯を食べて、学校に行きます (I wake up, eat breakfast, and go to school)
• Ongoing states: 食べている (is eating)
• Permission: 食べてもいい (it is okay to eat)

How to Form It#

Ichidan: Drop る, add て. Simple.

• 食べる → 食べて
• 見る → 見て

Godan: This is where it gets interesting. The ending changes based on the final sound of the dictionary form:

Exception: 行く → 行って (not 行いて — this is the ONE irregular て form for godan verbs)

Irregular:

• する → して
• 来る → きて

Important: The る row above applies only to godan る-verbs (like 帰る). Ichidan verbs (食べる, 見る) always just drop る and add て — never って.

A simple way to remember the groups: T-sounds (う, つ, る) become って. N-sounds (む, ぶ, ぬ) become んで. The rest (く, ぐ, す) each have their own rule, but there are only three of them. After a few dozen repetitions, the pattern becomes automatic.

Verb Conjugation Cheat Sheet#

Here is the complete reference for the forms covered in this guide. Bookmark this table.

Common Verbs Every Beginner Needs#

Here are the 15 most useful verbs to learn first, with their group labeled:

*帰る looks like ichidan (-える ending) but is godan. This is the most common exception.

You can also browse the full verb reference at Kotoba Cut which includes conjugation tables for every verb.

Practice Makes Conjugation Automatic#

Reading conjugation tables is step one. Making them reflexive is step two — and the only way to get there is practice.

Here is a drill you can do right now. Pick any verb from the table above and run through all four polite forms: ます, ません, ました, ませんでした. Then try the て form. Do five verbs and you will feel the pattern locking in.

This sentence uses 行きましょう — the "let us" form. It is built the same way as ます: take the stem (行き) and add ましょう instead. One more form, zero new rules.

If you want to hear these verbs taught step by step with pronunciation, check out Genki Flow starting from episode 16 — it covers ます, ません, and ました in the Language Transfer style.

For hands-on practice: Kotoba Cut drops verb leaves from the top of the screen and you slash them by typing the correct conjugation — ichidan, godan, irregular, all forms. It takes about 90 seconds to realize the pattern is clicking. No account, no signup.

Frequently Asked Questions#