Group 2: drop る
Group 2 verbs end in る with an i or e sound before it. Every form is made from the stem, the verb without る, which never changes.
| Verb | Meaning | ます form |
|---|---|---|
| taberu | eat | 食べます tabemasu |
| miru | see, watch | 見ます mimasu |
| okiru | get up | 起きます okimasu |
| neru | sleep, go to bed | 寝ます nemasu |
| oshieru | teach, tell | 教えます oshiemasu |
| iru | be (living things) | います imasu |
Group 1: change the last sound
Group 1 verbs end in one of nine sounds: う, く, ぐ, す, つ, ぬ, ぶ, む, る. For the ます form, the final u-sound moves to the matching i-sound: く → き, む → み, う → い.
| Verb | Meaning | ます form |
|---|---|---|
| au | meet | 会います aimasu |
| kaku | write | 書きます kakimasu |
| oyogu | swim | 泳ぎます oyogimasu |
| hanasu | speak | 話します hanashimasu |
| matsu | wait | 待ちます machimasu |
| shinu | die | 死にます shinimasu |
| asobu | play | 遊びます asobimasu |
| nomu | drink | 飲みます nomimasu |
| wakaru | understand | 分かります wakarimasu |
Group 3: する and 来る
The two irregular verbs are also the most useful. する turns hundreds of nouns into verbs: 勉強する (study), 電話する (phone), 運転する (drive).
Group 1 verbs that look like Group 2
These end in -iru or -eru but are Group 1, so their ます form keeps the る sound as り. Pairs like 切る (cut, Group 1) and 着る (wear, Group 2) sound alike in the dictionary form but split in every other form.
Why the group matters
Every verb form you will learn next is built from the group. Here is one verb from each group across four forms; the patterns on the following pages will make each column make sense.
| Group | Dictionary | ます | ない | て |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 書く kaku | 書きます kakimasu | 書かない kakanai | 書いて kaite |
| 2 | 食べる taberu | 食べます tabemasu | 食べない tabenai | 食べて tabete |
| 3 | する suru | します shimasu | しない shinai | して shite |
| 3 | 来る kuru | 来ます kimasu | 来ない konai | 来て kite |
Transitive and intransitive pairs
Japanese has many verb pairs: one takes an object with を (transitive: you open the door), the other describes what happens by itself, with が (intransitive: the door opens). They often belong to different groups.
| Transitive (を) | Meaning | Intransitive (が) |
|---|---|---|
| akeru | open / opens | 開く aku |
| shimeru | close / closes | 閉まる shimaru |
| hajimeru | begin / begins | 始まる hajimaru |
| ireru | put in / go in | 入る hairu |
| dasu | take out / go out | 出る deru |
| kesu | switch off / go off | 消える kieru |
| tsukeru | switch on / come on | つく tsuku |
From the ます form back to the dictionary
If you hear a ます form, you can usually rebuild the dictionary form. A stem ending in an e-sound is Group 2: add る. A stem ending in an i-sound is usually Group 1: change it to the u-sound; a few are Group 2 (見ます → 見る), so check a dictionary when unsure.
The する family
Any noun of action can take する and become a verb. All of them conjugate exactly like する.
Check yourself: which group?
Decide the group, then open the answer.
- drink飲むnomu
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Group 1: ends in む. - see見るmiru
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Group 2: -iru. - go home帰るkaeru
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Group 1: an -eru exception. - sleep寝るneru
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Group 2: -eru. - enter入るhairu
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Group 1: an -iru exception. - doするsuru
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Group 3. - speak話すhanasu
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Group 1. - teach教えるoshieru
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Group 2.
One verb from each group
All three in their polite ます form.