The Basics:
る-verbs – verbs whose dictionary forms end with る. For sentences in the present tense, drop る and add ます.
Examples:
食べる becomes 食べます
寝る becomes 寝ま
見る becomes 見ます
う-verbs – verbs whose dictionary forms end with う. For sentences in the present tense drop the last hiragana, replace it with the hiragana in the い group, then add ます. I know it sounds complicated but once you see it in action you’ll understand!
Examples:
飲む becomes 飲みます
話すbecomes 話します
行く becomes 行きます
する／くる – these are considered irregular verbs. These verbs have a specific way of being conjugated that will never change. The conjugation is very similar to how you treat う verbs.
Examples:
する becomes します
くる becomes きます
The negative conjugation is the exact same rules, but instead of ます put ません.
る Verbs – For sentences in the present negative tense, drop る and add ません.
Examples:
食べる becomes 食べません
寝る becomes 寝ません
見る becomes 見ません
う Verbs – verbs whose dictionary forms end with う. For sentences in the present tense drop the last hiragana, replace it with the hiragana in the い group, then add ます. I know it sounds complicated but once you see it in action you’ll understand!
Examples:
飲む becomes 飲みません
話すbecomes 話しません
行く becomes 行きません
する／くる – these are considered irregular verbs. These verbs have a specific way of being conjugated that will never change. The conjugation is very similar to how you treat う verbs.
Examples:
する becomes します
くる becomes きます
*IMPORTANT NOTE*: Keep in mind that there are some verbs that end with る but you treat it like an う verb. For example: 入る ends with る but you conjugate it like an う verb. (入ります, 入りません) As you learn more Japanese, you’ll encounter these words and it will be like second nature to you! I will try to come back to update this with every verb I encounter that follows this pattern to help you out!
Present Tense/Future Tense Conjugations
You can use the above mentioned lesson to write sentences in present and future tense.
私は日本語を勉強します。I am going to study Japanese.
私は買い物をします。I am shopping.
Of course the natural question is “How do you know if it’s in present or future tense?” Well it depends on the conversation! Japanese is a language where context matters. A sentence can be either or depending on what the people are talking about. It’s usually pretty obvious what tense people are talking in.
For example:
私は日本語を勉強します。I will study Japanese. OR I am studying Japanese.
Depending on what the context of the conversation is changes the sentence tense. します/しません will always be either present or future tense.
Try making your own example sentences!
