Japanese verbs

EnglishDictionary

formRoot form

Please do X.-te kudasai

I don’t do X.-nai

Please don’t do X.-naide kudasai

do suru shi- Shite kudasai Shinai Shinaide kudasai

study benkyoo o suru benkyoo o shi- Benkyoo o shite kudasai Benkyoo o shinai Benkyoo o shinaide kudasai

work shigoto o suru shigoto o shi- Shigoto o shite kudasai Shigoto o shinai Shigoto o shinaide kudasai

take a nap hirune o suru hirune o shi Hirune o shite kudasai Hirune o shinai Hirune o shinaide kudasai

come kuru ki- Kite kudasai konai Konaide kudasai

eat taberu tabe- Tabete kudasai tabenai Tabenaide kudasai

sleep neru ne- Nete kudasai nenai Nenaide kudasai

forget wasureru wasure- Wasurete kudasai wasurenai Wasurenaide kudasai

remember oboeru oboe- Oboete kudasai oboenai Oboenaide kudasai

teach oshieru oshie- Oshiete kudasai oshienai Oshienaide kudasai

check (check on the

Internet, check in the

dictionary)

shiraberu shirabe- Shirabete kudasai shirabenai Shirabenaide kudasai

give a message

to someonetsutaeru tsutae- Tsutaete kudasai tsutaenai Tsutaenaide kudasai

Important points:There are only 5 vowels in Japanese (ba-bi-bu-be-bo), and each vowel is always one full syllable. Even if two vowels come next to each other, you have to

pronounce them independently. For example, “iu” is a 2-syllable word, pronounced “i–u” (sounds like “ee-you”), and “oboeru” is a 4-syllable word, “o-bo-e-

ru”, and “hirune” is 3 syllables, pronounced “heee-rooo-neh”, not “hiroon”. The root form of “iu” is “ii” and that is also a 2-syllable word: “i-i” (sounds like “ee-

ee”, NOT like a big long “eeeeeeee” sound).

There are several verb groups, but let’s start with verbs ending in “eru”. You can master those really quickly.

Japanese follows grammatical rules with few exceptions (no weird rules or weird spelling, like English has). However, there are TWO verbs that do not

follow the rules: “suru” (do) and “kuru” (come).