Conjugating Verbs

Japanese verb conjugation is a bit more complicated than English because we rely heavily on helper words to change the meaning of verbs, whereas Japanese relies more heavily on suffixes. Japanese verb structure also mirrors the society's class driven structure. If someone is above or below you in station (or life), you speak to them using different verb forms.

~ます Forms

If someone is your boss, a year (or more) older, been at a job longer, or you just want to be polite, you speak to them using the polite (also called formal, ていねい) form. Many other verb forms are also derived from the polite ~ます form, so we will be starting here.

	Positive	Negative
Present	~ます	~ません
Past	~ました	~ませんでした

~ます form is the present positive form.
  よびます
  Call.

ます - す + せん = ません
~ません is the present negative form.
  よびません
  Do not call.

ます - す + した = ました
~ました is the past positive form.
  よびました
  Called.

ません + で + した = ませんでした
~ませんでした is the past negative form.
  よびませんでした
  Did not call.

~ます has 2 other forms: "Let's~!" and "Shall we~?"

 ます - す + しょう = ましょう
 ~ましょう means "Let's ~!"
   よびましょう
   Let's call.

 ますせん + か = ませんか
 ~ませんか means "Shall we ~?"
   よびませんか
   Shall we call?

~たい Form

The ~たい form is used to express the desire to do (or not to do) something.
Removing ~ます and adding ~た~ changes from ~ます to ~たい form.

	Positive	Negative
Present	~たい	~たくない
Past	~たかった	~たくなかった

~ます - ます + たい = たい
~たい is the present positive form.
  やすみたい
  Want to rest, want to holiday, want to day off

たい - い + くない = たくない
~たくない is the present negative form.
  やすみたくない
  Do not want to rest, do not want to holiday, do not want to day off

たい - い + かった = たかった
~たかった is the past positive form.
  やすみたかった
  Wanted to rest, wanted to holiday, wanted to day off

たくない - い + かった = たくなかった
~たくなかった is the past negative form
  やすみたくなかった
  Did not want to rest, did not want to holiday, did not want to day off.

Like ~たい form, drop ます for the following.

 ~ へ ~ にいきますmeans "Go to ~ and ~."
   としょかんへよみにいきます
   Go to the library to read.

 ~ へ ~ にかえります means "Return to ~ and ~."
   うちへよみにかえります
   Return to my house to read.

  ~ へ ~ にきます means "Come to ~ and ~."
   こうえんへあそびにきます
   Come to the park to play.

~て Form

The rules for the Informal Forms are decided by a verb's ~て group, making it the next logical form to cover. ~た form follows the same rules as ~て form, just swap "て" for "た". We will cover the た form in more detail in the Informal Forms section below.
~て form is derived from ~ます form, by removing ます and either changing the last character or just adding て.
By itself, it is the imperative (also called command) form and is used to tell someone to do something.
The official groups are:
1. い
2. え, い special
3. します, きます
Nothing is ever really that simple, though. I've broken them into groups based on their final form.
Note: The difference between し and します verbs is, can the part of the word before "します" stand alone?
I.E. せいちょうします's せいちょう is its own word with the same meaning, whereas はなします's はな is not its own word.
(Yes, はな means flower, but it is a completely different meaning from はなします.)

Verbs ending in え、い special、し、します、and きます
  でます - ます + て = でて
  Exit    ->    Exit!

  きます - ます + て = きて
  Put on (upper body)    ->    Put on (upper body)!

  だします - ます + て = だして
  Take out, hand in, send (a letter)    ->    Take out!, hand in!, send (a letter)!

  コピーします - ます + て = コピーして
  Copy    ->    Copy!

  もってきます - ます + て = もってきて
  Bring with (item)    ->    Bring with (item)!

Verbs ending in い、り、and ち
  ならいます - います + って = ならって
  Learn    ->    Learn!

  わかります - ります + って = わかって
  Understand    ->    Understand!

  かちます - ちます + って = かって
  Win    ->    Win!

Verbs ending in き
  つきます - きます + いて = ついて
  Arrive    ->    Arrive!

Verbs ending in ぎ
  いそぎます - ぎます + いで = いそいで
  Hurry    ->    Hurry!

Verbs ending in み and び
  やすみます - みます + んで = やすんで
  Rest, holiday, day off    ->    Rest!, holiday!, day off!

  よびます - びます + んで = よんで
  Call    ->    Call!

The ~て form is more than just the command form. It changes depending on what you add after it.
 ~てください means "Please ~ ."
   よんで ください
   Please call

 ~てもいいですか means "May I ~ ?"
   わたしは(wa)よんで もいいですか
   May I call?

 ~ています means "(Currently) ~ing."
   よんで います
   (currently) calling

 ~てはいけません means "Must not ~ ."
   よんでは(wa)いけません
   Must not call

 ~て~て ~ます means "Immediately after ~ do ~ then ~. "
   たべて シャワーをあびて ねます
   (immediately after) Eat, then shower, then sleep.

 ~てから~ます means "Somtime after ~ , ~ ."
   たべてから テレビをみます
   Sometime after eating, watch TV.

 The next three forms are all expressions of gratitude.

 ~ は ~てくれます means "~ does ~ for me."
   はは は(wa)せんたくして くれます
   My mom does laundry (for me).
   (Only used when the action is for yourself)

 ~ は ~ に ~て あげます means "~ does ~ for ~ ." (Give)
   はは　は(wa) ちちにせんたくして あげます
   My dad is grateful that my mother did the laundry for him.
 Note: There is no real equivalent in English for "~ は ~ に ~て あげます"
   It is to gratefully give an action to someone
   Something like "My father is grateful my mother gave doing the laundry to him."

 ~ は ~ に ~て もらいます means "~ does ~ for ~ ." (Receive)
   はは　は(wa) ちちにせんたくして もらいます
   My mother is grateful that my dad did laundry for her.
 Note: There is no real equivalent in English for "~ は ~ に ~て もらいます"
   It is to gratefully receive an action from someone
   Something like "My mother gratefully received my dad doing the laundry"

Informal Forms

The Informal (ふつ) Forms are for addressing people close to you, like friends, or people below you in station, like a work subordinate. These forms consist of dictionary form (じしょけ), the ~な forms, and ~た form, making it less cohesive than the previous sets.

	Positive	Negative
Present	~じしょ	~ない
Past	~た	~なかった

Dictionary form (じしょけ) also depends on the て group.
For い special and え drop ます and add る.
For い, き, ぎ, り, び, ち, and し, change from the い sound to the う sound.
  I.E. い -> う
   き -> く
します and きます become する and くる respectively.

Dictionary form (じしょけ) is the present positive form.
  でます - ます + る = でる
  To exit

  わかります - ります + る = わかる
  To understand

  コピーします - します + する = コピーする
  To copy

  もってきます - きます + くる = もってくる
  To bring with (item)

Dictionary form can be combined with こと~ to change the meaning.
 ~ことができます means "Can (do) ~ ."
   わかることができます
   Can understand

 ~ことができません means "Cannot (do) ~ ."
   わかることができますせん
   Cannot understand

 ~ことがです means "Usually (do) ~ ."
   わかることがです
   Usually understand

As mentioned previously, ～た form follows the same rules as ~て form.

~た form is the past positive form.
  でた
  Exited

  ならった
  Learned

  だした
  Took out, handed in, sent (a letter)

  ついた
  Arrived

  いそいだ
  Hurried

  やすんだ
  Rested, holidayed, dayed off

~た form's meaning also changes depending on what you add after it.
 ~たことがあります means "Have experienced ~ ."
   よんだことがあります
   Have called

 ~たり　~たりします means "Usually (do) ~ and ~ ."(In no particular order)
   どようびにせんたくしたりかいものしたりします
   On Saturdays I usually do laundry and go shopping
   (In no particular order)

With the ~な~ forms, for え, い special, します, and きます て groups, drop "ます" and add "な~"
For り, ち, し, き, ぎ, み, and び groups the い sound becomes あ
  I.E. り -> ら
For い て group, い -> わ

~ない form is the present negative form.
  でます - ます + ない = でない
  Do not exit

  わかります - ります + らない = わからない
  Do not understand

  ならいます - います + わない = ならわない
  Do not learn

ない - い + かった
~なかった Is the past negative form.
  でない - い + かった = でなかった
  Did not exit

  わからない - い + かった = わからなかった
  Did not understand

  ならわない - い + かった = ならわなかった
  Did not learn

The ~な forms' meaning also changes depending on what you add after them.
 ~ないでください means "Please don't ~ ."
   よばないでください
   Please don't call

 ~なければなりません means "Must (do) ~ ."
   よばないければなりません
   Must call

 ~なくてもいいです means "Don't have to (do) ~ ."
   よばないくてもいいです
   Don't have to call

Formal Possibility
Forms

The Possibility Forms are for giving permission to do something. Like the Informal Forms, these forms consist of dictionary form, the ~な forms, and ~た form
Note: Converting "ません" to ~ない form changes from formal to informal.

	Positive	Negative
Present	~>Dictionaryかもしれません	~ないかもしれません
Past	~たかもしれません	~なかったかもしれません

Dictionary form + かもしれません is the present positive form.
  やすむかもしれません
  Might rest, might holiday, might day off
  
~ない + かもしれません is the present negative form.
  やすまないかもしれません
  Might not rest, might not holiday, might not day off

~た + かもしれません is the past positive form.
  やすんだかもしれません
  Might have rested, might have holidayed, might have dayed off

~なかった + かもしれません is the past negative form.
  やすまなかったかもしれません
  Might not have rested, might not have holidayed, might not have dayed off