Chapter 8 — Verb Classification and the ます-Form

Every sentence you have built so far ends with です or with いる/ある. That changes now. This chapter introduces the Japanese verb system — how verbs are organized into classes, how to identify which class a verb belongs to, and how to produce the polite ます-form that you will use in virtually every conversation.

This is the most important grammar chapter so far. Japanese verbs are not like English verbs. They do not change for person (I go, you go, he goes — Japanese uses the same form for all three). They do not distinguish present from future. They conjugate by class, and the class determines every single conjugation pattern the verb will ever follow. Get the class right, and everything else is predictable. Get it wrong, and every form you produce will be wrong.

There are exactly three verb classes. Two are regular. One is irregular and contains exactly two verbs. Learn the system here, and it will carry you through the rest of this book.

8.1 The Three Verb Classes

Every Japanese verb belongs to one of three classes:

五段（ごだん）動詞 — Consonant-Stem Verbs

The largest class. The name 五段 means "five levels" because these verbs use all five vowel rows of the かな chart when they conjugate. The dictionary form (辞書形, じしょけい — the base form you find in a dictionary) ends in an う-row sound: く, ぐ, す, つ, ぬ, ぶ, む, or る.

Examples: 書かく (write), 飲のむ (drink), 話はなす (speak), 待まつ (wait)

一段（いちだん）動詞 — Vowel-Stem Verbs

The name 一段 means "one level" because these verbs only use one vowel row when they conjugate. The dictionary form always ends in る, and the sound before る is always in the い-row or the え-row.

Examples: 食たべる (eat), 見みる (see), 起おきる (wake up), 寝ねる (sleep)

不規則（ふきそく）動詞 — Irregular Verbs

There are exactly two irregular verbs in the entire language:

• する — to do
• くる — to come

That is it. Two. Every other verb in Japanese is either 五段 or 一段. する and くる follow their own conjugation patterns, but because there are only two of them, you simply memorize their forms directly.

8.2 The Dictionary Form (辞書形)

Before learning how to conjugate, you need to understand what the dictionary form is. The 辞書形 is the plain, non-past, affirmative form of a verb — the form listed in dictionaries. It is the starting point for all conjugation.

Every dictionary form ends in an う-row sound. Here is how the three classes map:

Notice that 五段 verbs can end in any of nine possible consonant+う combinations, while 一段 verbs always end in る with an い or え sound before it. This overlap at ～る is the source of the major classification problem, which is the subject of the next section.

8.3 Identifying Verb Class from the Dictionary Form

Here is the procedure:

Step 1: Does the dictionary form end in る?

If no — if it ends in く, ぐ, す, つ, ぬ, ぶ, む, or う — it is 五段. No exceptions. You are done.

• 書かく → ends in く → 五段
• 飲のむ → ends in む → 五段
• 話はなす → ends in す → 五段
• 買かう → ends in う → 五段

This covers the majority of verbs you will encounter. If the final sound is anything other than る, classification is trivial.

Step 2: If it ends in る, what sound comes before る?

If the sound before る is NOT in the い-row or え-row — that is, if it is in the あ-row, う-row, or お-row — it is 五段. No exceptions.

• 作つくる → く is う-row → 五段
• 通とおる (pass through) → お is お-row → 五段
• 直なおる (be fixed) → お is お-row → 五段

Step 3: If it ends in る AND the sound before る IS in the い-row or え-row — this is where the problem is.

The verb might be 一段. Or it might be 五段. There is no rule that will tell you which. You must learn the class when you learn the verb.

This is not a small problem. It affects a significant number of common verbs.

The いる/える Ambiguity — Verbs That Deceive

The following are all common verbs that end in いる or える but are 五段, not 一段:

And here are verbs that end in いる or える and ARE 一段, as expected:

Notice きる appears in both lists. きる（切る, to cut）is 五段. きる（着る, to wear）is 一段. The dictionary form is identical in かな. Only the kanji, the meaning, and the verb class differ. This is the kind of thing that makes the いる/える ambiguity genuinely difficult, not merely inconvenient.

The Only Reliable Method

There is no shortcut. When you learn a new verb that ends in いる or える, you must learn its class at the same time. This book marks every verb with its class. Pay attention to those markings. Over time, you will develop intuition — most いる/える verbs are in fact 一段, and the 五段 exceptions, while numerous, form a learnable set. But intuition is not a substitute for actually knowing.

Some textbooks provide rules of thumb ("if the verb has only one かな before る, it is more likely 一段"). These rules have too many exceptions to be trustworthy. The cost of misclassifying a verb is that every conjugated form you produce will be wrong. It is better to look up the class than to guess.

Use the following flowchart to identify the class of any verb from its ます-form or dictionary form:

Verb Class Identification
─────────────────────────

         ┌─────────────────────┐
         │   Is it する or 来る？  │
         └──────────┬──────────┘
                    │
            Yes ←───┴───→ No
             │              │
     ┌───────┴───────┐    │
     │ Irregular verb │    │
     │ する → し-ます   │    │
     │ 来る → き-ます   │    │
     └───────────────┘    │
                    ┌──────┴──────┐
                    │ Remove ます.  │
                    │ What is the  │
                    │ final sound? │
                    └──────┬──────┘
                           │
              -i sound ←───┴───→ -e sound
                 │                    │
         ┌───────┴───────┐   ┌───────┴───────┐
         │ 五段 (u-verb)   │   │ 一段 (ru-verb)  │
         │ 書きます → 書く  │   │ 食べます → 食べる │
         └───────────────┘   └───────────────┘

⚠ Exception: Some verbs end in -i but are 一段:
  見ます → 見る   います → いる   起きます → 起きる

8.4 The ます-Form — Formation

The ます-form is the standard polite form used in everyday conversation. You already know います and あります from Chapter 6 — those are the ます-forms of いる and ある. Now you will learn how to produce the ます-form for any verb.

五段動詞: Change the Final う-Row Sound to the Corresponding い-Row Sound, Then Add ます

Every 五段 verb ends in an う-row sound. To make the ます-form, change that sound to the corresponding い-row sound in the same column of the かな chart, then attach ます.

Here is the complete table:

This is entirely mechanical. Find the final sound, look at the same column in the かな chart, move to the い-row, and add ます. If you know the かな chart, you can do this for any 五段 verb without memorization.

A few more examples to make the pattern concrete:

• 読よむ → 読よみます (む → み)
• 聞きく → 聞ききます (く → き)
• 行いく → 行いきます (く → き)
• 買かう → 買かいます (う → い)
• 会あう → 会あいます (う → い)
• 座すわる → 座すわります (る → り)
• 持もつ → 持もちます (つ → ち)
• 立たつ → 立たちます (つ → ち)

一段動詞: Drop る, Add ます

一段 verbs are even simpler. Remove the final る and attach ます directly.

No sound changes. No chart lookup. Just drop る and add ます.

不規則動詞: Memorize

する becomes します. くる becomes きます. These do not follow either the 五段 or 一段 pattern. Memorize them.

Why Classification Matters — A Concrete Example

Consider 帰かえる (帰る, to return). It ends in える. If you mistakenly classify it as 一段 and apply the 一段 rule (drop る, add ます), you get かえます. But 帰る is 五段. The correct ます-form is かえります (る → り + ます).

かえます is actually the ます-form of 変かえる（変える, to change）, which IS 一段. So the wrong classification does not just produce nonsense — it produces a different verb's form. This is why getting the class right matters.

8.5 Tense and Polarity — The Four ます Variants

The ます-form has exactly four variants, produced by combining two tenses (non-past and past) with two polarities (affirmative and negative).

Using 書かく (write, 五段) as the example:

And using 食たべる (eat, 一段):

And the irregulars:

する:

くる:

The pattern is consistent across all verbs:

Once you can produce the ます-form, the other three forms are automatic. There is no additional conjugation to learn — you simply swap the ending.

What Each Form Means

書かきます — "I write" or "I will write." This form covers both present habitual action and future action. Context determines which.

書きました — "I wrote." Completed past action.

書きません — "I do not write" or "I will not write." Present habitual negative or future negative.

書きませんでした — "I did not write." Past negative.

8.6 Japanese Does Not Distinguish Present from Future

This is a fundamental fact about the language. The ます-form (non-past affirmative) covers both "I do X" and "I will do X." There is no separate future tense. English forces you to choose between "I eat" and "I will eat." Japanese uses the same form for both.

How, then, does anyone know what you mean? Time words.

Common Time Words

These time words typically appear at the beginning of the sentence or before the verb. They do the work that tense distinctions do in English.

Examples

あした　友ともだちに　会あいます。 Tomorrow I will meet a friend.

毎日まいにち　本ほんを　読よみます。 I read books every day.

きのう　映画えいがを　見みました。 Yesterday I watched a movie.

きょう　日本語にほんごを　勉強べんきょうします。 Today I will study Japanese. / Today I study Japanese.

毎朝まいあさ　六ろくじに　起おきます。 Every morning I wake up at six.

Notice that the time words resolve any ambiguity. あした makes 会います future. 毎日 makes 読みます habitual present. Without a time word, the default interpretation depends on context — but in practice, speakers almost always include one when the time frame matters.

A note on particles appearing in these examples: You see を and に here. The particle を marks the direct object of a verb — the thing being acted upon. The particle に marks various targets, including the person you meet (友ともだちに 会います) and the time at which something happens (六ろくじに 起きます). These particles are formally introduced in the next chapter. For now, focus on the verb forms and time words.

8.7 Core Verb Vocabulary

Below are the verbs you should learn from this chapter. Every verb is marked with its class. The ピッチ column gives the pitch accent of the dictionary form.

五段動詞 (15 verbs)

A note on しぬ: This is the only verb in the entire language that ends in ぬ. There are no others. It is not important because of its meaning — it is important because it completes the set of all possible 五段 endings. Every formation rule for 五段 verbs must account for the ぬ ending, and しぬ is the only verb that tests it.

一段動詞 (10 verbs)

不規則動詞 (2 verbs)

8.8 する Compound Verbs

する is not just a standalone verb meaning "to do." It combines with nouns to create new verbs. The pattern is simple:

[noun] + する = verb

The noun provides the meaning. する provides the verb structure. The resulting compound conjugates exactly like する — it is a する-class irregular verb.

All four ます variants apply exactly as with する:

This pattern is extremely productive. Japanese borrows verbs from other languages by turning foreign words into する compounds. You will encounter many more of these throughout this book. Whenever you see a noun followed by する, you know it is a する-class verb and conjugates accordingly.

A note on spacing: In this book, する compounds are written with する attached directly to the noun: 勉強べんきょうする, not 勉強 する. Some materials separate them with a space or with を (勉強を する). Both are grammatical. The を version treats the noun as a direct object of する, while the combined version treats the whole expression as a single verb. For most purposes, the difference does not matter at this level.

8.9 Putting It Together — Example Sentences

The following sentences use only grammar and vocabulary from this chapter and previous chapters. Read each one and confirm that you can identify the verb, its class, and its ます variant.

毎日まいにち 本ほんを 読よみます。 I read books every day.

あした 友ともだちに 会あいます。 Tomorrow I will meet a friend.

きのう 映画えいがを 見みました。 Yesterday I watched a movie.

日本語にほんごを 勉強べんきょうします。 I study Japanese.

きょう 散歩さんぽしません。 Today I will not take a walk.

毎朝まいあさ 六ろくじに 起おきます。 Every morning I wake up at six.

きのう 料理りょうりしませんでした。 Yesterday I did not cook.

毎晩まいばん 音楽おんがくを 聞ききます。 Every evening I listen to music.

あした 友ともだちが 来きます。 Tomorrow a friend will come.

きのう 本ほんを 買かいました。 Yesterday I bought a book.

この 本ほんを 読よみますか。 Will you read this book? / Do you read this book?

いいえ、読みません。 No, I do not read it. / No, I will not read it.

Questions with Verbs

To ask a verb question, add か to the end of the ます-form sentence, exactly as you did with ですか.

毎日まいにち 勉強べんきょうしますか。 Do you study every day?

きのう なにを 食たべましたか。 What did you eat yesterday?

あした どこに 行いきますか。 Where will you go tomorrow?

The question word stays in its natural position — the position where the answer would go. This is the same principle from Chapter 5.

8.10 Summary — What You Now Know

You can now:

1. Classify any verb into 五段, 一段, or 不規則 — with the caveat that いる/える verbs require memorization of their class.

2. Produce the ます-form for any verb:

   • 五段: change final う-row sound to い-row sound, add ます
   • 一段: drop る, add ます
   • する → します, くる → きます

3. Conjugate the ます-form into all four tense/polarity combinations:

   • ます (non-past affirmative)
   • ました (past affirmative)
   • ません (non-past negative)
   • ませんでした (past negative)

4. Use time words to disambiguate present and future meaning.

5. Create する compound verbs from nouns.

The next chapter introduces the particles を, に, で, and へ — the particles that connect verbs to their objects, destinations, locations of action, and directions. With those particles and the verb forms from this chapter, you will be able to construct a wide range of sentences about daily life.

8.11 Reading Passage — 学生がくせいの 一日いちにち

Read the following passage. It uses ます-form verbs in all four tense/polarity combinations. Every grammar point and vocabulary item has been introduced in this chapter or in previous chapters. Read it once without looking at the translation, then check your understanding.

わたしは 大学の 学生がくせいです。毎日まいにち 忙いそがしいです。

朝あさ 七しちじに 起おきます。朝あさごはんを 食たべます。コーヒーを 飲のみます。

八はちじに 大学に 行いきます。九くじから 授業じゅぎょうが 始はじまります。午前ごぜんは 日本語にほんごの 授業です。日本語の 授業で たくさん 話はなします。

昼ひるは 学食がくしょくで 食たべます。学食は 安やすいです。

午後ごごは 歴史れきしの 授業です。先生せんせいの 話はなしを 聞ききます。ノートに 書かきます。

四よんじに 授業が 終おわります。図書館としょかんで 勉強べんきょうします。図書館で 本ほんを 読よみます。レポートも 書きます。

夜よる うちに 帰かえります。晩ばんごはんを 作つくります。料理りょうりは あまり 上手じょうずじゃありません。でも、毎日 作ります。

十一じゅういちじに 寝ねます。金曜日きんようびの 夜は 寝ません。友ともだちと カラオケに 行きます。

きのうも カラオケに 行きました。とても たのしかったです。でも、けさは 起きませんでした。授業に 遅おくれました。

Translation

I am a university student. Every day is busy.

I wake up at 7 in the morning. I eat breakfast. I drink coffee.

At 8, I go to university. At 9, classes begin. In the morning, it is Japanese class. In Japanese class, I speak a lot.

At noon, I eat at the school cafeteria. The cafeteria is cheap.

In the afternoon, it is history class. I listen to the teacher's talk. I write in my notebook.

At 4, classes end. I study at the library. I read books at the library. I also write reports.

In the evening, I return home. I make dinner. My cooking is not very good. But I make it every day.

I sleep at 11. On Friday nights, I do not sleep. I go to karaoke with friends.

Yesterday, I also went to karaoke. It was very fun. But this morning, I did not wake up. I was late to class.

Notes on the passage

忙いそがしい — "busy." An い-adjective (formally introduced in Chapter 13). For now, recognize it before です.

授業じゅぎょう — "class / lesson." A common word in student life.

学食がくしょく — "school cafeteria." Short for 学生食堂がくせいしょくどう. University cafeterias in Japan are known for being affordable — often 300-500 yen for a full meal.

レポート — "report / essay." A katakana loanword from English. University students in Japan frequently write レポート as assignments.

あまり...じゃありません — "not very..." あまり pairs with a negative to mean "not much / not very." This pattern is covered in detail later.

寝ねません — Negative of 寝ます. This is the ません form introduced in this chapter.

楽たのしかったです — "it was fun." Past tense of the adjective 楽たのしい. Adjective past tense is covered later; recognize this as a set phrase.

遅おくれました — "was late." The past tense ます-form of 遅れる (一段), meaning "to be late."

Vocabulary List

All new vocabulary introduced in this chapter.

五段動詞

一段動詞

不規則動詞

する Compound Verbs

Tricky 五段 Verbs (いる/える Ending)

These verbs look like 一段 but are 五段. Memorize their class.

Time Words

Other Vocabulary

Grammatical Terms