“Tokyo Tower: Tokyo Tower in Shiba Park, Minato, Toyko, Japan. It is 332.6 m (1,091 ft) tall, making it the tallest man-made structure in Japan.”
Lesson Twenty Six: Verb Bases 2
Welcome back! Have you been practicing your bases? Now it’s time to go back and teach you all of the bases that I didn’t teach you before. They are all used in this game!
Remember that there are three different types of verbs: godan, ichidan, and irregulars.
Let’s go over ichidan verbs first, since they are a bit easier to deal with. Remember that for base 1 and 2 the る (ru) is dropped, and nothing changes for base 3. For base 4, replace the ru with a re, and for base 5 replace the ru with a you.
nigeru – to flee | |
Base 1 | nige |
Base 2 | nige |
Base 3 | nigeru |
Base 4 | nigere |
Base 5 | nigeyou |
Base te | nigete |
Base ta | nigeta |
For base te, replace the ru with a te. This is very similar to base ta.
eru – to obtain | |
Base 1 | e |
Base 2 | e |
Base 3 | eru |
Base 4 | ere |
Base 5 | eyou |
Base te | ete |
Base ta | eta |
Now for the godan verbs. Remember that they follow the order of the Japanese vowels. For godan base 4, replace the u at the end with an e.
osu – to push | |
Base 1 | osa |
Base 2 | oshi |
Base 3 | osu |
Base 4 | ose |
Base 5 | osou |
Base te | oshite |
Base ta | oshita |
For base 5, replace the u at the end with an ou.
kagayaku – to sparkle | |
Base 1 | kagayaka |
Base 2 | kagayaki |
Base 3 | kagayaku |
Base 4 | kagayake |
Base 5 | kagayakou |
Base te | kagayaite |
Base ta | kagayaita |
Remember that both ichidan and godan have a longer base 5 than the other four bases. Ready for base te?
Remember how godan’s base ta was different depending on how the verb ended? Base te is pretty much the same as this but ending with an e sound instead of an a.
If the last character is an う (u), つ (tsu), or a る (ru) then the last character needs to be replaced with って (tte) for base te.
okonau – to transact | |
Base 1 | okonawa |
Base 2 | okonai |
Base 3 | okonau |
Base 4 | okonae |
Base 5 | okonaou |
Base te | okonatte |
Base ta | okonatta |
If the last character is a ぶ (bu), む (mu) or a ぬ (nu) then the last character needs to be replaced with んで (nde) for base te.
yomu – to read | |
Base 1 | yoma |
Base 2 | yomi |
Base 3 | yomu |
Base 4 | yome |
Base 5 | yomou |
Base te | yonde |
Base ta | yonda |
If the last character is a く (ku) then the last character needs to be replaced with いて (ite) for base te.
kagayaku – to sparkle | |
Base 1 | kagayaka |
Base 2 | kagayaki |
Base 3 | kagayaku |
Base 4 | kagayake |
Base 5 | kagayakou |
Base te | kagayaite |
Base ta | kagayaita |
If the last character is a ぐ (gu) then the last character needs to be replaced with いで (ide) for base te.
isogu – to hurry | |
Base 1 | isoga |
Base 2 | isogi |
Base 3 | isogu |
Base 4 | isoge |
Base 5 | isogou |
Base te | isoide |
Base ta | isoida |
If the last character is a す (su) then the last character needs to be replaced with して (shite) for base te.
osu – to push | |
Base 1 | osa |
Base 2 | osi |
Base 3 | osu |
Base 4 | ose |
Base 5 | osou |
Base te | oshite |
Base ta | oshita |
To recap, here are the changes for godan base te/base ta.
u, tsu, re – tte/tta
bu, mu, nu – nde/nda
ku – ite/ita
gu – ide/ida
su – shite/shita
And let’s not forget about the irregulars! Since they don’t follow nice rules, you’ll just have to memorize them if you want to use them. Fortunately, there are very few irregular verbs in Japanese. Unfortunately, they are really common verbs!
Suru, to do, is a very common verb that is irregular. Here it is in all its bases.
Base 1 | shi |
Base 2 | shi |
Base 3 | suru |
Base 4 | sure |
Base 5 | shiyou |
Base te | shite |
Base ta | shita |
Kuru, to come, is also very common.
Base 1 | ko |
Base 2 | ki |
Base 3 | kuru |
Base 4 | kure |
Base 5 | koyou |
Base te | kite |
Base ta | kita |
Iku, to go, is kind of irregular. It just doesn’t follow the rules for base te and ta.
Base 1 | ika |
Base 2 | iki |
Base 3 | iku |
Base 4 | ike |
Base 5 | ikou |
Base te | itte |
Base ta | itta |
Now we’ve covered all of the different bases for the different verb types. Be sure to know all of them, because they are all going to be used!
Practice putting all of these verbs in their different bases. If you’re have trouble conjugating them, you can cheat and look in the dictionary.
perform | okonau | おこなう |
obtain | eru | える |
neglect | mushi suru | むしする |
escape | nigeru | にげる |
freeze | kooru | こおる |
glow | kagayaku | かがやく |
mean | imi suru | いみする |
destroy | hakai suru | はかいする |
press | osu | おす |
nod | unazuku | うなずく |
Okay! Let’s get these words learned!
GAME: Word search
Time to get some more mastery points!
GAME: Hit-a-word
Now you know all the basic rules behind verb conjugation. We’ll be using them in the future, so be sure to learn, review, and practice!
