Verb Groups, an Intro

In this lesson we will look at recognizing verb groups. All verbs fall into one of three groups. The verbs in each group (except the irregular group) are conjugated in the same way. Before you are able to conjugate, however, you must recognize which verbs are related to which verbs.

A Prelude…

BEFORE THE LESSON YOU NEED TO KNOW…

• The irregular group only has 2 verbs! The rest are not too difficult to master.
• Verbs are fun! Well, sort of…

始(はじ)めましょう！ Let’s begin…

KEY SENTENCE — please repeat several times:

来(き)た、見(み)た、勝(か)った。

“I came, I saw, I conquered!”
(Caesar’s famous line)

VERB DICTIONARY FORMS:

NOTE: The た form is the simple past for all verbs. (We look at that in the Verb Forms article.)

In order to understand which group a verb is from, we look at its dictionary form. These 3 verbs represent the 3 types of verbs:

Keep this in mind and move on! Just like in English we know that “I goed to the store” is wrong, you will get a feel for what’s correct in Japanese in time.

NOTE: There are only 3 basic verb groups. Learn to recognize them by repeating them…

1) The ～う Group (Group 1 verbs)

Ends in an う-row sound, but NOT the 「いる」 or 「える」 sounds (with few exceptions). Also called 五段動詞(ごだんどうし) or “strong verbs” (not important, but it may be helpful when reading grammar books).

• 書(か)く (to write) — ends in く
• 話(はな)す (to speak) — ends in す
• 泳(およ)ぐ (to swim) — ends in ぐ
• 買(か)う (to buy) — ends in う

This is the 勝(か)った・勝(か)つ group!

2) The ～る Group (Group 2 verbs)

Ends in an 「いる」 or 「える」 sound. Also called 一段動詞(いちだんどうし) or “weak verbs.”

• 見(み)る (to see) — ends in an「いる」sound
• 食(た)べる (to eat) — ends in an「える」sound
• 教(おし)える (to teach) — ends in an「える」sound

This is the 見(み)た・見(み)る group!

3) The irregular Group (Group 3 verbs)

There are ONLY 2 verbs to worry about:

• する (to do) — This is the most important verb! But, alas, another day.
• 来(く)る (to come) — Another very useful verb!

This is the 来(き)た・来(く)る group!

来(き)た、見(み)た、勝(か)った。

“I came, I saw, I conquered!”