Japanese Verbs: Dictionary Form and Masu Form

In this article, we will talk about Japanese verbs. Today we will study the dictionary form and the masu form. In other articles, we will study different conjugations.

Japanese verbs do not change according to the subject. Whether the subject is singular or plural, or whether it is first, second, or third person, the verb stays the same. As for verb tenses, there are only two basic divisions: non-past (present and future) and past. Present and future are the same form and are understood through context.

Japanese verbs are usually grouped into godan, ichidan, and irregular verbs. That division helps a lot when you start conjugating.

First, we have the simple and original form of the verb, the dictionary form. This form can be used in casual situations, and we will use it as the base to change tense and verb form in this article. In the dictionary form, verbs usually end with a sound in the "u" row.

By learning the masu form and the dictionary form, we will be ready to learn new conjugations and verb forms.

Throughout the article, we will learn the main verb forms:

• the dictionary form (infinitive)
• the non-past form
• the negative form
• the -ta form (preterite)
• the -te form
• the transitive and intransitive forms
• the passive form (-areru, -rareru)
• the causative form (-aseru, -waseru)
• the potential form (-eru, -rareru)
• the conditional form (-eba, -tara)
• the imperative form (-nasai)
• the desiderative form (-tai)
• the volitional form (-ō)

Masu Form ます形

The "masu" form is the polite way of using a verb. Turning a verb from the dictionary form into the ます form depends on its ending, so verbs are divided into groups. We will learn more about that division in another article.

To make this easier, we should separate verbs ending in "る - ru" from the other verbs. Once that is done, we can do the following:

• Verbs that do not end with "る" should have the last hiragana in the "u" row replaced by the hiragana in the same group that ends with "i". See the table with some examples:

Verb	Dictionary Form	Masu Form	Endings
Speak	話す (hanasu)	話します	す = し
Write	書く (kaku)	書きます	く = き
Swim	泳ぐ (oyogu)	泳ぎます	ぐ = ぎ
Read	読む (yomu)	読みます	む = み
Play	遊ぶ (asobu)	遊びます	ぶ = び
Stand	立つ (tatsu)	立ちます	つ = ち
Die	死ぬ (shinu)	死にます	ぬ = に
Sing	歌う (utau)	歌います	う = い

• There are verbs with "る" that change to "り", but there are also verbs ending in "る" that simply drop the "る" and add "ます" directly, such as eat - taberu - 食べる = 食べます. For this reason, it is important to learn the words well;
• There are other verbs where this rule does not work, for example:

Verb	Dictionary Form	Masu Form
Do	する	します
Come	来る (くる)	きます

Now let's see how to conjugate verbs in the ます form according to their verb tense:

Tense	Masu Form	Example (遊ぶ - asobu)
Present / Future	ます	遊びます - Play
Negative	ません	遊びません - Do not play
Past	ました	遊びました - Played
Past Negative	ませんでした	遊びませんでした - Did not play

• 本を読みます (ほんをよみます) - Read a book
• カラオケで 歌いました (カラオケで歌いました) - I sang at karaoke

The same thing happens with the verb in the dictionary form. It is possible to conjugate the verb directly in the dictionary form without converting it to the masu form, but then we must learn more conjugations. Below I will leave some examples:

Tense	Example (遊ぶ - asobu)
Present / Future	遊ぶ - Play
Negative	遊ばない - Do not play
Past	遊んだ - Played
Past Negative	遊ばなかった - Did not play

• 本を読む (ほんをよむ) - Read a book
• カラオケで歌った (カラオケでうたった) - I sang at karaoke

It is worth remembering that there are other verb conjugations that we will study in another article, and they use both the masu form and the dictionary form. We only need to keep in mind that the dictionary form is informal and the masu form is polite, which makes the next conjugations easier to learn.

As an exercise, I would like you to comment with example sentences in the dictionary form and in the masu form. I will already thank you for the comments and shares, and see you next time!

We recommend the article on verbs in the tai form.

Test your knowledge of verbs by taking a quiz click here.