4.2 Verbs & Tense

Verbs and tense: conjugate by group

Every Japanese verb belongs to one of three conjugation classes, and you must identify the class before you can change the tense. Getting the group right is the hidden first step in almost every verb question on the N5, including the sentence-ordering (文の組み立て) and text-grammar (文章の文法) items.

The three verb groups

Group I verbs are the 五段 (godan) or 'u-verbs': their dictionary form ends in an -u sound that is not preceded by the -e/-i pattern of Group II. Examples: のむ ('drink'), いく ('go'), かく ('write'), まがる ('turn'). Group II verbs are the 一段 (ichidan) or 'ru-verbs': they end in -る preceded by an -e or -i sound. Examples: たべる ('eat'), みる ('see'), おきる ('get up'). Group III is just the two irregulars, する ('do', including compound する-verbs like べんきょうする) and くる ('come'). A small set of Group I verbs look like Group II but are not — かえる ('return'), はいる ('enter') and はしる ('run') end in -eru/-iru yet conjugate as u-verbs, and the exam loves these exceptions.

The polite ます set

The most common register at N5 is the polite (です/ます) style. From the verb stem you build four endings:

To reach the stem, Group II drops -る (たべる → たべ → たべます). Group I shifts the final -u to the matching -i sound (のむ → のみ → のみます; いく → いき → いきます). Group III is memorised: する → します, くる → きます. Notice there is no separate future tense — 〜ます covers both present and future, and time words (あした, まいにち) tell you which.

Plain forms: dictionary, ない, and た

The dictionary form is the plain non-past (のむ, たべる, する) and is what you look up in a dictionary; it is used in casual speech and as the base for many patterns. The ない-form is the plain negative: Group II drops -る and adds ない (たべる → たべない), while Group I shifts -u to the -a row and adds ない (のむ → のまない; いく → いかない). The irregulars give しない and こない. The た-form is the plain past (のんだ, たべた, した) and — crucially — it follows the same sound-change rules as the て-form below, so learning one gives you the other for free.

The て-form and its many uses

The て-form is the workhorse of Japanese grammar. For Group II it is simply stem + て (たべる → たべて). For Group I the ending changes by the final kana: う/つ/る → って (かう → かって), む/ぶ/ぬ → んで (のむ → のんで), く → いて (かく → かいて, but いく → いって as a special case), ぐ → いで, す → して. する → して, くる → きて. Once you have the て-form, four high-frequency patterns open up:

• Sequential actions: 「パンを たべて、コーヒーを のみます」('I eat bread and then drink coffee').
• 〜てください (request): 「すわってください」('Please sit down'); the negative 〜ないでください means 'please do not'.
• 〜ています (ongoing / state): 「あめが ふっています」('It is raining'); tested constantly in listening.
• 〜てもいい (permission) / 〜てはいけない (prohibition): 「たばこを すってもいいですか」('May I smoke?') versus 「ここで たばこを すってはいけません」('You must not smoke here').

Reading tense from context, and a full conjugation walk-through

Because Japanese has no distinct future tense, the exam expects you to read tense off the time words and the situation rather than off the verb alone. A sentence that opens with きのう ('yesterday') demands a past ending; one with あした ('tomorrow') or まいにち ('every day') stays in the plain non-past 〜ます. This is why a verb-conjugation blank almost always has a time word nearby — the examiners plant it as the decisive clue, and skimming past it is the most common way even strong readers throw away easy points.

Work one verb fully to see the machinery. Take かく ('to write'), a Group I verb. The stem is かき, so the polite forms are かきます, かきません, かきました and かきませんでした. The plain negative shifts the final -u to the -a row: かく becomes かか plus ない, giving かかない. The te-form of a く-ending verb is いて, giving かいて, and the plain past matches it as かいた. Now compare たべる ('to eat'), a Group II verb: you simply drop -る for everything, giving たべます, たべない, たべて and たべた. Setting the two side by side shows why identifying the group first is non-negotiable — the same tense uses different rules for each class.

The 〜ています form: action versus state

A point tested in both grammar and listening is that 〜ています carries two meanings. With an action verb it marks something in progress: あめが ふっています ('it is raining right now'). With certain change-of-state verbs it marks a resulting state rather than an ongoing action: しっています means 'I know' (not 'I am knowing'), and けっこんしています means 'I am married'. English speakers reliably mistranslate these as continuous actions, so when an answer choice hinges on 'knows' or 'is married', reach for 〜ています rather than the plain 〜ます. Recognising this quirk rescues points where a literal English reading would mislead you.

Common conjugation mistakes

Three errors recur on the N5. First, mis-classifying the exception verbs かえる ('return'), はいる ('enter') and はしる ('run') as Group II; they are Group I, so 'returns' is かえります, not かえます. Second, forming the te-form of いく as いいて — it is the irregular いって. Third, forgetting that する and くる are wholly irregular: 'came' is きました, never くました. Internalise the group of each verb, rehearse its te-form, and the past and negative forms fall out automatically, making the verb items some of the most reliable marks on the whole exam.

A recurring N5 trap

Watch まだ ('not yet'). The natural answer to 「もう しゅくだいを しましたか」('Have you done your homework yet?') is 「いいえ、まだ していません」('No, not yet') — 'not yet' pairs with the negative te-form 〜ていません, not with the plain past. Choosing しました here is the classic wrong answer the exam plants. Master group identification first, then the ます-set, then the て-form, and the verb portion of the grammar section becomes routine.

One last study tip: build a two-column drill sheet with the dictionary form on the left and the four polite endings plus the te-form on the right, and fill it in from memory for a dozen mixed verbs every day. Because the exam rewards instant recognition rather than slow derivation, speed on this table is worth as much as accuracy, and daily repetition is the fastest route to both.