8.1 Essential N5 Verbs

Building Your N5 Verb Bank

The JLPT N5 expects you to recognise roughly 80 verbs, but a smaller core of about 40-50 high-frequency verbs appears again and again in the Vocabulary, Grammar, Reading, and Listening sections. This section teaches those verbs as dictionary-form vocabulary — the plain form you find in a dictionary. Chapter 4 already covered how to conjugate (ます / て / plain forms), so here the focus is pure breadth: the word, its reading, and a natural sentence so the meaning sticks.

Every Japanese verb belongs to one of three conjugation groups, and knowing the group tells you how the verb bends. Group I (五段, godan, or 'u-verbs') end in an -u sound other than る after a consonant: 飲む (のむ, nomu, to drink), 書く (かく, kaku, to write), 話す (はなす, hanasu, to speak). Group II (一段, ichidan, or 'ru-verbs') end in える or いる: 食べる (たべる, taberu, to eat), 見る (みる, miru, to see/watch). Group III holds just two irregulars: する (suru, to do) and 来る (くる, kuru, to come).

Motion verbs

Movement verbs are the backbone of N5 directions and travel questions. The key pair is 行く (いく, iku, to go) versus 来る (くる, kuru, to come): 来る always means motion toward the speaker, while 行く means motion away. Both take the destination particle に or へ.

• 行く (いく, iku, to go): 「学校に行きます」— I go to school.
• 来る (くる, kuru, to come): 「友だちが来ます」— A friend is coming.
• 帰る (かえる, kaeru, to return home): 「六時に帰ります」— I go home at six. Note 帰る looks like a Group II verb but is a Group I exception.
• 歩く (あるく, aruku, to walk): 「駅まで歩きます」— I walk to the station.
• 走る (はしる, hashiru, to run) — another Group I exception ending in る.
• 入る (はいる, hairu, to enter) and 出る (でる, deru, to leave/exit).
• 乗る (のる, noru, to ride/board) vs 降りる (おりる, oriru, to get off): 「バスに乗ります」／「電車を降ります」.

Daily-life action verbs

These describe the everyday routines N5 loves — eating, seeing, buying, studying.

Notice the particle patterns: 会う and 乗る take に for their object (a person or vehicle), while 食べる, 飲む, 見る, and 買う take the direct-object particle を. The exam frequently tests whether you can pick に or を for a given verb, so memorise the particle with the verb.

する-compounds

Japanese turns many nouns into verbs by adding する (suru, to do). These are Group III verbs. The pattern is [noun] + する:

• 勉強する (べんきょうする, benkyō suru, to study): 「毎日日本語を勉強します」— I study Japanese every day.
• 仕事する (しごとする, shigoto suru, to work): 「会社で仕事します」— I work at a company.
• 電話する (でんわする, denwa suru, to phone): 「母に電話します」— I phone my mother.
• 買い物する (かいものする, to shop), 掃除する (そうじする, to clean), 洗濯する (せんたくする, to do laundry), 練習する (れんしゅうする, to practise), 結婚する (けっこんする, to marry).

Because する is irregular, its polite form is します and its past is しました — 勉強する → 勉強します → 勉強しました.

Transitive / intransitive pairs (a favourite N5 trap)

Many verbs come in pairs sharing one kanji: a transitive verb (someone does it, marked with を) and an intransitive verb (it happens by itself, marked with が). The classic pair is あける / あく:

• 開ける (あける, akeru, to open something — transitive): 「まどを開けます」— I open the window.
• 開く (あく, aku, something opens — intransitive): 「まどが開きます」— The window opens.

More high-yield pairs: 閉める (しめる, close it) / 閉まる (しまる, it closes); つける (turn on) / つく (it comes on); 消す (けす, turn off) / 消える (きえる, it goes out); 始める (はじめる, begin it) / 始まる (はじまる, it begins); 入れる (いれる, put in) / 入る (はいる, go in). The exam tests these by showing a sentence with が or を and asking which verb form fits — が signals the intransitive, を signals the transitive.

A final common mistake: learners confuse 聞く (to hear/ask) with 聴く and mix up 見る (to watch) with 見せる (みせる, miseru, to show — transitive). Always read the particle: 「写真を見ます」= I look at the photo; 「写真を見せます」= I show the photo.

More everyday verbs to bank

Beyond the core list, a cluster of verbs recurs across N5 reading passages and listening dialogues, so add them now while your groups are fresh in mind. Group I additions include あそぶ (asobu, to play or hang out), およぐ (oyogu, to swim), うたう (utau, to sing), つくる (tsukuru, to make), あらう (arau, to wash), はたらく (hataraku, to work — a plain-verb synonym of 仕事する), and やすむ (yasumu, to rest or take a day off). Group II additions include おしえる (oshieru, to teach or tell), あける／しめる (open/close, already met above), and かりる (kariru, to borrow). Two giving-and-receiving pairs deserve special attention because the exam contrasts them: あげる (ageru, to give) means I give to someone else, while もらう (morau, to receive) means I receive from someone; likewise かす (kasu, to lend) versus かりる (kariru, to borrow) test the same direction problem — who ends up holding the item decides which verb is correct. A parallel pair is しる (to come to know) and わかる (to understand): しる describes acquiring a fact, whereas わかる describes comprehension, and 「わかりました」(I understood / got it) is one of the most common N5 listening responses.

Particles travel with the verb

A verb is only half of a vocabulary item; the particle it governs is the other half, and memorising them together prevents the single most common N5 grammar error. Motion verbs (行く, 来る, 帰る) take に or へ for the destination and で for the vehicle: 「バスで駅に行きます」— I go to the station by bus. Meeting and boarding verbs (会う, 乗る) take に, not を: 「友だちに会います」, 「電車に乗ります」. Object-taking transitive verbs (食べる, 飲む, 読む, 書く, 買う, 見る, 使う) take を. Existence verbs あります (for things) and います (for living beings) take が for the thing that exists and に for the place: 「つくえの上に本があります」— There is a book on the desk. When you learn a new verb, write it on a card together with a sample object and its particle; the exam rewards this pairing directly, because grammar items routinely give you the verb and ask you to choose に, を, で, or へ. Finally, remember that する-compounds behave like ordinary transitive verbs — the noun inside them can even take を for emphasis (日本語を勉強します), so 勉強する, 仕事する, and 電話する all slot neatly into the same object-plus-verb pattern you use for 食べる and 飲む.