The document provides information and examples for learning basic Japanese verbs. It introduces the polite present tense verb conjugation using ~ます and provides examples of conjugating six common verbs: 行く (to go), 見る (to see), 食べる (to eat), 飲む (to drink), 来る (to come), and する (to do). It notes the changes made to go-dan and ichi-dan verbs and the irregular conjugations. Students are encouraged to practice by changing parts of the example sentences to reinforce learning.

1. 鈴
花
COLOURFUL JAPANESE 2
Polite, present sentences
6 BasicVerbs
Réka Tóth Farkas, 2014

2. ABOUT THESE SLIDES [READ FIRST]
• Probably the best way to start learning Japanese is to copy and practice example
sentences by changing only one word or grammar at a time and understanding what
that changes compared to the original sentence. This will not only help you learn the
phonetic alphabets (and kanji) used in Japanese, but also help get a ‘feel’ for how
sentences are put together. The best way to do this is by hand.
• Each slide has simple example sentences are given in romanji, hiragana / katakana
and kanji (Chinese characters). It is a very good idea to start learning all three
characters used in the language as soon as possible as going back and learning
again is both tedious and horrendously tiring. Also, it is often much easier to remember
the words if you know the kanji!
• Also, Japanese does NOT USE SPACES BETWEEN WORDS in written form. The change
between words is also signified by a change in the type of character used (hiragana,
katakana, kanji). This is another important reason why you should learn all three types
of character as soon as possible in order to use the language properly.
• The parts of the sentences are all colour-coded (and with not correct, but more literal
translations) to help facilitate easier and faster comprehension from the reader and to
help memorization of sentence patterns.

3. 6 BASIC VERBS
• Verbs
Japanese is a conjugational language. This means that while there are not so
many root words (relatively speaking), there are many conjugations to learn in order to
express yourself properly in the language.
• We will be learning 6 basic verbs to go with each conjugation as we go along in these slides. These are
the following in their standard, or dictionary forms (never mind the verb classification for now):
•
•
•
•
•
•
行く
見る
食べる
飲む
来る
する
いく
みる
たべる
のむ
くる
する
iku
miru
taberu
nomu
kuru
suru
to go
to see
to eat
to drink
to come
to do
go-dan verb
ichi-dan verb
ichi-dan verb
go-dan verb
irregular
irregular

4. POLITE, PRESENT TENSE VERB
CONJUGATION
• ~ます
This conjugation is the first type many people learn. It is a present tense, polite verb conjugation
that you may use quite frequently. So it is very useful
• to go
行く
いく
iku
→ 行きます
→ いきます
→ ikimasu
• to see
見る → 見ます
みる → みます
miru → mimasu

5. POLITE, PRESENT TENSE VERB
CONJUGATION
• to eat
食べる → 食べます
たべる → たべます
taberu → tabemasu
• to drink
飲む → 飲みます
のむ → のみます
Nomu → nomimasu

6. POLITE, PRESENT TENSE VERB
CONJUGATION
• to come
来る → 来ます
くる → きます
kuru → kimasu
• to do
する → します
する → します
Suru → shimasu

7. NOTES
• Note The last syllable of the verb will change to end with ‘i’ and then
continue with ~masu if the verb is a go-dan verb. If the verb is an ichiban verb, it will simply drop the ‘ru’ and change this for the ~masu.
• Note There are only two irregular verbs (suru and kuru), so these are
simple to remember.

8. PRACTICE ・練習
れんしゅう
RENSHUU
• Now it is your turn to further your own progress.
• The next step is to use the words and sentence patterns to change the
sentences we saw before to make new ones.
• Use some of the words in the following, vocabulary slide in order to make
things more interesting.
• Make sure that when you make new sentences that you are always thinking
of what the new sentence actually means.
• Post your sentences to have them checked by you fellow learners and Learn
Japanese admin! 

9. PRACTICE・練習
れんしゅう
RENSHUU
私は学校へ行きます。
わたしはがっこうへいきます。
watashi wa gakkou e ikimasu.
I go to school.
あなたは学校 に来ます。
あなたはがっこうにきます。
anata wa gakkou ni kimasu.
You go to school.
猫は魚を食べます。
ねこはさかなをたべます。
neko wa sakana wo tebemasu.
(The) cat eats fish.

10. PRACTICE・練習
れんしゅう
RENSHUU
今日、犬は水を飲みます。
きょう、いぬはみずをのみます。
kyou, inu wa mizu wo nominasu.
Today, (the) dog drinks water.
私は友達とテニスをします。
わたしはともだちとテニスをします。
watashi wa tomodaci to tenisu wo shimasu.
I play tennis with a friend(s).
母さんはショッピングに行きます。
かあさんはショッピングにいきます。
kaasan wa shopping ni ikimasu.
Mum goes shopping.

11. PRACTICE・練習
れんしゅう
RENSHUU
お父さんは仕事へ来ますか。
おとうさんは しごとへきますか。
otousan wa shigoto e kimasu ka.
Did Father come to work?
先生はごはんを食べますか。
せんせいはごはんをたべますか。
sensei wa gohan wo tabemasu ka.
Did Teacher eat (the) meal?
今日、生徒は勉強をしますか。
きょう、せいとはべにょうをします。
kyou, seito wa benkyou wo shimasu.
Today, (the) student does study.