The Handbook of Japanese Verbs

133 Pages·2016·63.6 MB·English

by  Kamiya T.

THE
A KODANSHA DICTIONARY
HANDBOOK
OF
JAPANESE
VERBS
Taeko Kamiya
author of
The Handbook of
Japanese Adjectives
and Adverbs
JAPANESE SYLLABARY CHART
(for Regular I Verb Conjugation)
2 3 45 6 7 8 9
Ka Ga Sa Ta Na Ba Ma Ra Wa
BASE
1j
1st ka ga sa ta na ba ma ra wa
A
2nd ki gi shi chi ni hi mi ri (w)i*
I U
3rd ku gu su tsu flu bu mu ru (w)u*
U
4th ke ge se te ne be me re (w)e*
E
5th ko go so to no ho mo ro (w)o*
o co
I I I I IlM IC III Ii Id I I ciSc II (I isa p [)cars before all vowels except a.
isI .i(cid:9) tutu. Ic a mark the object of sentence.
THE HANDBOOK OF JAPANESE VERBS
THE
A KODANSHA DICTIONARY
HANDBOOK
OF
JAPANESE
VERBS
Taeko Kamiya
KODANSHA INTERNATIONAL
Tokyo New York• London
Distributed in the United States by Kodansha America, LLC,
and in the United Kingdom and continental Europe by Kodansha
Europe Ltd.
Published by Kodansha International Ltd., 17-14 Otowa Uchome,
Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8652,
Copyright © 2001 by Taeko Kamiya.
All rights reserved. Printed in Japan.
ISBN 978-4-7700-2683-5
First edition, 2001
20 19 18 17 16 15 1413 12 11 10(cid:9) 15 1413 12 11 10
www.kodansha-intl.com
PART ii -USAGE OF VERB FORMS(cid:9) 48
1. Conjunctive Form 48
P(cid:9) 1? (cid:9) E(cid:9) F(cid:9) A(cid:9) C(cid:9) E
2. Dictionary Form 63
3. Negative Form 102
4. Conditional Form 137
5. Imperative Form 142
6. Volitional Form 144
7. Te Form 149
In order to master a foreign language, it is crucial for students to
8. Ta Form 175 acquire a solid knowledge of its verbs and their usage. Japanese
9. Tara Form 199 is no exception.
10. Tari Form 202 Japanese verbs are often said to be difficult and complicated and
hard to learn. That is not true. In fact, they are simple and less com-
plicated to learn than those of many other languages. Unlike some
APPENDIXES(cid:9) 205 European languages, you do not have to memorize different forms
to indicate the number or person or gender of the subject of the
Answers to the Practices
sentence. The verb kaku, for instance, could mean I/we write, you
Part I 205
(sing./pl.) write, he/she/it writes or they write. Moreover, Japanese
Part II 212
verbs are highly regular in the way they make their forms. Once
Sentence Patterns 219
you grasp certain rules for making such forms as the negative, con-
Basic Japanese Verbs junctive, conditional forms, etc., you will be able to apply these rules
1. Regular I Verbs 224 to almost any verb.
2. Regular II Verbs 230 The purpose of this book is to describe in detail not only how
3. Irregular Verbs and Suru Verbs 233 Japanese verbs conjugate, but how you should use the verb forms
English-Japanese Verb List 238 in connection with sentence structures.
The book is divided into two parts. Part I deals with the conjuga-
tions of the three types of verbs—regular I, regular II and irregular
verbs, as well as copulas (be-verbs) and auxiliaries. A conjugation
7
practice follows the description of a verb or a group of verbs. Part II
deals with the usage of various verb forms. Each usage is illustrated
with example sentences, and exercises are provided every few lessons I N T R 0 D U C T I 0 N
to allow you to test your understanding.
I do hope that this book will prove to be helpful—you will dis-
cover how simple and easy conjugating and using Japanese verbs
can be.
This section deals with some of the important features of
Japanese verbs that are different from English verbs. You are
advised to read this section carefully before you move on to the
detailed explanation of verb conjugations.
TENSES OF VERBS
Japanese verbs have two tenses: the present and the past. The same
verb form is used to express both present and future tenses.
Jimu wa hon o yomimasu.
;j
Jim reads/will read a book.
The same past form is used for the past, present perfect and past
perfect tenses.
Jimu wa hon o yomimashita.
L.Pc0
Jim read/has read/had read a book.
89
LEVELS OF SPEECH VERB GROUPINGS
Japanese verbs express plain and polite styles of speech. The plain Japanese verbs may be divided into three groups: regular I, regular
style is used among friends, family and others with whom one is It and irregular. These can be recognized as follows:
familiar. This style is also used in writing in newspapers, magazines
and books. The polite style is used among adults who are not close 1. Regular I verbs
friends. The dictionary form of a regular I verb has a consonant plus u ending.
PLAIN:
Kare wa KyOto e iku Kare wa KyOto e itta. -ku(cid:9) K kaku write
-gu oyogu swim
Mr
POLITE: -su haflasu speak
Kare wa KyOto e ikimasu Kare wa Kyoto e ikimashita. -tsu(cid:9) J matsu wait
\ (cid:9)
U1
(cid:9) -flu shinu die
He goes/will go to Kyoto. He went to Kyoto.
-bu tobu fly
-mu(cid:9) t3 Yom read
In addition to these styles, there are the honorific and humble styles.
The honorific style is used to elevate the listener who is older or -ru toru take
higher in social status than the speaker. The humble style is used to (w)u* 3 ka(w)u buy
lower oneself or one's family member to elevate the listener indirectly.
*In modern Japanese, wdisappears before all vowels except a.
HONORIFIC:
Hara-sensei ga o-hanashi ni narimasu.
2. Regular II verbs
Prof. Hara will speak about it.
The dictionary from of a regular II verb has a vowel (e or i) plus ru
HUMBLE: ending.
Chichi ga o-hanashi itashimasu.
LA.\Th U0
-eru(cid:9) taberu(cid:9) eat
My father will speak about it.
-iru(cid:9) miru(cid:9) see, look, watch
10(cid:9) 11
(cid:9)
IXCEPrlONS: Note that some verbs ending with -eru/-iru are regular COPULAS (BE-VERBS)
(cid:9)
I verbs, such as the following: The Japanese copulas da (plain style) and desu (polite style) are
equivalent to the English am, is, or are. They are used as follows:
kderu(cid:9) )i(cid:9) return hashiru kz run(cid:9)
1. The A is B construction
hairu(cid:9) }'(cid:9) enter kiru cut(cid:9) Yamada-san wa bengoshi da/desu.
iru(cid:9) need shiru know(cid:9) LUW ±/±
Mr. Yamada is a lawyer.
2. As a substitute for other verbs (when the meaning is clear from
the context)
3. Irregular verbs
Watashi wa omuretsu da/desu.
There are only two irregular verbs. Their dictionary forms are as
VY1.
follows:
I'll have an omelet.
kuru ;g come
suru(cid:9) do
AUXILIARIES
Auxiliaries are adjuncts that are attached to main verbs to give them
The verb suru is combined with nouns to make a noun into a
additional meanings. They are used to make various verb forms such
verb. It may also be attached to foreign loan words.
as polite, negative, passive, causative, potential, etc. Some verbs such
as iru (exist) or morau (receive) maybe used as auxiliaries in conjunc-
benkyO Cb I (study) benkyO suru study tion with other verbs.
yushutsu(cid:9) (export) yushutsu suru OiMrZ export
I. Chichi wa rokuji ni okimasu.(cid:9) (polite)
doraibu(cid:9) f7 (drive) doraibu suru drive
dansu '/ (dance) dansu suru dance
My father gets up at six o'clock.
2. Biru wa sakana o tabenai.(cid:9) (negative)
tf )l(cid:9) .
Bill does not eat fish.
12(cid:9) 13
3. Sara wa sensei ni homerareta.(cid:9) (passive) TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE
.1t(cid:9) &fl7 0 A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object to complete its
Sarah was praised by her teacher. meaning. It usually expresses an action done by the subject to the
object. An intransitive verb, on the other hand, does not require a direct
4. Sensi wa gakusel ni kanji o kakaseru.(cid:9) (causative) object. It expresses an action or state related only to the subject of the
sentence.
The teacher makes students write kanji.
Tlt&NsmvE:
5. Hiragana wa sugu oboerareru (potential)(cid:9) Watashi wa o-cha o nomu.
I can learn hiragana easily. I drink tea.
6. Rainen Kanada e ikitai. (desire)(cid:9) INTRANSITIVE:
Watashi wa toshokan made aruku.
I want to go to Canada next year.
I walk to the library.
7. Ono-san wa Furansugo ga wakaru so da. (hearsay)
/J\M::7:7
I hear that Miss Ono understands French. NOTE: Some English transitive verbs are intransitive in Japanese.
Tomu wa Nihongo ga wakaru.
8. Yamada-san wa ima hon o yonde iru. (progressive)
LLIW
Tom understands Japanese. (To Tom, Japanese is understandable.)
Mr. Yamada is reading a book now.
Koko kara umi ga mieru.
We can see the ocean from here. (From here the ocean is visible.)
14 (cid:9) 15