The dictionary form ends in a u-sound (う, く, す, つ, etc.). To conjugate, that last syllable "steps" through the five vowels あ・い・う・え・お depending on the form (negative, polite, past, etc.).

💡 Tip: Hover over any cell in the table to see an example verb and its meaning.

The five vowel rows (example 書かく): あ 書かかない / い 書きます / う 書く / え 書ける (potential) / お 書こう (volitional).

Passive ("is done to") and causative ("make/let someone do") forms. In Japanese: 受身うけみ形けい, 使役しえき形けい.

Note: For a complete reference table with all forms, see "Reference" section at the bottom when you need a lookup.

Remove る from the dictionary form to get the stem. Then add the ending directly (ない, ます, た, て, etc.). Example: 食べる → stem 食べ + ない → 食べない (don't eat).

💡 Tip: Hover over any cell to see the full verb with meaning.

Potential ("can do"), volitional ("let's do"), and passive ("is done") forms. In Japanese these have names: 可能かのう形けい, 意志いし形けい, 受身うけみ形けい.

Note: For Ichidan verbs, potential and passive use the same form (られる). Causative uses させる.
Usage note: In casual speech, people sometimes drop ら (e.g. 食べれる instead of 食べられる). That's common in spoken Japanese but considered informal; for writing and polite speech, use the full form.

する uses the stem し before every ending (ない, ます, た, て, etc.). Compound verbs like 勉強べんきょうする work the same way: keep the noun part and conjugate する (e.g. 勉強しない, 勉強します, 勉強した, 勉強して).

Potential ("can do"), volitional ("let's do"), passive ("is done"), and causative ("make/let someone do") forms. In Japanese: 可能かのう形けい, 意志いし形けい, 受身うけみ形けい, 使役しえき形けい.

Note: する has a special "can do" form: できる (not せられる). Compound verbs like 勉強する follow the same pattern (勉強できる).

来くる means "to come." Its forms are irregular (e.g. 来た, 来て)—the table below shows all of them.

行いく (to go) is a Godan verb, but its past and て-form are special: instead of the usual いいた / いいて, you say いった and いって.

Memory tip: Think of 行く as "going" — it's special, so it gets special treatment! The く changes to った/って instead of いいた/いいて.

Some verbs ending in -いる or -える look like Ichidan (e.g. 食べる) but are actually Godan. How to tell? Check the polite form: if it's 〜ります (e.g. 帰ります), it's Godan; if it's 〜ます (e.g. 食べます), it's Ichidan.