E-Learning Course | No. 35

When you first start studying Japanese, learning verbs seems very easy. Verbs in the present, past, affirmative, and negative forms are the same up to the nomimus. However, various forms such as “drink,” “not drink,” and “drank” appear, and only up to nom (or up to no in the case of “drank”) is the invariant part of the verb kept.

Therefore, it is important to learn how to change these verbs. It may seem difficult, but it is not difficult at all if you follow the rules and get used to them. Let me advise you on a few points today.

There are not many verb variants, if only the basic ones. Among them, the following four forms are the most basic. Let’s take “drink” and “eat” as examples.

(1) Dictionary form (e.g., “drink” and “eat”) 辞書形（例「飲む」「食べる」）
(2) Masu form (e.g., “drink”, “eat”) マス形（例「飲みます」「食べます」）
(3) Nai form (e.g., “do not drink”, “do not eat”) ナイ形（例「飲まない」「食べない」）
(4) Te form (e.g. “drink”, “eat”) テ形（例「飲んで」「食べて」）