Verb conjugation groups

Conjugation reveals whether a verb is present/past, positive/negative and more.

What are the 3 verb types?

• Group 1 (Godan/う/consonant-root)
• Group 2 verbs (Ichidan/る/vowel-root)
• Irregular verbs

Godan Verbs

Verb examples:

• 読むよむ - to read
• 書くかく - to write
• 話すはなす - to speak
• 聞くきく - to listen

Notice that each of these end in a character on the う-line of the hiragana chart when they are in the plain/dictionary form, which explains why they're often called "う-verbs" in textbooks. As these verbs conjugate, the う-line character will shift through the five vowel sounds in the hiragana chart (あ, い, う, え, お). This is where they get the name 五段（ごだん） (five-level) verbs

Let's check this out with one of our example verbs, 聞く (to listen):

Hiragana Chart Line	Japanese	Romaji	English
あ /a/	聞かない	kikanai	not listen
い /i/	聞きます	kikimasu	listen (polite)
う /u/	聞く	kiku	listen (plain)
え /e/	聞ける	kikeru	can listen
お /o/	聞こう	kikou	let's listen

Ichidan

Hiragana Chart Line	Japanese	Romaji	English
え /e/	食べない	tabenai	not eat
	食べます	tabemasu	eat (polite)
	食べる	taberu	eat (plain)
	食べられる 食べれる (ら抜き)	taberareru tabereru	can eat
	食べよう	tabeyou	let's eat

Sourcs used

• http://tofugu.com/japanese-grammar/verb-conjugation-groups