Part 5

Grammar
Useful Words
Study Tips

Conjugating Verbs

Verbs can have 8 different endings. They fall into 4 categories -

-U, -TSU, -RU

-MU, -NU, -BU
-KU, -GU
-SU

There is only one verb that ends in -NU, (shinu = to die) so that leaves us with 8 endings.

To conjugate a verb, you first strip off the ending. The ending determines what will be added to the "stem"
(what's left) of the
verb.

1.Look at the end of the verb - what group is it in?

2.Take off the ending, and you are left with the 'stem'.
3.Now add the appropriate ending for that group.

We will now go through the 3 different groups of verbs - there will be plenty of examples as we go.

-U, -TSU, -RU verbs

The basic endings are: -tte for present/future tense -tta for past tense

Examples:

utau - to sing

1.Look at the end of the verb - it's a -U verb.

2.Take off the -U, and you are left with uta
3.Now add an ending -

utatta - "sang"

uta o utatta.
song (*answers WHO or WHAT*) sung.

motsu - to have

'mo' is the stem

To make it present tense, add -tte

kore o motte.
this (*answers WHO or WHAT*) have

toru - to take

'to' is the stem

To say "took", we would add the past ending, -tta

kore o totta this (*answers WHO or WHAT*) took

-MU, -NU, -BU verbs

The basic endings are:

-nde for present/future tense
-nda for past tense

-MU isn't too popular and there is only one -NU verb.

Example:

erabu - to choose

kore o eranda
this (*answers WHO or WHAT*) chose

-KU, -GU verbs

The basic endings for -KU verbs are:

-ite for present/future tense
-ita for past tense

The basic endings for -GU verbs are:

-ide for present/future tense
-ida for past tense

Examples:

tataku - to hit

boku wa kore o tataita

I (*as for*) this (*answers WHO or WHAT*) hit
In other words, "I hit this".

kasegu - to earn (money)

okane o kaseide
money (*answers WHO or WHAT*) earn

-SU verbs

The basic endings are:

-shite (pronounced 'shTAY') for present/future tense
-shita (pronounced 'shTAH') for past tense

Example:

osu - to push

kuruma o oshita
car (*answers WHO or WHAT*) pushed
There are some verbs that are a bit different, called "Ichidan" verbs. For now, I wouldn't worry about them,
for they will be
covered in the next week or two. You can do a lot by just knowing how to conjugate most verbs. We will
complete the area of
verbs very soon.

Useful words to add to your list

Nouns:

kore - this
sore - that
are - that over there

kuruma - car
ame - rain
sora - sky
terebi - T.V.
okane - money

Adjectives:

warui - bad
yoi - good
atsui - hot
samui - cold

Verbs:

utau - to sing
motsu - to have
toru - to take

erabu - to choose

kiku - to listen
kasegu - to earn (money)
tataku - to hit

osu - to push
miru - to see, watch
unten suru - to drive
bakuhatsu suru - to explode

One popular verb - suru

There are countless verbs that take the form xxxx suru.
For instance -

unten suru - to drive

bakuhatsu suru - to explode

The 'suru' verbs are easy to conjugate, because the only thing that changes is the 'suru' part. I suppose if you
wanted to be
funny you could make your own verbs - just combine any noun with 'suru'. I doubt you'd ever do this unless
you were in a silly
mood!

Suru will change to:

shite - does, do (pronounced 'shTAY')

shita - did (pronounced 'shTAH')

How do you say you ARE DOING something?

Just add imasu (polite) or iru (plain) at the end of any of the present tense (-TE) forms. (-te, -tte, -nde, -ite)

tabete iru = is eating

erande iru = is choosing
tataite iru = is hitting
mite iru = is looking/watching
unten shite iru = is driving
bakuhatsu shite iru = is exploding

Study Tips

I recommend that everyone pick up:

"Japanese Verbs and Essentials of Grammar" by Rita L. Lampkin

(ISBN 0-8442-8406-8) $7.95

This book changed my life. Well, at least in the area of Japanese language ability ^_^ It's the best grammar
book I've ever seen
or heard of. I've looked through every book at 2 different Borders, as well as Barnes and Noble. This is
truly the best one. I
don't own stock in the company, nor am I selling the book. I just think it would do everyone a lot of good!
If the book had cost
me $150, I'd still say it was worth it.

Other things I recommend:

Study with siblings/friends

Talk to Japanese people in various chat rooms, including www.wbs.net
Don't worry about what you don't know
Practice often
Review lists/flashcards often
Study often (but not as often as you review lists)
Use words in sentences
Listen in Anime/songs/video games for words you just learned
Learn the lyrics to songs you enjoy
Pull out cool phrases from Anime, and look them up in a dictionary

Next Week

More on verbs
How to use a couple "Particles"
More useful words
And of course, a lot more!