第 十 課
Verb: It's what you do.
We have finally reached verbs. Before this, we've essentially been using only one verb, "to be." So it's obvious how learning more verbs, along with
how to use them, is a huge step forward. Also, once we're done with verbs, we'll be able to learn some extra stuff like adverbs, which pretty much exist to make you sound more like a native.
So to start off. In case you don't know, "conjugation" is when you change a verb to fit the context of the sentence (e.g., I AM, you ARE, he IS are all conjugations of the English verb "to be" ).
In Japanese, all (non-conjugated) verbs end in "u;" that is to say, they end in the "u" row of kana or in "u" in romaji (so "u," "ku," "su," etc.). In addition, there are three main groups of verbs, that differ slightly in how you conjugate them. They are: "ru" verbs, "u" verbs, and irregular verbs. There are only a small handful of irregular verbs, so don't worry. What you
should worry about is the other two groups-- "ru" and "u" verbs. "Ru" verbs ALWAYS end in the syllable "ru" (when unconjugated). "U" verbs ALWAYS end the "u" row of kana (when unconjugated)... this includes the syllable "ru." Therefore, when learning a new verb that ends in "ru," you have to learn which rules it uses to conjugate, since it can be either a "ru" or an "u" verb.
*TIP: "Ru" verbs ALWAYS end in either "iru" or "eru" (this is talking about romaji, so there are ones that ends in "beru," etc.). This is a handy rule to know, but there are still some "u" verbs that end in those also.
This page has a handy table of the most commonly used "u" verbs that end in "iru" / "eru."
But ignore the rest of that page -- that covers casual speech which we haven't got to yet! So to start off I'll give you an example of a verb ending in each "u" syllable, and I'll include more vocabulary later in the lesson.
RU VERBS
-----------------
食べる （たべる） to eat
見る （みる） to see, to watch
寝る （ねる） to sleep (specifically: sleeping while lying down. There's actually another word for sleeping but not lying down), to go to bed
U VERBS
----------------
買う （かう） to buy
聞く （きく） to hear, to listen, to ask
泳ぐ （およぐ） to swim
話す （はなす） to talk, to speak
持つ （もつ） to hold, to have, to carry
死ぬ （しぬ） to die
呼ぶ （よぶ） to call (e.g. a waiter -- not on the phone)
読む （よむ） to read
知る （しる） to know
Note: There are no verbs that end in ず, づ, ふ, ゆ, or compounds like じゅ. Also, there is only a single verb that ends in ぬ : 死ぬ （しぬ）, to die. (There used to be more verbs that ended in ぬ, however.)
Masu
First we'll learn how to conjugate them, then we'll learn how to use them.
The first thing you need to do when conjugating a verb (in the polite level) is to find the verb "stem." Making the stem is easy. For "ru" verbs, just drop the final "ru." For "u" verbs, just change the final "u" into "i." So:
RU VERB STEMS
-----------------
食べる → 食べ （たべ）
見る → 見 （み）
寝る → 寝 （ね）
U VERBS STEMS
----------------
買う → 買い （かい）
聞く → 聞き （きき）
泳ぐ → 泳ぎ （およぎ）
話す → 話し （はなし）
持つ → 持ち （もち）
死ぬ → 死に （しに）
呼ぶ → 呼び （よび）
読む → 読み （よみ）
知る → 知り （しり）
Next, we add the conjugating suffix. For polite affirmative, you add ます to the verb stem. (Note: Just like です, the final "u" is usually silent in ます.) And so:
RU VERBS CONJUGATED
-----------------
食べる → 食べます （たべます） [someone] eats
見る → 見ます （みます） [someone] sees, watches
寝る → 寝ます （ねます） [someone] sleeps, goes to bed
U VERBS CONJUGATED
----------------
買う → 買います （かいます） [someone] buys
聞く → 聞きます （ききます） [someone] hears, listens, asks
泳ぐ → 泳ぎます （およぎます） [someone] swims
話す → 話します （はなします） [someone] talks, speaks
持つ → 持ちます （もちます） [someone] holds, has, carries
死ぬ → 死にます （しにます） [someone] dies
呼ぶ → 呼びます （よびます） [someone] calls (e.g. a waiter -- not on the phone)
読む → 読みます （よみます） [someone] reads
知る → 知ります （しります） [someone] knows
Note: While I used third person for the English translations, remember that the Japanese conjugations can be used depending on who is doing the action, just like with です
Now how do we use these verbs
Verbs use different particles to make sentences. There are a few irregularities versus English counterparts (which I'll point out along the way), but in general there are two types of verbs that follow common particle patterns: transitive and intransitive verbs.
Transitive means that the verb has a direct object.
This means that something is doing something to something else. In Japanese, transitive verbs use the sentence structure "(Subject が) object を verb." (I will be going into these new particles in a sec.)
Intransitive means that the verb does not have a direct object.
This means that something is being done to the verb. In Japanese, transitive verbs use the sentence structure "Subject が verb."
In addition to this, remember that any part of the sentence can be dropped in Japanese. So an entire sentence can consist of just a verb.
(In the vocabulary section at the end of the lesson I'll be posting which group which verbs belong to, along with what particles do what to what.)
The particle that gives beginners nightmares: が
As you can see in the sentence structures above, the particle が can be used in any sentence. (Indeed, you can even use it in the "to be" sentences that we've been doing until now.) が simply marks the subject of the sentence.
...But, it's used very similarly to は, which is why it gives beginners nightmares. In fact, the whole subject of は vs が is so complicated that most people can't even describe it (they just do it). So while it's a really difficult subject for a beginner to understand, yet it's so basic that it has to be covered in beginner material, keep in mind that while it might seem like "OMG I'LL NEVER UNDERSTAND THIS," you
will understand it with time. (In fact, I've found this fact to be true for every obstacle in learning Japanese.) The rest of this mini-area-thing will cover the differences of は and が. So read through it, and don't let it get to you if you don't understand it right away.
Basically, は covers the TOPIC of the sentence, while が covers the SUBJECT of the sentence. This might make sense to someone that knows a lot about linguistics, I'm not sure.
You can also explain the differences in terms of nuances.
は can be translated literally into "as for..." quite well. You use it when you start talking about something new.
が is used to neutrally say that something did something. It's also used in questions.
For example. "Who ate the cookies?" = Who が ate the cookies?
"He did it" = He が did it
Conversely:
Who は ate the cookies? = "As for who, ate cookies?" As you can see, this doesn't make a shred of sense. That's why は isn't used with questions.
He は did it = "As for him, he did it." This one is correctly used. The が counterpart is also correct, though. The difference is that the は version introduces "him" as the new subject that will be talked about. The が version still talks about the same subject that you've been talking about, but doesn't shift the focus of the discussion.
These are the basics of the differences -- I highly recommend reading
this page to see the rest of them. If you don't understand it fully after reading that, bookmark that page and check back every month or so. You'll find that every visit it starts making more and more sense.
Now, ignoring differences, は and が can be used in the same sentence. For example:
明日は、僕が泳ぎます。
あしたは、 ぼくが およぎます。
As for tomorrow, I will swim. (明日 = tomorrow)
In addition, は is a powerful particle of sorts, in the fact that it overwrites some other particles. It overwrites both particles covered in this lessons -- が and を -- if it comes down to it. So if the subject of the sentence is also the topic, use は.
Wo... as in, Whoa, this is so much easier than Ga
*The header is just a joke. Remember that "wo" is pronounced the same as "o." *
So yeah, を is quite simple to understand. You just attach it to the end of the sentence's object. So attach it to the word that something is being done to (in a transitive sentence, that is).
For example:
ピザを食（た）べる - to eat pizza
本（ほん）を読（よ）む - to read a book
Vocabulary
RU VERBS
-----------------
食べる （たべる） to eat - transitive
は / が subject
を thing the subject is eating
見る （みる） to see, to watch - transitive
は / が subject
を thing the subject is seeing/watching
寝る （ねる） to sleep (specifically: sleeping while lying down. There's actually another word for sleeping but not lying down), to go to bed - intransitive
は / が subject
U VERBS
----------------
買う （かう） to buy - transitive
は / が subject
を thing the subject is buying
使う （つかう） to use - transitive
は / が subject
を thing the subject is using
聞く （きく） to hear, to listen, to ask - transitive
は / が subject
を thing the subject is hearing, listening to, asking about
に person the subject is asking (in the case of using it to mean "ask" )
泳ぐ （およぐ） to swim - intransitive
は / が subject
を thing the subject is swimming through
に the destination
話す （はなす） to talk, to speak - transitive
は / が subject
を thing the subject is speaking (e.g. a language)
と person the subject is speaking with
持つ （もつ） to hold, to have, to carry - transitive
は / が subject
を thing the subject holds, has, carries
死ぬ （しぬ） to die - intransitive
は / が subject
呼ぶ （よぶ） to call (e.g. a waiter -- not on the phone) - transitive
は / が subject
を person/thing the subject is calling
読む （よむ） to read - transitive
は / が subject
を thing the subject is reading
知る （しる） to know - transitive
は / が subject
を thing the subject knows
