Let's do stuff with verbs!

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Role of Verbs
Classifying verbs into ru-verbs and u-verbs
Appendix: iru/eru u-verbs

Role of Verbs

We've now learned how to describe nouns in various ways with other nouns and adjectives. This gives us quite a bit of expressive power. However, we still cannot express actions. This is where verbs come in. Verbs, in Japanese, always come at the end of clauses. Since we have not yet learned how to create more than one clause, for now it means that any sentence with a verb must end with the verb. We will now learn the two main categories of verbs, which will allow us to accurately define rules for conjugation. Before learning about verbs, there in one important thing to keep in mind.

A grammatically complete sentence requires a verb only (including state of being).

Or to rephrase, unlike English, the only thing you need to make a grammatically complete sentence is a verb and nothing else! Understanding this fundamental property is essential to understanding Japanese. That's why even the simplest, most basic Japanese sentence cannot be translated into English! All conjugations will start from the dictionary form (as they appear in the dictionary).

A grammatically complete sentence
（１）　食べる。- Eat. (possible translations include: I eat/she eats/they eat)

Classifying verbs into ru-verbs and u-verbs

Almost all verbs in Japanese can be classified into two categories: ru-verb （） and u-verbs （）. The only two verbs that are not considered to be in either category are 「」 meaning "to do" and 「」 meaning "to come". Otherwise, the rules for conjugation are almost all the same depending on what class the verb is in. The way to distinguish between these verbs is fairly straightforward.

Remember, every verb has a string of kana called okurigana, which you can modify to conjugate the verb. If you convert the verb to Roman characters (called 「ローマ字」 in Japanese) and it ends in either "iru" or "eru", then it is usually a ru-verb. For example, 「食べる」 is romanized as "taberu" and since it ends in "eru", it is a ru-verb. Another example of a ru-verb is 「起きる」, which romanizes to "okiru". All other verbs that do not end in "iru" or "eru" are u-verbs.

However, there is just one snag here. Notice that all ru-verbs end with 「る」 and u-verbs always end in a / u / vowel sound. This unfortunately includes 「る」 in addition to 「つ」、「す」、「く」、「ぐ」、「む」、「ぶ」、「う」、and 「ぬ」（「死ぬ」 is the only verb that ends in 「ぬ」）. Even if a verb ends with 「る」, if it does not end in "iru" or "eru", it is always an u-verb. However, there are a number of u-verbs that end in "iru" or "eru" and there is no way to distinguish them from regular ru-verbs apart from memorization. You can refer to the appendix at the end of this lesson for a list of such verbs. You can also refer to Jim Breen's WWWJDIC, if you have any doubts. Ru-verb are denoted as (v1) while u-verbs are denoted as (v5r).

Because of the aural consistency in the rules, with practice, u-verbs will start to "sound" like u-verbs and likewise for ru-verbs. Eventually, you'll be able to categorize new verbs just like that without giving it a second thought. Or at least, that should be the intended goal.

How to classify ru-verbs and u-verbs

Does not end in iru/eru → u-verb
Ends in iru/eru → ru-verb with some exceptions

Sample ru-verbs
Verb	ローマ字
食べる	taberu
着る	kiru
信じる	shinjiru
寝る	neru
起きる	okiru
出る	deru
掛ける	kakeru
捨てる	suteru
調べる	shiraberu

Sample u-verbs
Verb	ローマ字
話す	hanasu
聞く	kiku
泳ぐ	oyogu
遊ぶ	asobu
待つ	matu
飲む	nomu
直る	naoru
死ぬ	shinu
買う	kau

Neither ru-verb nor u-verb
Verb	ローマ字
する	suru
くる	kuru

Examples

Here are some example sentences using ru-verbs, u-verbs, and exception verbs.
（１）　アリスは食べる。- As for Alice, eat.
（２）　ジムが遊ぶ。- Jim is the one that plays.
（３）　ボブもする。- Bob also do.
（４）　がある。- There is money. (lit: As for money, it exists.)
（５）　は買う。- As for me, buy.
（６）　はいる。- There is cat. (lit: As for cat, it exists.)

Appendix: iru/eru u-verbs

Here is a list of commonly used u-verbs that end in "iru" or "eru". This list is categorized roughly into three levels to help you focus on the verbs you need to learn. This list is not intended to include every verb under the sun.

iru/eru u-verbs grouped (roughly) by level
Basic	Intermediate	Advanced
要る	焦る	嘲る
帰る	限る	覆る
切る	蹴る	遮る
しゃべる	滑る	罵る
知る	握る	捻る
入る	練る	翻る
走る	参る	滅入る
減る	交じる	蘇る

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This page has last been revised on 2006/9/17
Added small list of exception verbs (2006/9/6)