Basic Japanese Verbs: 50 Essential Verbs for Beginners

What Are Japanese Verbs — and Why Are They Different?

Verbs are the engine of every Japanese sentence, and they work very differently from English. Japanese is a Subject–Object–Verb language: the verb always comes last, no matter how long the sentence grows. Where English says "I eat sushi," Japanese says わたしはすしをたべる (watashi wa sushi wo taberu) — literally "I sushi eat." That reversal trips up almost every English-speaking learner at first, but once it clicks, you start hearing Japanese with completely new ears.

The second big difference is that verb endings carry enormous information. Change a single syllable at the end of a verb and you shift tense, politeness level, or grammatical function — all through highly predictable patterns. Once you know which group a verb belongs to, you can conjugate it in any situation. That's why this lesson introduces verb groups before anything else.

Dictionary form (辞書形, jisho-kei) is the bare, unconjugated base of a verb — the form listed in dictionaries and the form used in casual speech between friends. Every verb in the reference table below is shown in dictionary form. In polite speech — with strangers, teachers, or anyone you've just met — you'll use the masu-form instead. Both forms appear in the table; the conjugation rules that produce masu-form are the focus of the lesson on present tense conjugation coming up next in this curriculum.

If you've already worked through our guide to common Japanese verbs, you've met many of these words in context. This lesson takes the next step: it explains the grammar behind them and expands your reference list to 50 essentials, organized by group so the patterns become clear.

The Three Japanese Verb Groups

Every Japanese verb belongs to one of three groups. Knowing a verb's group tells you exactly how to conjugate it — not just now, but for every grammar pattern you'll ever learn.

Ichidan Verbs — Ru-verbs (一段動詞)

These almost always end in -る (-ru), with the syllable immediately before る being an i or e sound:

• たべる (taberu, to eat) — e-sound before る → ichidan
• みる (miru, to see) — i-sound before る → ichidan

To form the masu-form, drop る and add ます:

たべる → たべます | taberu → tabemasu

Godan Verbs — U-verbs (五段動詞)

Godan verbs end in one of these sounds: く、ぐ、す、つ、ぬ、ぶ、む、う、 or る. Yes — some godan verbs also end in -る, which is why the ending alone isn't a reliable guide. To form the masu-form, the final syllable shifts to its i-row equivalent before adding ます:

のむ → のみます | nomu → nomimasu かく → かきます | kaku → kakimasu はなす → はなします | hanasu → hanashimasu

Irregular Verbs (不規則動詞)

There are exactly two fully irregular Japanese verbs — and you'll use both every day:

• する (suru, to do) → します (shimasu)
• くる (kuru, to come) → きます (kimasu)

Treat their polite forms as vocabulary to memorize rather than rules to derive. Applying godan or ichidan patterns to these two verbs produces forms that simply don't exist in Japanese.

Cultural note: The masu-form isn't just a grammatical option — it embeds social respect directly into the verb. Japanese society has two clearly distinct registers of speech: dictionary form for close friends and family, masu-form for everyone else. As a learner, defaulting to masu-form in any new social situation is almost always the right call.

50 Essential Basic Japanese Verbs: Complete Reference

The table below covers 52 verbs — 20 ichidan, 30 godan, and the 2 irregulars — with dictionary form, Hepburn romaji, polite masu-form, and meaning. Study it by group to absorb the patterns, then use it as a quick-lookup reference.

Quick note on いる and ある: Both translate loosely as "to be," but they are not interchangeable — いる is used for living things (people, animals), while ある is used for inanimate objects and places. The full explanation of ある and いる covers this distinction in depth with plenty of examples.

Want to practice these 50 verbs in real conversation right now? Start your Free Trial lesson over LINE and work through them live with a one-on-one Japanese tutor — the fastest way to move words from a study table into natural speech.

Basic Japanese Verbs in Context: 5 Everyday Sentences

Vocabulary study and sentence practice are two different skills. Here are five natural sentences using the polite masu-form — the version you'll reach for in most real-world Japanese.

1.

まいにち、コーヒーをのみます。 Mainichi, kōhī wo nomimasu. I drink coffee every day.

2.

かのじょはえいごをはなします。 Kanojo wa eigo wo hanashimasu. She speaks English.

3.

あした、としょかんでほんをよみます。 Ashita, toshokan de hon wo yomimasu. Tomorrow I'll read a book at the library.

4.

わたしはまいあさろくじにおきます。 Watashi wa mai asa roku-ji ni okimasu. I wake up at six every morning.

5.

ともだちとえきであいます。 Tomodachi to eki de aimasu. I'll meet a friend at the station.

Notice how the verb lands at the very end of every sentence — and how time expressions (mainichi, ashita, mai asa) sit near the front while the object (kōhī, eigo, hon) falls just before the verb. That SOV structure holds in virtually every Japanese sentence you'll ever encounter.

Common Mistakes Japanese Learners Make with Verbs

Putting the verb in the middle The most persistent English habit is mentally translating "I eat sushi" and placing the verb right after the subject. This produces sentences like わたしはたべるすしを, which completely breaks Japanese word order. Practice by writing the subject, then the object, and then — and only then — committing the verb to last position.

Assuming all -る verbs are ichidan Several godan verbs end in -る with an i or e vowel before it: かえる (帰る, to return home), はいる (to enter), しる (to know), きる (切る, to cut), and わかる (to understand) are all godan. Learners who assume "ends in -る = ichidan" conjugate these incorrectly — for example, producing kaeremasu instead of the correct かえります (kaerimasu). Whenever you encounter a new -る verb, verify its group in a dictionary before drilling the conjugation.

Using dictionary form in polite situations Dictionary form signals familiarity and informality. Using it with a teacher, shopkeeper, or new acquaintance can read as rude or immature, even when the content of the sentence is perfectly polite. The safe default: use masu-form with anyone you haven't been explicitly invited to speak casually with.

Misconjugating する and くる These two irregular verbs don't follow either standard pattern, so applying godan or ichidan rules to them produces non-words. Treat します (shimasu) and きます (kimasu) as memorized vocabulary items, not derived forms.

Dropping the particle を Transitive verbs take an object, and that object needs the particle を (wo) between it and the verb: すしをたべる, ほんをよむ, みずをのむ. Learners often drop it in fast speech. Natives will understand, but drilling the particle in from the start builds the correct grammatical reflex.

Practice Quiz: Test Your Verb Knowledge

Work through all three parts with the answer section covered. Return to this quiz after a few days to check your retention.

Part 1 — Readings

Give the Hepburn romaji for each verb.

Part 2 — Meanings

Give the English meaning for each verb.

Part 3 — Recall

Write the Japanese verb from the English prompt.

Answers

FAQ

How many verb groups are there in Japanese?

Three: ichidan verbs (ru-verbs), godan verbs (u-verbs), and two irregular verbs — する (suru, to do) and くる (kuru, to come). Knowing which group a verb belongs to tells you exactly how to conjugate it in every tense and form, so identifying the group is always the first step when you meet a new verb.

What is dictionary form used for in Japanese?

Dictionary form is the base, unconjugated form of a verb — found in dictionaries and used in casual, informal speech between close friends or peers. In plain-style writing such as news articles or novels it's also the default. For spoken conversation with anyone outside your close circle, masu-form is the more appropriate choice.

Which Japanese verbs should I learn first?

Begin with the highest-frequency daily-life verbs: たべる (to eat), のむ (to drink), いく (to go), くる (to come), する (to do), みる (to see), and はなす (to speak). Once you're comfortable there, expand into routine verbs — sleeping, waking up, working, buying — all of which appear in the reference table above.

Are there really only two irregular verbs in Japanese?

Yes — just する (suru, to do) and くる (kuru, to come). This is genuinely good news. English has dozens of irregulars (go/went/gone, be/was/been). Japanese verb conjugation is far more systematic: master the two groups and memorize the two irregulars, and you hold the complete verb framework.

Continue Learning

• Previous lesson: Forming question sentences in Japanese — how to build and mark questions before working with verb conjugation
• Next lesson: Present tense conjugation — the rules behind the masu-form column previewed in this lesson's table

Once you have masu-form solid, the next major leap is how て-form links verbs and clauses — one of the most productive and frequently used grammar structures in the entire language.

This is Lesson 45 of the Kind Japanese 100-day beginner curriculum.