Common Japanese Verb Conjugations

Why This Matters

Japanese verb conjugation isn't just grammar busywork—it's the backbone of how you'll demonstrate communicative competence, cultural appropriateness, and interpretive accuracy on the AP exam. Every time you read an authentic text, listen to a conversation, or write a response, you're decoding or producing conjugated forms that signal tense, politeness level, speaker intent, and social relationships. The exam tests whether you can navigate these layers naturally, from casual text chats full of plain forms to formal emails requiring ます-form precision.

Here's what separates strong AP Japanese students from the rest: they don't just memorize conjugation charts—they understand why each form exists and when to deploy it. A causative form isn't just "make someone do something"; it's how a parent talks about feeding a child or how a boss delegates tasks. A conditional form isn't just "if"; it's how you'll interpret hypotheticals in reading passages about social issues. As you study these conjugations, focus on function, register, and real-world application—that's what the exam rewards.

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Tense and Aspect: Anchoring Actions in Time

These conjugations establish when an action happens and whether it's complete or ongoing—fundamental for interpreting narratives, news articles, and conversations.

Present/Future Tense (Dictionary Form / 辞書形)

• 辞書形 (じしょけい) serves as both present habitual and future tense—context determines which meaning applies
• Casual register marker—using this form signals intimacy or informality, common in manga dialogue and text chats
• Base for other conjugations—mastering this form is essential since potential, volitional, and conditional forms build from it

Past Tense ($-$た Form / た形)

• た形 (たけい) indicates completed actions—食べた (たべた) means "ate" or "have eaten"
• Formation varies by verb class—五段 (ごだん) verbs follow sound-change rules (書く→書いた), while 一段 (いちだん) verbs simply drop る and add た
• Narrative backbone—past tense dominates in reading passages about historical events, personal experiences, and news reports

Continuous Form ($-$ている / ている形)

• ている (ているけい) expresses ongoing actions or resultant states—食べている means "is eating," while 結婚している means "is married" (not "is marrying")
• State vs. action distinction is heavily tested—知っている (knows) vs. 知る (to come to know) shows how ている changes meaning
• Casual contraction—in speech and informal writing, ている often becomes てる (食べてる), which you'll encounter in authentic listening materials

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Politeness and Register: Navigating Social Contexts

Japanese encodes social relationships directly into verb forms. The AP exam tests your ability to shift registers appropriately based on audience and context.

Polite Form ($-$ます Form / ます形)

• ます形 (ますけい) is your default for formal situations—interviews, presentations, emails to teachers, and speaking with strangers
• Politeness without distance—unlike keigo (敬語), ます-form is respectful but not overly formal, making it versatile for most AP tasks
• Negative and past variants—ません (negative), ました (past), ませんでした (past negative) complete the polite paradigm

Negative Form ($-$ない Form / ない形)

• ない形 (ないけい) negates actions in plain/casual speech—食べない means "don't eat" or "won't eat"
• Formation pattern—一段 verbs drop る and add ない; 五段 verbs change the final う-sound to あ-sound plus ない (書く→書かない)
• Irregular verbs—する→しない and くる→こない must be memorized; these appear constantly in authentic materials

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Expressing Ability and Desire: Internal States

These forms let speakers express what they can do and want to do—essential for interpersonal communication tasks.

Potential Form (可能形 / かのうけい)

• 可能形 indicates ability or possibility—食べられる (たべられる) means "can eat" or "is edible"
• Formation differs by verb class—一段 verbs add られる (見る→見られる); 五段 verbs change う to える (書く→書ける)
• ら抜き言葉 (らぬきことば)—in casual speech, 一段 verbs often drop ら (食べれる), which you may hear in listening sections but should avoid in formal writing

Desire Form ($-$たい Form / たい形)

• たい形 (たいけい) expresses first-person desire—食べたい means "I want to eat"
• Conjugates like い-adjective—食べたくない (don't want to eat), 食べたかった (wanted to eat)
• Third-person restriction—use たがっている for others' desires (彼は食べたがっている); using たい for others sounds unnatural

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Conditionals: Hypotheticals and Cause-Effect

Conditional forms appear constantly in reading passages about social issues, policy debates, and personal decisions. Understanding the nuances between them is exam-critical.

Conditional Form ($-$ば Form / ば形)

• ば形 (ばけい) expresses general conditions—食べれば means "if (one) eats" with a neutral, logical tone
• Formation—change final う-sound to え-sound plus ば (書く→書けば); 一段 verbs drop る and add れば (食べる→食べれば)
• Often paired with consequences—「勉強すれば、合格できる」(If you study, you can pass) shows typical cause-effect structure

Provisional Form ($-$たら Form / たら形)

• たら形 indicates sequential or hypothetical conditions—食べたら means "if/when (you) eat"
• Formation is simple—add ら to the た-form (食べた→食べたら, 書いた→書いたら)
• More conversational than ば—たら is preferred in everyday speech and often implies temporal sequence ("after eating...")

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Voice and Causation: Who Does What to Whom

These forms express complex relationships between actors—who performs actions, who receives them, and who causes them. They're essential for understanding nuanced social dynamics in Japanese culture.

Passive Form (受身形 / うけみけい)

• 受身形 (うけみけい) indicates the subject receives an action—食べられる means "to be eaten"
• Adversative passive (迷惑の受身)—Japanese often uses passive to express negative impact: 雨に降られた means "I was rained on" (and it inconvenienced me)
• Identical to potential for 一段 verbs—context determines whether 食べられる means "can eat" or "is eaten"

Causative Form (使役形 / しえきけい)

• 使役形 (しえきけい) expresses making or letting someone do something—食べさせる means "make/let (someone) eat"
• Formation—一段 verbs add させる (食べる→食べさせる); 五段 verbs change う to あ plus せる (書く→書かせる)
• Cultural significance—causative forms reveal power dynamics; 子供に野菜を食べさせる (making a child eat vegetables) reflects parental authority

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Commands and Suggestions: Directing Action

These forms move from describing actions to prompting them—crucial for understanding instructions, invitations, and requests.

Te-Form (て形)

• て形 (てけい) is the Swiss Army knife of Japanese—connects clauses, forms requests (食べてください), and builds compound structures
• Formation follows た-form patterns—if you know た-form, change た to て (書いた→書いて, 食べた→食べて)
• Request softening—て alone can be a casual request; adding ください makes it polite; adding くれない？ makes it friendly

Volitional Form (意向形 / いこうけい)

• 意向形 (いこうけい) expresses intention or invitation—食べよう means "let's eat" or "I'll eat"
• Formation—一段 verbs add よう (食べる→食べよう); 五段 verbs change う to おう (書く→書こう)
• Common in suggestions—映画を見ようか (shall we watch a movie?) is a soft invitation you'll hear in listening passages

Imperative Form (命令形 / めいれいけい)

• 命令形 (めいれいけい) gives direct commands—食べろ means "eat!" with forceful, masculine connotation
• Rarely used in polite contexts—this form sounds harsh; you'll encounter it in manga, sports contexts, or emergency situations
• Negative command uses な—食べるな (don't eat!) is the prohibitive form

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Quick Reference Table

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Self-Check Questions

1. Which two conditional forms (ば形 and たら形) would you use in a formal essay about economic policy versus a casual conversation about weekend plans, and why?

2. If a reading passage contains 食べられる, what two meanings could it have, and how would you determine which one the author intends?

3. Compare 食べたい and 食べたがっている—when would you use each form, and what error would using たい for a third person signal?

4. An FRQ asks you to write an email to a teacher and a text to a friend about the same topic. Which verb forms would shift between the two, and which would stay the same?

5. In a listening passage, a parent says 「子供に宿題をさせました。」 What does the causative form reveal about the relationship dynamic, and how would the meaning change if the passive form were used instead?