The Three Verb Groups in Japanese

Why Verb Groups Matter

In English, most verbs follow the same pattern: walk → walked, talk → talked. Some are irregular: go → went, eat → ate. But there's no real system to it.

Japanese is different. Every single verb belongs to one of three groups, and each group follows its own conjugation rules. Learn the three patterns, and you can conjugate hundreds of verbs.

The groups are:

1. Godan verbs (う-verbs / Group 1) — the biggest group
2. Ichidan verbs (る-verbs / Group 2) — the easy group
3. Irregular verbs (Group 3) — just two verbs

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Group 1: Godan Verbs (う-verbs)

What Are They?

Godan (五段 — "five steps") verbs are named because their stem cycles through all five vowel rows of the Japanese syllabary: あ, い, う, え, お. This is the largest group — the majority of Japanese verbs are godan.

All godan verbs in dictionary form end in an -u sound: む, ぬ, ぶ, く, ぐ, す, つ, う, or る.

How to Conjugate

The key to godan conjugation: change the final -u sound to a different vowel row.

Let's use 飲む (nomu — to drink) as our model:

See it? む → み → ま → め → も. Five steps across the vowel rows — that's where "godan" (five steps) comes from.

Common Godan Verbs

Here are essential godan verbs organized by their ending sound:

-む verbs:

• 飲む (nomu) — to drink
• 読む (yomu) — to read

-く verbs:

• 聞く (kiku) — to listen; to ask
• 書く (kaku) — to write
• 行く (iku) — to go ⚠️ irregular te-form: 行って (not 行いて)

-す verbs:

• 話す (hanasu) — to speak

-る verbs (godan, NOT ichidan):

• 帰る (kaeru) — to go home
• 分かる (wakaru) — to understand

-う verbs:

• 買う (kau) — to buy

The ます Form Pattern

For godan verbs, the polite ます form always shifts to the い-row:

Every single one: final う-row sound → い-row sound + ます.

The Te-Form (Quick Overview)

The te-form is where godan verbs get interesting. The ending changes based on the final consonant:

Exception: 行く → 行って (not 行いて).

This looks like a lot, but there's a famous song to help memorize it — search for "te-form song" online. It works.

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Group 2: Ichidan Verbs (る-verbs)

What Are They?

Ichidan (一段 — "one step") verbs are the easiest to conjugate. They all end in -る (-ru), and the stem never changes. You just drop る and add the ending. That's it.

More specifically, ichidan verbs end in either -いる (-iru) or -える (-eru).

How to Conjugate

Let's use 食べる (taberu — to eat):

The stem 食べ stays perfectly constant. No vowel shifting, no consonant changes, no exceptions. Just drop る and attach.

Common Ichidan Verbs

-える (-eru) verbs:

• 食べる (taberu) — to eat
• 見る (miru) — to see; to watch (short, but still ichidan)
• 寝る (neru) — to sleep

-いる (-iru) verbs:

• 起きる (okiru) — to wake up
• 着る (kiru) — to wear (on torso)
• いる (iru) — to exist (living things)

The ます Form Pattern

Drop る, add ます. Done.

Compared to the vowel-row shifting of godan verbs, this is a vacation.

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The Big Trap: る-Ending Godan Verbs

Here's the catch that trips up every learner. Some verbs end in -る but are godan, not ichidan. The る ending alone doesn't tell you the group.

Godan verbs that look like ichidan:

How to tell them apart:

The rough rule: look at the vowel sound before る.

• If the vowel before る is え (e) or い (i) → probably ichidan (食べる, 見る, 起きる)
• If the vowel before る is あ (a), う (u), or お (o) → definitely godan (帰る, 分かる, 走る)

But "probably" is the key word. Some -eru and -iru verbs are godan anyway (帰る = kaeru, 切る = kiru, 走る = hashiru). These just need to be memorized.

Pro tip: When you learn a new る-verb, always learn its group at the same time. Dictionaries mark them: Group 1 / Group 2, or 五段 / 一段, or u-verb / ru-verb.

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Group 3: Irregular Verbs

The Best News in Japanese Grammar

There are only two irregular verbs in the entire language:

That's it. Two. Compare that to English, which has hundreds of irregular verbs (go/went, be/was/were, have/had, etc.). Japanese wins this round decisively.

する (suru) — To Do

する is the single most important verb in Japanese because it turns nouns into verbs:

• 勉強する — to study (勉強 = study + する = to do)
• 料理する — to cook (料理 = cooking + する = to do)
• 運動する — to exercise
• 旅行する — to travel
• 電話する — to make a phone call

There are hundreds of these noun + する compounds. Learn する and you've unlocked them all.

Notice the stem changes completely — it doesn't follow godan or ichidan rules. And the potential is できる, not しられる.

来る (kuru) — To Come

来る is the other irregular. Its stem changes unpredictably:

The kanji stays 来 but the reading shifts between く, き, and こ. There's no pattern — you just memorize it. But since it's only one verb, that's not too bad.

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Side-by-Side Comparison

Here's all three groups conjugated in the polite form, so you can see the patterns:

In the polite ます form, all three groups look very similar. That's intentional — polite Japanese is designed to be smooth and uniform. The real differences show up in plain forms and te-forms.

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How to Remember

My Study Advice

1. Start with ます form. It's the polite form you'll use 90% of the time as a beginner. The group differences are smallest here.
2. Learn the te-form song. The godan te-form rules are the first real conjugation challenge, and the song makes it stick.
3. Don't stress about plain form yet. You'll need it eventually, but polite form carries you through N5 comfortably.
4. When you learn a new verb, always note the group. Make it a habit: 食べる (ichidan), 飲む (godan), する (irregular). Your future self will thank you.

動詞は三つだけ！ (Dōshi wa mittsu dake!) — Just three groups of verbs!