form N5 essential casualpolitewritten

動詞のグループ — Verb Classes (Godan, Ichidan, Irregular)

動詞のグループ・どうしのグループ

Meaning

the three verb classes — godan (u-verb, 五段ごだん), ichidan (ru-verb, 一段いちだん), and irregular (する・来くる) — that decide how every verb conjugates

This is the one thing to learn before any conjugation. Every ます, ない, て and た form is built by first asking which class the verb is; get the class right and all the tables plug in mechanically.

Key sentence

飲のむ・食たべる・する。動詞どうしはこの三さん種類しゅるいに分わかれる。

nomu, taberu, suru — verbs fall into these three classes.

Formation

Attaches to	Form	Example
Godan (u-verb, 五段)	stem ends in a consonant; the final syllable shifts across the う-row	飲のむ → 飲のみます、書かく → 書かかない、話はなす → 話はなした
Ichidan (ru-verb, 一段)	ends in an え／い-sound + る; drop る and attach the ending	食たべる → 食たべます、見みる → 見みない、寝ねる → 寝ねた
Irregular	only する and 来くる — memorize their shapes	する → します・しない・した、来くる → 来きます・来こない・来きた

When: A dictionary-form verb ending in anything other than る is always godan (飲む, 書く, 話す). A verb ending in る may be either, so the え／い-vowel test is the everyday shortcut — with a short list of exceptions to memorize.

Examples

毎日まいにち日本語にほんごを話はなします。

I speak Japanese every day.

話す is godan → 話します

朝あさごはんを食たべます。

I eat breakfast.

食べる is ichidan → 食べます

明日あした買かい物ものをします。

I'll go shopping tomorrow.

する is irregular → します

母ははは毎晩まいばんうちに帰かえります。

My mother comes home every evening.

帰る looks ichidan but is godan → 帰ります, 帰らない

友ともだちが日本にほんから来きます。

A friend is coming from Japan.

来る is irregular → 来きます, 来こない

When you can't use it

Some common verbs end in る but are godan, not ichidan: 帰かえる, 入はいる, 走はしる, 要いる, 知しる, 切きる. They conjugate 帰かえります／帰かえらない — the え／い-vowel test misfires here, so learn these as exceptions.

Easily confused with

〜ます Verb class is the classification; ます (and ない, て, た) is what you build once you know the class. Learn the class first, then the endings follow.

Notes

Textbooks name these Group 1 (godan), Group 2 (ichidan), and Group 3 (irregular); Genki uses u-verbs / ru-verbs / irregular. Same three classes, different labels.

See 動詞のグループ in real sentences

Jengo shows 動詞のグループ the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.

Study it in Jengo