Japanese godan and ichidan verbs

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The Japanese language has two main types of verbs which are referred to as godan verbs (五段動詞, godan-dōshi) and ichidan verbs (一段動詞, ichidan-dōshi).

Verb groups[]

Categories are important when conjugating Japanese verbs, since conjugation patterns vary according to the verb's category. For example, 切る (kiru) and 見る (miru) belong to different verb categories (godan and ichidan, respectively) and therefore follow different conjugation patterns. Most Japanese verbs are allocated into two categories:[1]

  1. Godan verbs (五段動詞, godan-dōshi, literally: "Class-5 verbs")
  2. Ichidan verbs (一段動詞, ichidan-dōshi, literally: "Class-1 verbs")

Statistically, there are far more godan verbs[2] than ichidan verbs.[3]

Sometimes categorization is expanded to include a third category of irregular verbs—which most notably include the verbs する (suru, to do) and 来る (kuru, to come). Classical Japanese had more verb groups, such as nidan verbs (二段動詞, nidan-dōshi, "Class-2 verbs")[4] and yodan verbs (四段動詞, yodan-dōshi, "Class-4 verbs"),[5] which are archaic in Modern Japanese.

Terminology[]

Within the terms "godan verbs" (五段動詞) and "ichidan verbs" (一段動詞), the numbers go (, 5) and ichi (, 1) correspond with the number of rows that a verb stem (or inflectional suffix) can span in the gojūon kana table. This is best visualized by comparing various verb conjugations to an extracted column of the gojūon table:

Godan Form Godan Verb
読む (to read)
Gojūon table
'ma' column
Ichidan Form
Negative Polite Dictionary Potential Volitional
Negative ない
yomanai
(ma)
Polite ます
yomimasu
(mi) ない
minai
ます
mimasu

miru
られる
mirareru
よう
mi
Ichidan Verb
見る (to see)
Dictionary
(no conjugation)

yomu
(mu)
Potential
yomeru
(me) ない
tomenai
ます
tomemasu

tomeru
られる
tomerareru
よう
tome
Ichidan Verb
止める (to stop)
Volitional
yo
(mo)

In the table above, the verb 読む (yomu, to read) uses kana from all 5 rows of the gojūon table in its inflectional suffix— (ma), (mi), (mu), (me) and (mo)—amongst its conjugations. Thus, it's classified as a "class-5" (or more formally "pentagrade") verb. Meanwhile, the verbs 見る (to see) and 止める (to stop) each use kana from only 1 row of the gojūon table in their verb-stem's suffix— (mi) and (me) respectively. Thus, they are classified as a "class-1" (or more formally "monograde") verbs. (See also Japanese verb conjugations.)

Advanced terminology[]

As ichidan verbs only fall into the 〜い (-i) or 〜え (-e) rows, they can be further classified into the 上一段 (kami ichidan, "upper monograde") and 下一段 (shimo ichidan, "lower monograde") subgroups respectively. This is due to (i) being above (e) in the あいうえお (a-i-u-e-o) vowel ordering. In full terminology, the gojūon column name of the verb stem's suffix becomes a prefix of these subgroups. For example, the ichidan verb 見る (miru) has its verb stem in the upper row of the 'ma' column (, magyō) and is formally classified as a マ行上一段活用 (magyō kami ichidan katsuyō) verb; meanwhile, the ichidan verb 止める (tomeru) has its verb stem in the lower row of the 'ma' column and is formally classified as a 行下一段活用 (magyō shimo ichidan katsuyō) verb. Godan verbs are also formally classified into subgroups, but instead use the column name of the verb's inflectional suffix. For example, the godan verb 読む (yomu) is in the 'ma' column, so it's formally classified as a 行五段活用 (magyō godan katsuyō) verb.

Japanese language education[]

Within Japanese language education, various terminologies are used in lieu of the Japanese nomenclature for "godan" and "ichidan" verbs.

Godan verbs Ichidan verbs Irregular verbs Example literature
Common terminology Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar[6]
Group I Group II Group III
Uncommon terminology う-verbs (u-verbs) る-verbs (ru-verbs) Irregular verbs GENKI[1]
Rare terminology Consonant stem verbs Vowel stem verbs -

In literature adopting the "Group I / II / III" terminology, the terms (I), (II) or (III) may be notated beside verbs. Similarly, (う) or (る) may be notated beside verbs in literature adopting the "う-verbs / る-verbs" terminology.

Consonant and vowel nomenclature[]

The terms "consonant stem verbs" and "vowel stem verbs" come from a pattern that emerges after transliterating verbs into rōmaji. When considering the invariant part of the verb (the verb stem), the final letter determines the classification of the verb group. If the verb stem's final letter:

  • is a consonant, then it's a consonant stem verb (godan verb)
  • is a vowel, then it's a vowel stem verb (ichidan verb)
読む (to read) 走る (to run) 見る (to see) 食べる (to eat)
Negative yom.anai
読まない
hashir.anai
走らない
mi.nai
見ない
tabe.nai
食べない
Polite form yom.imasu
読みます
hashir.imasu
走ります
mi.masu
見ます
tabe.masu
食べます
Plain form yom.u
読む
hashir.u
走る
mi.ru
見る
tabe.ru
食べる
Potential form yom.eru
読める
hashir.eru
走れる
mi.rareru
見られる
tabe.rareru
食べられる
Volitional form yom.ou
読もう
hashir.ou
走ろう
mi.you
見よう
tabe.you
食べよう
Invariant rōmaji yom hashir mi tabe
Final letter m → consonant r → consonant i → vowel e → vowel
Classification Consonant stem Consonant stem Vowel stem Vowel stem

There are several flaws with the consonant and vowel nomenclature:

  1. When godan verbs end with "う" (u), the verb's invariant stem always ends with a vowel, yet is still classified as having a consonant stem. For example, 買う (kau, to buy) has the vowel "a" as the invariant suffix, yet it's still categorized as a "consonant stem verb".
    In these cases, this contradiction is resolved by a technicality where the verb's invariant stem is considered to end in the consonant w. The w is normally suppressed, but surfaces in the negative form, as seen in 買わない (kawanai, to not buy). Traditionally these verbs ended in -hu, which is still seen on occasion in historical kana usage, and thus unambiguously ended in h.

  2. When godan verbs end with "つ" (tsu), the verb's invariant stem always ends with an "s" rather than a "t". Since the consonant stem terminology focuses on rōmaji, this could lead to conjugation errors. For example, 待つ (matsu, to wait) in its negative conjugation does not become "待つぁない" (matsanai) as the consonant stem system might have one believe; the correct conjugation is 待たない (matanai, to not wait).

  3. This nomenclature is an abstract perspective, since a consonant stem itself never occurs independently; Japanese words are concretely formed with morae, where pairs of consonant and vowel phonemes are indivisible. Therefore, while the stem of 読む (yomu) is "yom-", the bare yom is not an independent word and is impossible to write in kana.
    This means, ironically, that the concepts of "consonant stems" and "vowel stems" are unfathomable to the Japanese psyche and unteachable in Japanese.

  4. Paradoxically, consonant stem verbs conjugate to include all 5 Japanese vowels, whilst the vowel stem verbs are limited to manifesting the same vowel in all conjugates. As such, the consonant stem verb and vowel stem verb terminologies are prone to nomenclature confusion.

Verb classification[]

Classifying verbs is simple in theory:

  1. Take the verb in its plain, negative form. The result will be: verb-stem + ない (nai)
  2. If the last character of the verb-stem (ignoring the "ない"):
  • rhymes with (a), then it's a godan verb
  • rhymes with (i) or (e), then it's an ichidan verb
Negative verb Last character of verb stem Rhymes with Group
ない (omowanai, to not think) (wa) (a) Godan verb
ない (ikanai, to not go) (ka) (a) Godan verb
ない (okinai, to not wake up) (ki) (i) Ichidan verb
ない (tabenai, to not eat) (be) (e) Ichidan verb

This classification system works for all Japanese verbs, with three exceptions: ある (aru) is a godan verb, and both しない (shinai) and こない (konai) are instead classified as irregular verbs.[6]

Dot notation[]

In some Japanese dictionaries, the readings of conjugable words may have the stem and the inflectional suffix separated by a dot (・). For example, the adjective 赤い (akai, red) may be written as あか・い (aka·i) to separate the static prefix from the dynamic suffix.

This system also describes the verb group classification: in godan verbs, the dot is placed before the last kana; in ichidan verbs, the dot is placed before the last 2 kana (except for 2-kana ichidan verbs, which have no dot).

3-kana verbs 2-kana verbs
Godan verbs かえ・る (kae·ru, to return) い・る (i·ru, to need)
Ichidan verbs か・える (ka·eru, to change) いる (iru, to exist)

However, regardless of the dot's position, the inflectional suffix is always the last kana of any ichidan verb.

Naive verb classification[]

A caveat of accurately classifying verb groups is that you must have pre-existing knowledge of the verb's negative form. In practice, people tend to learn the verb's plain form first. As such, Japanese language educators usually teach strategies for naive verb classification. Whilst such strategies aren't comprehensive, they generally remain useful in the context of regular daily conversations that language beginners will likely encounter. Here is one such strategy:

Step Verb (Plain Form) If Yes If Not
1 Is the verb one of the most common "exceptions":

要る (iru, to need), 入る (hairu), 走る (hashiru), 帰る (kaeru), 切る (kiru), 知る (shiru), 喋る (shaberu)

Godan verb
Group 1
Go to Step 2
2 Does the verb suffix rhyme with 〜いる (-iru) or 〜える (-eru)? Ichidan verb
Group 2
Go to Step 3
3 Is the verb する (suru, to do) or 来る (kuru, to come)? Irregular verb
Group 3
Godan verb
Group 1

Naive strategies, such as this one, tend to misidentify godan verbs ending with (ru)—specifically, when godan verbs rhyme with 〜いる (-iru) or 〜える (-eru). Therefore, when an ichidan verb is concluded from a naive strategy, it's more efficient to confirm the verb's classification in a dictionary. However, there are other rules-of-thumb to more accurately discriminate such verbs.

Rules of thumb[]

If a dictionary is unavailable, it's difficult to discriminate godan verbs from ichidan verbs when they rhyme with 〜いる (-iru) or 〜える (-eru). The following heuristics aim to improve the accuracy of naive classification:

  • There are far more godan verbs[2] than ichidan verbs.[3]
  • Verbs that DON'T rhyme with 〜いる (-iru) or 〜える (-eru) are godan verbs.
This includes verbs that rhyme with 〜ある (-aru), 〜うる (-uru) and 〜おる (-oru), which are godan verbs.
  • The majority of verbs that rhyme with 〜いる (-iru) are godan verbs.
248 of the 419 〜いる (-iru) verbs [ca. 60%] listed in JMdict are godan verbs.[citation needed]
  • The majority of verbs that rhyme with 〜える (-eru) are ichidan verbs.
2886 of the 3013 〜える (-eru) verbs [ca. 95%] listed in JMdict are ichidan verbs.[citation needed]
  • Kana and kanji based heuristics for 〜いる (-iru) and 〜える (-eru) verbs:
    • Verbs written entirely in hiragana are godan verbs. For example, びびる (bibiru, to be surprised) and のめる (nomeru, to fall forward) are godan verbs.
    • Kanji verbs with 1 okurigana and 3+ syllables are godan verbs. For example, 契る (chi-gi-ru, to pledge) and 嘲る (a-za-ke-ru, to ridicule) are godan verbs.
    • Kanji verbs with 2 okurigana are usually ichidan verbs. For example, 起きる (okiru, to get up) and 食べる (taberu, to eat) are ichidan verbs.
    • Kanji verbs with 2 syllables are inconclusive. For example, 切る (ki-ru) and 見る (mi-ru) are both 2-syllable verbs, yet belong to different categories (godan and ichidan, respectively)

Godan verbs resembling ichidan verbs[]

There are many godan verbs which may be mistaken for being ichidan verbs in some cases (see § Naive Verb Classification, above). On the surface, this may seem like a problem that only affects conjugation patterns, since godan verbs and ichidan verbs conjugate differently (See main article: Japanese verb conjugations). However there are many homophone verbs that, despite sharing the same pronunciation, having different meanings and belong to different verb groups. For example:

Godan verbs Identical
Pronunciation
Ichidan verbs
要る (to need) iru 居る (to exist)
切る (to cut) kiru 着る (to put on clothing)
帰る (to go home) kaeru 変える (to change)
湿る (to be damp/wet) shimeru 閉める (to close)

When reading homophone verbs such as these, the correct word meaning can be ascertained through the different kanji or through context. In the case of speech, the correct word meaning can still be ascertained because many homophones have different intonations. (See also Japanese pitch accent.) However, ambiguity is usually removed if the homophone verbs have been conjugated somehow, because different word groups conjugate with slightly varying pronunciations. For example:

Verb
conjugation
kiru kaeru
Godan verb
切る (to cut)
Ichidan verb
着る (to put on clothing)
Godan verb
帰る (to go home)
Ichidan verb
変える (to change)
Negative ない
kiranai
着ない
kinai
ない
kaeranai
変えない
kaenai
Polite form ます
kirimasu
着ます
kimasu
ます
kaerimasu
変えます
kaemasu
Potential form 切れる
kireru
れる
kirareru
帰れる
kaereru
変えれる
kaerareru
Volitional form
kirō

kiyō

kaerō
変え
kaeyō

Since there are so many godan verbs that resemble ichidan verbs, it's impractical to create or memorize an exhaustive list of words.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Banno, Eri; Ikeda, Yoko; Ohno, Yutaka; Shinagawa, Chikako; Tokashiki, Kyoko (2020). "Lesson 3, Grammar 1: Verb Conjugation". GENKI: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese I (3 ed.). Tokyo, Japan: The Japan Times. pp. 86–88. ISBN 978-4-7890-1730-5.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "JMdictDB - Godan Verbs - 7434 Search results". www.edrdg.org. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "JMdictDB - Ichidan Verbs - 3733 Search results". www.edrdg.org. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  4. ^ "JMdictDB - Nidan Verbs - 61 Search results". www.edrdg.org. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  5. ^ "JMdictDB - Yodan Verbs - 62 Search results". www.edrdg.org. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Makino, Seiichi; Tsutsui, Michio (1989). A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar (80 ed.). Tokyo, Japan: The Japan Times. p. 578. ISBN 978-47-89004-54-1.

External links[]

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