52 CHAPTER 2. VERB GRAMMAR
base for...Imperfect constructions, such as negative form and
’pseudo-future’, as well as passive, potential, honorific
and causative forms.
Continuative and conjunctive constructions, covering the
majority of constructions involving helper verbs, as well
as joining up sentences and forming nouns.
no longer used Finalising form. In modern Japanese, this role has been
assumed by the instead.
AĴributive constructions (using verbs like adjectives), and
in modern Japanese, finalised form.
(
) Perfectconstructions. In modern Japanese this form is only
used for hypothetical constructions, which is why it’s
colloquially known as the , ”assumpting” form.
Imperative constructions, such as commands and
prohibitive commands.The way these bases are formed for the two classes of verbs and
the verbal adjectives is the major difference between these verbal classes.
Verbs in Japanese are mostly regular (there are only a handful of verbs
with irregularities), and fall into one of two classes: ”godan”,
, or ’five
grade’ verbs, and ”ichidan”,
, or ’single grade’ verbs. Both verb classes
end, in their ”dictionary” form, on one of the –row syllables (although
not , and consequently , and not or ), so that any verb you may
encounter can be found in a dictionary to end on , , , , , , ,
or (the ”dictionary” form mentioned here is a common descriptor
used in literature on Japanese, and is synonymous with the
form
of verbs or verbal adjectives, as this is the form under which it can be found
in dictionaries).
The verbs (also referred to as ”class I”, ”type I” or ”u verb” in
literature) can end on any of the aforementioned syllables, but verbs
(also referred to as ”class II”, ”type II” or ”ru verbs” in literature) only end
on. Verbal adjectives – the class of adjectives in Japanese that inflect just
like regular verbs do – only come in one class and always end on the sylla-
ble , which is why they are also referred to in literature as ”i-adjectives”
(a second class of adjectives, the adjectival nouns, are commonly referred
to as ”na-adjectives”). However, while it is useful to know what verbs