2.1. INFLECTING 61
by which inflection you’re going for, making this verb a bit trickier than
all other verbs in the language. Luckily, it’s such a common verb that even
though it’s highly irregular you will most likely become familiar with all
its inflections fairly quickly by virtue of them popping up almost as often
as all other verbs put together.
Technically, is considered a - verb, or ”irregular verb, op-
erating on the column”. For the most part, it inflects as an verb,
but there are rules for what pronunciation to use when using which base,
which makes it a truly irregular verb.
has two common ”variations” (theyr’e actually clasically a mixed
form verb and a different verb entirely, respectively): and. Both
of these are typically found used as a verb in a noun/verb compound (mean-
ing they are paired with a noun without using any particles), and only con-
stitue a small number of all verbs in Japanese. However, while only used
in a small number of verbs, some of those verbs are quite common and
frequently used, so knowing how to inflect these two verbs is not unim-
portant.
base
, , , ,( ), ( ), ( ), ( ), ( , )affirmative negative
” ” + :
” ” + :
” ” + :For , the ” ” and ” ” are actually not used in modern
Japanese anymore. Instead, you will find used for virtually all
constructions, with and indicating respectively classical and older
style Japanese, instead.
The irregular verb
, on the other hand, inflects like any normal verb (except for a
slightly different ), but shares ’s irregularity: the pronunciation