Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 2: 4/12

る-Verb (Dictionary)る + ます (Ichidan Verbs)

Short form is also often called 'casual form' (because it is used in casual language), or 'plain form'

Structure

Examples:
食(た)べる
見(み)る
寝(ね)る

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Verb

  • Word Type

    Independent Word

  • Register

    Standard

About る-Verb (Dictionary)

る-Verbs are verbs that have only one possible conjugation pattern. This pattern simply involves the replacement of る with another construction, depending on the tense of the verb (past, negative, etc). This conjugation pattern that only includes る is where the Japanese name Ichidan (一段(いちだん)) 'one-level' comes from.

In these examples, we can see that る is removed from the verb to create the polite ます form. The る form of the verb is often called 'plain form', 'casual form', or 'short form', depending on the source/book.
All る-Verbs end in the kana る, there are no exceptions to this rule.

Caution

While all る-Verbs end in る, not all verbs that end in る are る-Verbs. These verbs can be identified by the る changing, rather than being removed when conjugated.

  • それも取(と)る。
    I will take that too.
  • それも取(と)ります。
    I will take that too.

As the る in 取(と)る becomes り in 取(と)ります, we can determine immediately that it is not a る-Verb, but actually a う-Verb.

Examples

--:--

    見(み)る → 見(み)ます

    To look

    寝(ね)る → 寝(ね)ます

    To go to sleep

    覚(おぼ)える → 覚(おぼ)えます

    To memorize/remember

    食(た)べる → 食(た)べます

    To eat

    浴(あ)びる → 浴(あ)びます

    To wash/shower

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      る-Verb (Dictionary) – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (9 in total)

      • steffuld

        steffuld

        I’ve never thought about it before, but is it true that ichidan verbs always end in -iru or -eru?
        This vastly simplifies telling apart ichidan and godan verbs, imo. Should be a ‘fun fact’ or something.

      • Fuga

        Fuga

        It is true that ichidan verbs end in -iru or -eru, however there are exceptions and not all verbs that end in -iru and -eru are ichidan verbs.

        For example 切る ‘kiru’ ends in -iru and 減る ‘heru’ ends in -eru, but these are both godan verbs.

      • sharkey

        sharkey

        I came for this same exact question…

        If I don’t know that vocab I am going off the form there and both are the same meaning conjugated form when I looked it up, so how would I be expected to guess correctly here, and/or is it even important in instances like this? Should this example just be accepting either? Or rather change to a different word if it is specifically trying to test ーる verbs?

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