Handbook of Japanese Verbs Flashcards
Vconj + ましょう
“I will,” “let’s~”
Expresses the first person’s volition, invitation or suggestion
Vconj + ます
“do/will do,” “there is/will be”
Expresses actions or states which regularly take place/exist or will take place/exist. Polite speech.
Vconj + ましょうか・ませんか
“Shall I~?” “Wouldn’t you~?”
A first person invitation or suggestion in the form of a question. The negative question ませんか is more polite than ましょうか
Vconj + なさい
“Do~”
Expresses a plain imperative, used, for example, by teachers or parents to their students or children.
お+Vconj+下さい
“Would you please do~”
Expresses a polite imperative to superiors or customers.
お+Vconj+します・いたします
“I’ll do~,” “I’d like to do~”
Expresses the speakers volition in the humble style. The verb いたす is the humble equivalent of する.
Vconj, Vconj+ます
“Do~ and do~”
By linking two or more verbs the sentence pattern expresses actions in succession.
Vconj
Used as a noun
Vconj of regular verbs is used as a noun by itself. です May be added to adjectives to make the speech polite.
Vconj+に+motion verb
“Go/come/return/enter/leave to do something”
Can be used with 行く(go)来る(come)帰る(return)入る(enter)出る(leave) to express purpose when a person moves from one place to another
Vconj+ながら
“While doing~”
Expresses simultaneous actions performed by one subject.
Vconj+たい・たがる
“Want to do~”
たい・たがる expresses a first/third desire to do sth. です may be added to the auxiliary たい to make speech polite
Vconj+そうだ
“Look like,” “feel like”
Expresses the speaker’s conjecture based on what she sees or feels. The copula だ may be replaced by です to make the speech polite.
Vconj+物・方
“Thing”/”a way of,” “how to”
Creates compound nouns.
Vconj+始める・終わる
“Begin to”/”finish doing~”
Compound verbs used as auxiliaries .
Vconj+auxiliary verb
Other auxiliaries include つずける、忘れる、直す、すぎる
Vdic
“Do/will do,” “there is/will be”
Expresses actions or states which regularly take place/exist or will take place/exist. This form is used for the plain style.
Vdic+つもりだ
Expresses a person’s intention. つもり is a pseudo noun usually followed by a copula, だ/だった or です/でした.
Vdic+はずだ
“I expect that~” “It is expected that”
Expresses the speakers expectation will take place/took place. はず is a pseudo noun usually followed by a copula.
Vdic+だろう
“Probably”
Expresses the speaker’s conjecture.
Vdic+かもしれない
“Might”
Expresses the speaker’s speculation or guess. かもしれません is the polite style.
Vdic+にちがいない
“Must be” “there is no doubt that~”
Expresses the speaker’s guess with confidence. ちがいありません is the polite style.
Vdic+の・こと
“~ing” “to~” “that~”
Nominalizers which make a verb into a gerund, or a clause into a noun phrase. の Indicates concrete actions/events, while ことindicates abstract actions/events. They are so mistimes interchangeable.
Vdic+ことが出来る
“Can” “be able to”
Expresses potential and ability. Typically used in Aは~ことが出来る construction.
Vdic+ことがある
“There are times when~”
Expresses actions or events that occur sometimes.
Vdic+ことにする
“Decide to”
Expresses the speaker’s decision to do something
Vdic+ことになる
“It will be decided that~”
Expresses a decision made by others, rather than the speaker.
