Verb Forms

Question 1

Volitional form

Answer 1

Let’s do something.

For ru-verbs: Drop the 「る」 and add 「よう」
Example: 食べる = 食べ＋よう = 食べよう
For u-verbs: Replace the u-vowel sound with the o-vowel equivalent and 「う」
Example: 行く + こ + う = 行こう
Exceptions:
「する」 becomes 「しよう」
「くる」 becomes 「こよう」

Question 2

Polite volitional form

Answer 2

Let’s do something.

For all verbs: Attach 「ましょう」 to the verb stem
Examples
食べ＋ましょう = 食べましょう (let’s eat)

Question 3

Potential form

Answer 3

Can do something.

For ru-verbs: Replace the 「る」 with 「られる」.
Example: 見る → 見られる
For u-verbs: Change the last character from a / u / vowel sound to the equivalent / e / vowel sound and add 「る」.
Example: 遊ぶ → 遊べ → 遊べる
Exceptions:
「する」 becomes 「できる」
「くる」 becomes 「こられる」

Question 4

Conditionals

Answer 4

If [A] 〜ば [B]

Group 1, Group 2, and Irregular Verbs: Replace the final “-う” with “-えば”
行く → 行けば
話す → 話せば
見る → 見れば

Question 5

Command form

Answer 5

This command form is quite rude so you should use it with caution (if at all).

For ru-verbs: Replace the last 「る」 with 「ろ」
Example: 食べる + ろ = 食べろ
For u-verbs: Replace the last u-vowel sound with the e-vowel equivalent
Example: 買う + え = 買え
Exceptions:
する → しろ
くる → こい
くれる → くれ (exception for this conjugation only, not an exception verb)

In order to command others to not do an action, simply attach 「な」 to the end of the dictionary form verb.

Question 6

Causative passive form

Answer 6

[Someone] is made to do [something].

The causative-passive verb is formed by first conjugating to the causative form and then by conjugating the result to the passive form.

食べる → 食べさせる → 食べさせられる
行く → 行かせる → 行かせられる

Exception:
待つ → 待たせる → 待たされる

Question 7

Causative form

Answer 7

Verbs conjugated into the causative form are used to indicate an action that someone makes happen. The really confusing thing about the causative verb is that it can also mean to let someone do something.

When the causative form is used with 「あげる」 and 「くれる」, it almost always means to “let someone do”. Once you get used to it, surprisingly, it becomes quite clear which meaning is being used when.
全部食べさせた。→ Made/Let (someone) eat it all.
全部食べさせてくれた。→ Let (someone) eat it all.

Here are the conjugation rules for the causative form. All causative verbs become ru-verbs.
ru-verbs - Remove the 「る」 and add 「させる」.
u-verbs - Change the last character as you would for negative verbs but attach 「せる」 instead of 「ない」.
Exception Verbs - 「する」 becomes 「させる」 and 「くる」 becomes 「こさせる」

Examples:
食べる → 食べさせる
行く → 行かせる

Question 8

Passive form

Answer 8

Passive verbs are verbs that are done to the (passive) subject.

For once, the conjugations rules are same for both ru-verbs and u-verbs. All passive verbs become ru-verbs.

ru-verbs and u-verbs - Change the last character from an 「う」 vowel sound to a 「あ」　vowel sound and add 「れる」.

食べる → 食べられる
書く → 書かれる

Exception Verbs - 「する」 becomes 「される」 and 「くる」 becomes 「こられる」.

Question 9

〜なければ

Answer 9

Must [verb]
Negative verb + 「ば」 conditional + だめ／いけない／ならない

The なければ form is created by taking the negative plain form and replacing the ない with なければ.

With the 「ば」 conditional, it can be used for a wider range of situations. Note that since the verb is always negative, for the 「ば」 conditional, we will always be removing the last 「い」 and adding 「ければ」