る-Verbs (Ichidan / Group 2)
Called Ichidan ("one-step") because the stem never changes. They end in -iru or -eru; to conjugate, simply drop the final る and attach the ending to the stem.
Structure
Dictionary form ends in -iru or -eru. Stem = drop る.
Examples
食べる → 食べます / 食べない / 食べた / 食べて
Taberu → tabemasu / tabenai / tabeta / tabete
Eat: polite / negative / past / te-form
Drop る: the stem tabe- attaches to every ending unchanged.
見る → 見ます / 見ない / 見てもいい
Miru → mimasu / minai / mite mo ii
See: polite / negative / may I see
Drop る: stem mi-.
起きる → 起きます / 起きない / 起きて
Okiru → okimasu / okinai / okite
Wake up: polite / negative / te-form
Ends in -iru: drop る and attach every ending to the unchanged stem oki-.
• The Trapdoor: Some verbs end in -iru/-eru but are secretly う-verbs — 帰る (go home), 走る (run), 入る (enter), 切る (cut), 知る (know). They conjugate as standard う-verbs (帰ります, not ×帰ます). • Identification: If the sound before る is an a/u/o vowel (as in わかる, のる), it's an う-verb. It can be a る-verb only if the preceding sound is i or e.
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones る-Verbs is tested against.
vs う-Verbs (Godan)
る-verbs keep an unchanging stem and simply drop る; う-verbs shift their final sound across vowel columns and have the て/た sound mutations.
More verb forms
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