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JLPT N5Verb Forms

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.

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Pro lessonUNIT 10 · VERB FORMS

Structure · 形

Dictionary form ends in -iru or -eru. Stem = drop る.

Examples · 例文

  • 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-.

Usage notes · 注意

  • 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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