Japanese Verbs

By changing the endings of Japanese verbs you can give the idea of "wanting to do something."

Basically, take the verb stem and then just add the ending …tai.

For example, the verb: to go = iku. Verb stem = iki. Now add tai, which becomes ikitai and means "I want to go." Just add desu to make it polite.

Easy, eh? To learn Japanese is not so difficult!


In order to do this with all verbs let's first recap on Japanese verbs

There are three types of verb:

  1. irregular verbs, of which there are only two.
  2. The verbs that end in "u." 
  3. Those that end in "ru."


To make it easier I will arrange the verb in its various forms

Plain Form   Verb Stem   "+tai" form   Kanji/Kana

Kuru                   ki             kitai           来たい

Suru                   shi           shitai           したい

Verbs that end in "ru:"

Miru                    mi            mitai           見たい

Taberu               tabe           tabetai        食べたい

Verbs that end in "u:"

Katsu                kachi           kachitai       勝ちたい

Yomu                 yomi           yomitai       読みたい

Modoru             modori         modoritai     戻りたい

Beware of the "u" form, they are not supposed to be irregular. However, the way they change is sometimes not what you would expect. Most verbs that end in "ru" behave like "taberu," but not all.

Here are a few examples:

自転車 = ji ten sha = bycycle.

買 = ka. Dictionary form = kau = to buy.

I want to buy a bicycle.        自転車を買いたいです。

I want to eat sushi.              すしを食べたいです。

He wants to read that book.  彼はその本を読みたいです。


To say that you "don't want to do something"

This form uses ...takunai.

Plain Form   Verb Stem   "+takunai" form      Kanji/Kana

Kuru                  ki               kitakunai           来たくない

Suru                 shi              shitakunai          したくない

Verbs that end in "ru:"

Miru                   mi              mitakunai          見たくない

Taberu               tabe            tabetakunai        食べたくない

Verbs that end in "u:"

Katsu                 kachi          kachitakunai     勝ちたくない

Yomu                 yomi            yomitakunai       読みたくない

Modoru             modori         modoritakunai     戻りたくない

Here are a few examples:

I don't want to buy a bicycle.            自転車を買いたくないです。

I don't want to eat shushi.                すしを食べたくないです。

He doesn't want to read that book.    彼はその本を読みたくないです。

 

To say that you " wanted to do something"

This form uses ...takatta.

Plain Form   Verb Stem   "+takatta" form      Kanji/Kana

Kuru                  ki               kitakatta           来たかった

Suru                 shi              shitakatta          したかった

Verbs that end in "ru:"

Miru                   mi              mitakatta          見たかった

Taberu               tabe            tabetakatta       食べたかった

Verbs that end in "u:"

Katsu                 kachi          kachitakatta      勝ちたかった

Yomu                 yomi            yomitakatta      読みたかった

Modoru             modori         modoritakatta     戻りたかった

Here are a few examples:

I wanted to buy a bicycle.            自転車を買いたかったです。

I wanted to eat sushi.                  すしを食べたかったです。

He wanted to read that book.       彼はその本を読みたかったです。

 

To say that you "didn't want to do something"

This form uses ...takunakatta.

Plain Form   Verb Stem   "+takunakatta" form      Kanji/Kana

Kuru                  ki               kitakunakatta           来たくなかった

Suru                 shi              shitakunakatta          したくなかった

Verbs that end in "ru:"

Miru                   mi              mitakunakatta          見たくなかった

Taberu               tabe            tabetakunakatta       食べたくなかった

Verbs that end in "u:"

Katsu                 kachi          kachitakunakatta      勝ちたくなかった

Yomu                 yomi           yomitakunakatta      読みたくなかった

Modoru             modori         modoritakunakatta    戻りたくなかった

Here are a few examples:

I didn't want to buy a bicycle.         自転車を買いたくなかったです。

I didn't want to eat sushi.               すしを食べたくなかったです。

He didn't want to read that book.    彼はその本を読みたくなかったです。


Now let's do some practice!

Japanese vocabulary for the below exercise.

The words are written first in English, then kanji and finally hiragana:

Today 今日　きょう　to play baseball 野球する　やきゅうする　radio ラジオ

to hear 聞く　きく school　学校　がっこう　to walk 歩く　あるく Jill ジル

to meet 会う　あう yesterday 昨日　きのう to sing　歌う　うたう　

last week 先週　せんしゅう horse 馬　うま to ride 乗る のる

this morning 今朝　けさ　to get up 起きる　おきる　with と Bill ビル

to speak 話す　はなす now 今　いま　to sleep 寝る　ねる　

five minutes 五分　ごふん before 前　まえ eye 目　め

to close　閉じる　とじる　word 単語　たんご to say 言う　いう　I 私　わたし

room 部屋　へや　to clean 掃除する　そうじする


See if you can do an English to Japanese translation of the below sentences, using the above Japanese words.

  1. I want to play baseball today.
  2. I want to listen to the radio.
  3. I don't want to walk to school.
  4. I don't want to meet Jill.
  5. I wanted to sing yesterday.
  6. I wanted to ride a horse last week.
  7. I didn't want to get up this morning.
  8. I didn't want to speak to Bill yesterday.
  9. I want to sleep now.
  10. I wanted to close my eyes five minutes ago.
  11. I don't want to say that word.
  12. I didn't want to clean my room this morning.


Once you have done it, click here to see how you did.

Now, do it again and again until you are perfect and fast.

The only way to remember all this is to practice it on a regular basis.

The best way to do this is:

  1. Come back to this page regularly and check yourself on the above 12 Japanese phrases.
  2. Write an example of each in a small note book, so as to practice them when you have nothing to do, like waiting for a bus.

Back to the Japanese words page