Quick Intro

As you probably know, there are 3 main groups of Verbs in Japanese:

1. Godan (五段ごだん) Group 1 (動詞どうし 1) Group I
2. Ichidan (一段いちだん) Group 2 (動詞どうし 2) Group II
3. Irregular Verbs (不規則動詞ふきそくどうし) Group 3 ( 動詞どうし 3) Group III


Ichidan Verbs always end with る, Godan Verbs can have different endings, including る.


Furthermore, Ichidan Verbs always end either in -いる or -える sound.
Some Godan Verbs can also end with -いる or -える sound.

Yeah, a bit confusing, isn’t it?


As we explored in post How many Ichidan verbs are there? How many Godan? How many Exceptions?, there are more than twice as much Godan Verbs that Ichidan Verbs.
So there is no way of skipping the Godan conjugations when you’re studying Japanese. But no worries, it’s not as complicated as it may seem at first.

Why are they called Godan?

Godan (in japanese ‘五段’) literally means ‘Class 5’.
Five of what, you ask? Five different stems!

1st Stem 2nd Stem 3rd Stem 4th Stem 5th Stem
あ い う　 え　 お　
A I U E O


These 5 stems are used to express different verb conjugations. For example, the 3rd stem (う - u) is used in dictionary (plain) forms of verbs - e.g. 聞く.
2nd stem (い - i) is used foe example in ます (masu) form - e.g. 聞きます 1st stem (あ - a) is used for example in negative plain ない (nai) form - e.g. 聞かない

1st Stem 2nd Stem 3rd Stem 4th Stem 5th Stem
ら (ra) り (ri) る (ru) れ (re) ろ (ro)
さ (sa) し (shi) す (su) せ (se) そ (so)
か (ka) き (ki) く (ku) け (ke) こ (ko)
わ (wa) い (i) う (u) え (e) お (o)
ま (ma) み (mi) む (mu) め (me) も (mo)
た (ta) ち (chi) つ (tsu) て (te) と (to)
が (ga) ぎ (gi) ぐ (gu) げ (ge) ご (go)
ば (ba) び (bi) ぶ (bu) べ (be) ぼ (bo)
な (na) に (ni) ぬ (nu) ね (ne) の (no)


What it means is that each Godan Verb is conjugated into these 5 forms, for example ‘合あう’ - to meet someone:

  1st Stem 2nd Stem 3rd Stem 4th Stem 5th Stem
  合あわ- 合あい- 合あう- 合あえ-　 合あお-　
Example 合あわない 合あいます 合あう 合あえ 合あおう

From the stems to the actual forms

The five stems are not used on their own - they are the base onto which endings are attached. Here are the most important everyday forms, shown with 書かく (to write):

Form How it is made Example (書かく)
Dictionary (plain) 3rd stem 書かく
Polite (ます) 2nd stem + ます 書かきます
Negative (plain) 1st stem + ない 書かかない
Polite negative 2nd stem + ません 書かきません
Volitional (let’s…) 5th stem + う 書かこう
Potential (can…) 4th stem + る 書かける
Passive 1st stem + れる 書かかれる
Causative (make/let…) 1st stem + せる 書かかせる
Imperative (command) 4th stem (alone) 書かけ
Conditional (if…) 4th stem + ば 書かけば


One thing to watch out for: for verbs ending in う, the 1st stem is わ, not あ. So 買かう (to buy) becomes 買かわない, 買かわれる, 買かわせる - never 買あない. This is why わ is highlighted in the stem table above.

The て-form and past た-form (sound changes)

This is the part that trips everyone up. You might expect the て-form and the plain past (た-form) to be built from the 2nd stem, but for Godan Verbs most of them undergo a sound change called 音便おんびん (euphonic change). The change depends on the last syllable of the dictionary form.


The good news: the て-form and the past た-form use the same change - you only swap て for た (and で for だ). Learn one and you get the other for free.

Ending て-form Past (た) Example
う、つ、る って った 買かう → 買かって / 買かった
む、ぶ、ぬ んで んだ 飲のむ → 飲のんで / 飲のんだ
く いて いた 書かく → 書かいて / 書かいた
ぐ いで いだ 泳およぐ → 泳およいで / 泳およいだ
す して した 話はなす → 話はなして / 話はなした


A few more examples so the groups stick:

  • う、つ、る → 待まつ → 待まって、取とる → 取とって
  • む、ぶ、ぬ → 遊あそぶ → 遊あそんで、死しぬ → 死しんで
  • す stays closest to the 2nd stem (し), with no doubling.


The one big exception: 行いく (to go) does not follow the く → いて rule. It behaves like the う・つ・る group: 行いって / 行いった.


Once you know the て-form, a lot of other grammar opens up, because many structures attach to it - for example ～ている (ongoing action), ～てください (please do…), ～てもいい (may I…) and ～てから (after doing…).


Looking for verbs to practise on? Try the lists of common Godan Verbs grouped by ending, such as verbs ending with く or verbs ending with む.