Learn Japanese - Lesson 13: Negative Japanese Verbs 1

Grammar

Ichidan verbs are group of Japanese verbs with stems that end in i or e and terminal stems ending in -iru or -eru. Conjugation of ichidan verbs follow hard and fast rules, so once you learn to use one ichidan verb, you can easily use all others.

Examples of Japanese Ichidan Verbs

• miru = to see; to watch
• taberu = to eat
• oshieru = to teach

Conjugating Negative Ichidan Verbs

To conjugate negative ichidan verbs to the present tense form, simply drop the -る from the end of the verb and replace with -ません.

(たべる - る) + ません = たべません = not eating

[(taberu - ru) + masen = tabemasen]

Practice

Write the following sentences in Japanese using hiragana/katakana.

1. Mainichi Japanese (language) doesn't teach Chinese language.
2. I am not eating this pizza.
3. Is she eating that hamburger?
4. Aren't you watching a movie?
5. I'm not looking at that poster.

Translate the following Japanese sentences to English.

1. わたしはそのこんちゅうをみません。わたしはこのかせきをみます。
2. かのじょはにほんごをおしえません。かのじょはきょうしじゃありません。
3. あなたはそのすしをたべませんか？そのすしはとてもおいしいです。
4. あのりすはあなたのピザをみますか？あのりすはわたしのピザをみません。りすはピザをたべます。
5. わたしはかれのはがきをみません。かのじょはかれのはがきをみます。