In this guide
I like being able to say a little about my day in Japanese, even when nothing much has happened. There’s still a meal to talk about, somewhere I’ve gone or something I’ve read. Those everyday details are a useful place to begin learning verbs—the words that tell us what someone does, such as “eat,” “go” and “read.”
Knowing what a verb means doesn’t always give you a sentence you can use. You might remember the word for “drink,” then hesitate when you want to say that you drink tea. I prefer to keep a short sentence with each new verb so I can see how the other words go with it. That sentence also gives me something to change when I want to talk about water instead.
This guide starts with 15 verbs for ordinary activities, each with a meaning and a short example. We’ll use those examples to build sentences about your own life, then change the endings to talk about yesterday or tomorrow.
15 everyday verbs, with sentences
Each entry gives two forms of the same verb. The dictionary form is the one you look up, such as 食べる, “eat.” In a sentence, 食べる can mean “eat” or “will eat.” 食べます makes the statement polite. Both forms can describe a habit or a future action; the surrounding words and situation tell you which.
The example sentences are things you could say about yourself, so their English translations use “I.” Japanese leaves that out when the person is already clear. The verb comes at the end; its polite ending finishes the sentence without an extra です.
Meals and errands
食べる → 食べます — eat
ごはんを食べます。
I eat a meal.
飲む → 飲みます — drink
お茶を飲みます。
I drink tea.
買う → 買います — buy
パンを買います。
I buy bread.
作る → 作ります — make
ごはんを作ります。
I make a meal.
Getting around
行く is “go,” and 来る is “come” toward a place treated as “here.” In the 来る example, imagine you’re arranging to come back here tomorrow. 帰る means returning home or to your usual base.
行く → 行きます — go
学校に行きます。
I go to school.
来る → 来ます — come
あした、ここに来ます。
I’ll come here tomorrow.
帰る → 帰ります — return home or to your base
家に帰ります。
I return home.
Reading, writing and media
読む → 読みます — read
本を読みます。
I read a book.
書く → 書きます — write
名前を書きます。
I write my name.
見る → 見ます — see; watch
映画を見ます。
I watch a film.
聞く → 聞きます — listen; hear
音楽を聞きます。
I listen to music.
Work and study
話す → 話します — speak; talk
日本語を話します。
I speak Japanese.
勉強する → 勉強します — study
日本語を勉強します。
I study Japanese.
働く → 働きます — work
会社で働きます。
I work at a company.
する → します — do
宿題をします。
I do homework.
I keep the little noun phrase with the verb when I learn it: お茶を飲みます, for example. That helps me remember how to use the word. Let’s look at those small words after the nouns so you can change the examples yourself.
Choose what goes with your verb
What do you eat, drink or read?
Put を after the thing you eat, drink, buy or read. It marks the object of the action, and it’s pronounced お. Start with お茶を飲みます, “I drink tea.” To say that you drink water, replace お茶 with 水 and keep を.
水を飲みます。
I drink water.
The same pattern gives you 本を読みます, “I read a book,” and 映画を見ます, “I watch a film.” Learn the noun and its particle as a small unit: 水を, 本を, 映画を. You can then put the verb after it.
Say what you drink
You drink water. Choose the particle after 水.
水＿飲みます。
Where are you going?
With 行きます, 来ます or 帰ります, put に or へ after the destination. Both choices work for the ordinary places in these examples. へ is pronounced え.
学校に行きます。
I go to school. / I’ll go to school.
学校へ行きます。
I go to school. / I’ll go to school.
In both sentences, school is where the movement leads. You can use the same choice for returning home: 家に帰ります or 家へ帰ります.
Choose the destination particles
You go to school. Select both particles that can mark school as your destination.
学校＿行きます。
Where does the activity happen?
Once you’re at school, you might study there. Put で after the place where you do an activity. Compare the two jobs that 学校 has:
学校に行きます。
I go to school.
学校で勉強します。
I study at school.
に marks school as the destination in the first sentence. で marks it as the place where you study in the second. You can also name what you study: add 日本語を, “Japanese,” before the verb.
学校で日本語を勉強します。
I study Japanese at school.
Each particle belongs to the noun before it: 学校で tells us where, and 日本語を tells us what you study. This is why I ask “What job does this noun have?” when choosing a particle. The English word “at” on its own won’t settle it.
Say where you study
You study Japanese at school. Which particle marks school as the place where the studying happens?
学校＿日本語を勉強します。
Make one new sentence
Choose a verb from the list and change its example to say something about yourself. Use を for an object, に or へ for a destination, or で for an activity location. You can use hiragana for unfamiliar kanji.
Copy your Japanese text, then paste it into the checker. This writing space does not assess or save your text.
Find the polite form of another verb
The list gives you ready-to-use polite forms. When you find another verb in a dictionary, its group tells you how to make that form.
Check the group while you check the reading. Regular verbs that don’t end in る belong to Group 1. Verbs ending in the sounds -iru or -eru often belong to Group 2, but that’s a clue rather than a guarantee. 帰る, かえる, is a useful exception: it belongs to Group 1. Here’s what to do once you know the group.
Group 2: take off る
For Group 2, also called ichidan, remove the final る and add ます. 食べる becomes 食べます. The same change gives 見る → 見ます. Keep the rest of the verb as it is.
Group 1: change the last sound
For Group 1, also called godan, change the final kana to its い-row partner, then add ます. 書く becomes 書きます because く changes to き. 飲む becomes 飲みます because む changes to み. These are the kana partners you’ll need:
| Last dictionary-form kana | Kana before ます |
|---|---|
| う | い |
| く | き |
| ぐ | ぎ |
| す | し |
| つ | ち |
| ぬ | に |
| ぶ | び |
| む | み |
| る | り |
For 帰る, the last kana changes from る to り: 帰ります. Compare that with 食べる → 食べます. Knowing the group tells you whether to change る or remove it.
Make 買う polite
買う means “buy” and belongs to Group 1. Enter the full polite form, in kanji or hiragana.
買う → ＿
Learn these two changes as whole forms
The irregular verbs are する → します and 来る → 来ます. For “come,” the reading changes from くる to きます. A longer verb ending in する uses the same change: 勉強する becomes 勉強します.
The Japanese verb conjugation guide covers the groups and more forms in detail. Here, once you have a form ending in ます, you can use it to make the four kinds of sentence below.
Say what you do, will do or did
Take a polite form you know, such as 飲みます. Keep the part before ます and change the ending to fit what you mean. That works for every verb in our list, whatever its group.
ます can describe a habit or a future action. For a plan, add あした, “tomorrow.” To say you won’t do the action, replace ます with ません.
あした、お茶を飲みます。
I’ll drink tea tomorrow.
あした、お茶を飲みません。
I won’t drink tea tomorrow.
For an action that happened, replace ます with ました. きのう means “yesterday,” so it fits this completed action:
きのう、お茶を飲みました。
I drank tea yesterday.
Nothing about the tea or its particle changes. You’ve kept 飲み and replaced ます with ました. Try that change with another verb.
Say you ate a meal yesterday
Change 食べます to its full polite past form: “I ate a meal yesterday.” Kanji and hiragana are both accepted.
きのう、ごはんを＿。
If the action didn’t happen, use ませんでした. Keep 飲み and put the whole ending ませんでした where ます was.
きのう、お茶を飲みませんでした。
I didn’t drink tea yesterday.
Here are the four choices together. You can use the same endings after 食べ in 食べます, 読み in 読みます, or し in します.
| What you mean | Ending | With 飲む |
|---|---|---|
| drink / will drink | ます | 飲みます |
| don’t / won’t drink | ません | 飲みません |
| drank | ました | 飲みました |
| didn’t drink | ませんでした | 飲みませんでした |
Say what you won’t do
You won’t watch a film tomorrow. Choose the full polite verb that fits.
あした、映画を＿。
Use a few verbs to describe your day
A few short sentences are enough for a day’s account. In this example, the same person is speaking throughout, so Japanese can keep leaving “I” understood. The opening きのう sets the day; every verb then has a past ending.
きのう、家でごはんを食べました。
Yesterday, I ate a meal at home.
会社に行きました。
I went to the office.
会社で日本語を話しました。
I spoke Japanese at the office.
家で本を読みませんでした。
I didn’t read a book at home.
The first three actions happened, so they use ました. The reading didn’t happen, so it uses ませんでした. The particle choices stay familiar: 会社に is a destination, 会社で and 家で are activity locations, and を marks what you eat, speak or read.
For a plan about tomorrow, start with あした and use ます or ません instead. きのう and あした go into these sentences without に. I’d start with three short sentences I can explain, then add detail when I need it.
Put three actions into your day
Write three sentences about yesterday or tomorrow, using three different verbs from the list. Include a destination, an activity location and an object somewhere in your sentences. Choose endings that fit whether you did, didn’t do, will do or won’t do each action.
Copy your Japanese text, then paste it into the checker. This writing space does not assess or save your text.
If you want to say “buy” but don’t know the Japanese word, look up 買う and check its reading and group. If you already have 買います but wonder what follows パン, that’s a sentence-pattern question: パンを買います. Check the word first, then the particle and ending you need for your meaning.
For feedback on your own writing, paste your sentences into the Bunpo Check grammar checker to get automated corrections. You’ll need to sign in to request an explanation of a suggestion. Compare the feedback with your intended meaning, then revise a sentence. Keep your own verb notes for remembering the vocabulary.
About the author
B. Rungswell
B. Rungswell is the editor of the Bunpo Check blog and a native English speaker who has passed JLPT N1. Drawing on many years of life in Japan and experience working at Japanese companies, Rungswell writes practical guides to Japanese grammar for English-speaking learners.