Terminology
The word "irregular" is tentatively used to translate the Japanese word . There are four types of : *, abbreviated . This type applies to the modern verb , its classical equivalent , and all their derived compounds, such as , , , and . refers to a group of kana in the '' gojūon'' table that are headed by and all contain the consonant . English translations include "''s''-irregular" ("''s''-irr") and simply "''sa-hen''". *, abbreviated . This type applies to the modern verb and its classical equivalent . refers to a group of kana in the ''gojūon'' table that are headed by and all contain the consonant . English translations include "''k''-irregular" ("''k''-irr") and simply "''ka-hen''". *, abbreviated . This type applies to the classical verbs (which evolved into the "regular" modern '' godan'' verb ''shinu'') and . refers to a group of kana in the ''gojūon'' table that are headed by and all contain the consonant . English translations include "''n''-irregular" ("''n''-irr") and simply "''na-hen''". *, abbreviated . This type applies to the classical verbs (which evolved into the "regular" modern '' godan'' verb ''aru''), , (modern ''oru'') and (modern ''haberu''). refers to a group of kana in the ''gojūon'' table that are headed by and all contain the consonant . English translations include "''r''-irregular" ("''r''-irr") and simply "''ra-hen''". "Irregular verbs", or actually, ''henkaku'' verbs, are a minor group of verbs that do not conform to the inflectional patterns of major "regular" ''godan'' and ''ichidan'' verbs. This does not necessarily mean that all "regular" verbs are uniformly regular, nor that all "irregular" verbs of one of the classes above are equally irregular. For instance, the verb belongs to the "regular" ''godan'' class, yet when combining with the auxiliary or the particle , it exhibits irregularity compared to the rest of its own class. Likewise, the "regular" ''godan'' verbs and are just as irregular. Meanwhile, some "irregular" ''sa-hen'' verbs such as and have assumed many inflectional forms typical of the "regular" ''godan'' and ''ichidan'' classes, respectively, making them increasingly "regular", yet irregular to their own "irregular" prototype, .''suru'' and ''kuru''
The most significant irregular verbs are the verbs する ''suru'' "to do" and 来る ''kuru'' "to come", which are both very common and quite irregular. Often the conjugations behave as if they were instead the verb しる or す, or respectively きる or こる, where (other than す) these are ichidan verb (Group 2 verbs, ''ru'' verbs) conjugation (there are no ''-oru'' ichidan verbs, though 来る sometimes behaves as if it were one), but beyond there are further exceptions. Historically する came from earlier す, which explains some of the irregularity. The following table is ordered to emphasize the regularities. The irregular 〜ない ''-nai'' stem of する is often overlooked; it is used in grammatical forms where the 〜ない form is used without the 〜ない – generally formal – as in 食べず ''tabe-zu'' "without eating" or 食べんがため ''tabe-n ga tame'' "for the purpose of eating". In these contexts する becomes せ, as in せず ''se-zu'' "without doing" or せんがため ''se-n ga tame'' "for the purpose of doing". Note the similarity to 〜ません as the negative form of 〜ます, of the same origin. The potential 来れる ''koreru'' form is from the omission of ''ra'' in the られる ''rareru'' potential form, and is found in all Group 2 verbs; it is considered an error by prescriptive grammarians, but is increasingly common, particularly in spoken speech and in younger Japanese.Basic grammar
The copula だ and です (polite), together with the verb ある ''aru'' "be (inanimate)", which is used grammatically, and the 〜ます suffix, which functions similarly to an irregular auxiliary verb, are all irregular to varying degrees, and particularly used in polite speech. It is debatable whether they should be classified as verbs or as different parts of speech. Formally, the copula is である ''de aru''. This form is normal in writing, but in spoken Japanese it is almost universally contracted to だ ''da'', or in some dialects じゃ ''ja'' or や ''ya''. When conjugated politely, である ''de aru'' becomes であります ''de arimasu'' following the regular transformation. This form is normal in writing, except that most writing either uses plain conjugations or the honorific forms, so in fact this form is not commonly seen. In spoken Japanese, であります ''de arimasu'' is universally contracted to です ''desu''. (*) indicates literary forms (**) じゃ ''ja'' is a dialectal spoken form of だ ''da''Polite verbs
These 5 special polite verbs have the slight irregularity that 〜る ''-ru'' changes to 〜い ''-i'' in the ''-masu'' stem (continuative form, 連用形) and imperative stem (命令形), as opposed to the expected ×〜り *''-ri'' and ×〜れ *''-re''. As these all end in ''-aru,'' these can be termed "''aru'' special class". The most commonly encountered of these is 〜ください, used for polite requests.Euphony
A few short verbs have irregular euphonic form (音便形) in 〜て/〜た ''-te/-ta'' form, most significantly 行く ''iku'' "go": * 行く ''iku'' conjugates to 行って ''itte'' and 行った ''itta,'' not ×いいて *''iite'' or いいた *''iita'' * 問う・訪う ''tou'' "ask; visit, call on" conjugates to 問うて・訪うて ''toute,'' not *''totte'' * 請う・乞う ''kou'' "request; beg" conjugates to 請うて・乞うて ''koute,'' not *''kotte'' * 恋う ''kou'' "miss, yearn, pine" conjugates to 恋うて ''koute,'' not *''kotte'' These latter euphonic changes – ''-owit-'' → ''-owt-'' → ''-out-'' (→ ''-ōt-'') – are regular in ''-te/-ta'' form in Kansai dialect, e.g., しまった ''shimatta'' "done it; darn" → しもうた ''shimōta,'' but only occur in the above exceptions in standard Japanese. Euphonic change also results in some conjugations being uniform across the language, but irregular compared with other verbs. Most significantly, the た ''ta'' and て ''te'' forms ( perfective and participle/Single kanji ''suru''
While pronunciation remains unchanged when two-kanji compounds are denominalized by 〜する ''suru'' verbs, pronunciation or conjugations may be irregular in the cases where single-kanji ''suru'' verbs behave as new independent words. For example, these single-kanji words exhibit various pronunciation changes (where two-kanji ''suru'' verbs would not): * 愛する ''ai-suru'' – no sound change * 達する ''tas-suru'' – gemination (促音) from たつ+する ''tatsu+suru'' to たっする ''tas-suru'' * 禁ずる ''kin-zuru'' – voicing (連濁 ''Alternative roots
For a few verbs, the root of the verb changes depending on context. Most significantly, these are: * 〜得る ''-uru'' – auxiliary verb to indicate possibility, the ''u'' changes to ''e'' in the negative and polite forms, yielding 〜得る 〜うる ''-uru'' "... possible", 〜得ない 〜えない ''-enai'' "...impossible", and 〜得ます 〜えます ''-emasu'' "... possible (polite)". This is often written in kana, and is most familiar from ありうる ''ariuru'' "be possible" and ありえない ''arienai'' "be impossible". * 行く ''iku, yuku'' "go" – some dialectal differences, but generally ''iku'' by itself and ''-yuki'' when used as a suffix, e.g., for train destinations. *:There is some dialectal difference here as well, with ''iku'' as more standard, but ''yuku'' common in Western Japan (as well as song lyrics). By contrast, 言う ''iu, yuu'' "say" is only a dialectal difference, with standard ''iu'', but Western Japanese ''yuu''.Regular but unusual
Some verbs follow rules that are regular (in terms of the overall language), but relatively unusual or special. While not irregular by itself, they present many of the same difficulties.Irrealis form of ''u'' verbs
Verbs ending in う ''-u'' have the unusual irrealis ending ''-wa,'' as in 買わない from 買う . This is due to these traditionally having a ''w,'' but the being lost except as わ ''wa'' (and in を following an ん ''n'').''iru'' and ''eru'' verbs
Most Japanese verbs are , though there are also the . All ichidan verbs end in ''-iru'' or ''-eru,'' but not all verbs ending in ''-iru'' or ''-eru'' are ichidan verbs – instead, some are godan verbs. Thus the conjugation type of a verb ending in ''-iru'' or ''-eru'' cannot be determined naively from the dictionary form. There are many such verbs with common examples being 知る "know", 走る "run", 入る "enter", and 帰る "return". There are also homophone verbs that could be either godan or ichidan verbs; for example, 生きる "live, stay alive" and 寝る "sleep" are ichidan verbs, but 熱る "become sultry" and 練る "temper, refine, knead" are godan verbs.''nu'' verbs
死ぬ (to die) is the only ぬ ''-nu'' verb, and thus its conjugations are less familiar, but it is otherwise regular. There used to be other ぬ ''-nu'' verbs, notably 往ぬ／去ぬ いぬ "leave".Compound verbs
Japanese compound verbs are generally constructed using the stem form of the primary verb, as in 読み始める "begin to read". In some cases compound verbs do not follow this pattern, generally due to sound change. Such exceptions include 振る舞う "behave, conduct; treat (to food or drink)", from 振るう + 舞う , instead of the regular ×振るい舞う *.Abbreviations
There are various abbreviations in Japanese, primarily of nouns or of inflections, such as 〜ている to 〜てる or 〜ておく to 〜とく, or even 〜ているの to 〜てん, though verb roots only rarely change. One such example is in the verb いらっしゃる, which has the following abbreviated forms: * いらっしゃって to いらして * いらっしゃった to いらしたMiscellaneous
The imperative form of the auxiliary verb 〜くれる is 〜くれ , rather than the expected ×くれろ *.Adjectives
Japanese adjectives, specifically ''i''-adjectives, function grammatically as verbs, though with more limited conjugation. There are a few irregularities of note. Most significantly, 良い "good" is generally replaced by ''ii'' in the base form ( is found in formal usage), though only is used in conjugated forms such as 良く and 良くない . There are more minor and subtler irregularities in certain constructions, particularly in adjectives with single-mora roots. In the ''-me'' form, adjectives can replace the ''-i'' with a 〜め ''-me'' (in kanji 〜目) to indicate "somewhat", as in 薄め "somewhat watery, weak" from 薄い "watery, weak". However, in some cases the ''-i'' is not dropped, notably 濃いめ "somewhat strong (tea etc.)", from 濃い In the form, verbs and adjective attach a 〜すぎる (in kanji 〜過ぎる) to the stem to indicate "excessive" – for example 近すぎる "too close", from 近い "close" – but in the case of a 〜ない ''-na-i'' negative ending (and standalone ない ), there is sometimes an intrusive 〜さ ''-sa,'' yielding 〜なさすぎる (standalone なさすぎる ) instead of the expected 〜なすぎる Typically this is optional, and generally omitted, as in 忙しな（さ）すぎる "too restless", but for single-mora stems it is generally included, as in なさすぎる "not too much", instead of marginal △なすぎる ?. There is considerable variation and uncertainty by native speakers, as these forms are uncommon. Further, this is confusingly similar to the intrusive 〜さ ''-sa'' when an adjective is followed by 〜そうだ ''-sō da'' "appears, seems", so 良さそうだ "seems good" and 無さそうだ "seems not", but 良すぎる "too good" and 無さすぎる ''na-sa-sugiru'' "too not, too absent". 静けさ "tranquility" is not an irregular derivation of 静か "quiet, still" – the regular derivation 静かさ "quietness, stillness" exists and is used – but is rather a separate word of distinct etymology – in Old Japanese the root words were 静けし ''shizu-ke-shi'' and 静かなり ''shizu-ka-nari,'' to which the 〜さ ''-sa'' was separately affixed.History
Some irregular verbs date at least to Old Japanese, notably する、来る、ある、死ぬ. The other ぬ verb いぬ also dates to Old Japanese, though is now no longer used, and 居る "be (animate)" was formerly をる and irregular, though it is now regular. * Old Japanese#Irregular verbs * Early Middle Japanese#VerbsReferences
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