U / RU verbs

The U-verbs have a present/future tense ending in U or LU and a past tense ending in TA or DA. There are two classes of them: ending in a vowel, and ending in a consonant.

Verbs with Vowel Stems

The stem of these verbs ends in I or E. The present/future is "stem + LU" and the past is "stem + TA":

kikoelu きこえる	= is heard ( KIKOE + LU )
kikoeta きこえた	= was heard ( KIKOE + TA )
milu みる	= sees ( MI + LU )
kilu きる	= wears ( KI + LU )
ilu いる	= there is (somebody) ( I + LU )
delu でる	= goes out ( DE + LU)
makelu まける	= loses (a battle) ( MAKE + LU )
kanngaeta かんがえたかんがえた	= thought ( KANGAE + TA )
kanngaesaselaleta かんがえさせられたかんがえさせられた	= made (me) think ( KANGAESASELALE + TA )

Verbs with Consonant Stems

The stem of these verbs ends in S, T, W, L, K, G, B, M, N. The present is stem + U, and the past ends in TA or DA (more on this later):

kasu かす	= lends ( KAS + U )
matsu まつまつ	= waits ( MAT + U ) (T plus U always makes TSU)
kau かう	= buys ( KAW + U ) (W plus U makes U not WU)
kilu きる	= cuts ( KIL + U)
kaku かく	= writes (KAK + U)
nugu ぬぐ	= gets undressed (NUG + U)
yobu よぶ	= calls (YOB + U)
nomu のむ	= drinks (NOM + U)
shinu しぬしぬ	= dies (SHIN + U) (this is the only N stem)

A verb whose present ends in ELU or ILU may either be an E/I stem plus LU or an EL/IL stem plus U.

-NAI / -ANAI verbs
How to Read Japanese Manga
being more specific with no の

Copyright (c) 2003-2008 Jordi Mas Trullenque.
email: jordimastrullenque at gmail dot com
http://purl.oclc.org/NET/manga/verbu.en.html
Last revised: 2008-10-15