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Irregular and Unusual Verbs – Japanese Verb Exceptions

The verbs in the Japanese language are much simpler than in Portuguese. Unfortunately, not all verbs in the Japanese language are willing to follow rules, becoming exceptions of a group or irregular verbs.

Japanese verbs are divided into 3 classes called godan, ichidan, and irregular verbs. The verbs from group 1 called godan [五段] end in [う], while the verbs from group 2 called ichidan [一段] end in [る] in their dictionary form.

The first group was named godan because there are five different ways to conjugate according to their ending. On the other hand, ichidan verbs only have one form of conjugation. Below we will give an example of these rules using the past conjugation:

  • Godan verbs ending in [~う|~つ|~る] become [~った];
  • Godan verbs ending in [~ぬ|~む|~ぶ] become [~んだ];
  • Godan verbs ending in [~す] become [~した].
  • Godan verbs ending in [~く] become [~いた];
  • Godan verbs ending in [~ぐ] become [~いだ];
  • Ichidan verbs ending in [~る] become [~た];

The third group is the irregular verbs. These verbs do not follow the rules presented above, ing that there are also some godan and ichidan verbs that do not follow the rules from the list above, these verbs are called exceptions or uncommon.

Irregular and uncommon verbs - exceptions of verbs in Japanese

Irregular Verbs in the Japanese Language

A maioria das pessoas says that the Japanese language has only 2 irregular verbs which are suru [する] and kiru [来る]. Is that really true? Are there other irregular verbs in the Japanese language? In fact, what is an irregular verb?

Irregular verbs are very flexible verbs with respect to the traditional rules of verbs in the Japanese language. Irregular verbs follow their own rules. We mentioned that there are regular verbs with exceptions, but irregular verbs are on a different level.

In the case of suru [する], its conjugation is totally irregular with any verb of godan or ichidan. See below:

Dictionary する suru
Formal します shimasu
Informal Past した "under"
Formal Past しました shimashita
Negative Informal しない shinai
Negative Formal しません I don't do (it).
Informal Negative Past しなかった did not do
Formal Past Negative しませんでした did not do
Form – TE – て して The string you provided, "shite," does not seem to have a direct translation from Portuguese to English as it could be a foreign word or a mistake. If it refers to the Japanese command "して" (shite), it translates to "do" in English. Please provide more context if necessary!
Conditional すれば sureba
Volitive しよう shiyou
ive される to be done
Causative させる saseru
Potential できる can do
Imperative しろ shiro

The same thing happens with verb kuru [来る]:

Dictionary 来る kuru
Formal 来ます "kimasu"
Informal Past 来た kita
Formal Past 来ました came
Negative Informal 来ない konai
Negative Formal 来ません kimasen
Informal Negative Past 来なかった couldn't happen
Formal Past Negative 来ませんでした kimasen deshita
Form – TE – て 来て kite
Conditional 来れば kureba
Volitive 来よう koyou
ive 来られる can be bitten
Causative 来させる kosaseru
Potential 来られる can be bitten
Imperative 来い Koi

To see other irregularities and information about suru verbs just read the articles listed below:

uncommon verbs and exceptions in the Japanese language

One of the first exceptions that a Japanese student notices is in the verb ir which is pronounced iku [行く]. Being a godan verb ending in [く], according to the rules it should be conjugated as iita [行た], but since it doesn't make much sense to have two identical vowels in a row, the correct conjugation is itta [行った], which is practically the same sound as two vowels followed by each other.

The verb aru [ある] has the negative form as nai [ない] which is very irregular.

Imperative verbs often appear to have unusual and irregular forms, such as the verb kureru [暮れる] which in the imperative form simply becomes kure [暮れ].

Honorific verbs can be considered as having their own pattern, or breaking the rules like in the case of kudasaru [下さる] which becomes kudasai [下さい]. Other unusual honorific verbs with various exceptions are: [仰る], [御座る] and [いらっしゃる].

In this article we saw some information about irregular verbs and also uncommon godan and ichidan verbs with exceptions. We did not talk in detail about each verb or its meaning, but we recommend researching each one individually using a tool like jisho.

Do you know other verbs that don't follow the rules in the Japanese language? Hope you enjoyed the article! If you liked it share and leave your comments.