Negative Form of Japanese Verbs and ない-Form
To study this grammar point, please make sure you understand the following:
In English, you may simply use the word not to negate the meaning of a verb. But in Japanese, it is done by modifying the suffix of the verb.
Negative Plain Form of Japanese Verbs
To derive the negative plain form, you need to identify the ない-stem of the verb by identifying if it is a う-verb, る-verb, or an irregular verb.
ない-Stem of a Japanese Verb
- る-verb: Remove る to get the stem
- う-verb: If the last kana is う, change it to わ; Otherwise change the last kana from う-column (the 3rd column) to あ-column (the 1st column)
- する-verb: The stem is し
- くる-verb: The stem is こ
The negative plain form of a verb is to add ない at the end of the ない-stem.
There is one exception for the verb ある (to exist).
The negative plain form of the verb ある is simply ない.
Examples (more)
Plain Form | ない-Stem | Negative Plain Form | |
---|---|---|---|
る-verbs | 食べる | 食べ | 食べない |
いる | い | いない | |
起きる | 起き | 起きない | |
寝る | 寝 | 寝ない | |
う-verbs | 行く | 行か | 行かない |
飲む | 飲ま | 飲まない | |
書く | 書か | 書かない | |
買う | 買わ | 買わない | |
する-verb | する | し | しない |
くる-verb | 来る(くる) | 来(こ) | 来ない(こない) |
Exception | ある | — | ない |
- 学校に行かない。
- I do not go to school.