Japanese: Conjugation made easy

This article is a part of a series on Japanese.

Japanese verbs typically end in a う form. Most of Japanese conjugation works as follows: by changing the ending sound, you can add a helper verb or adjective to change the meaning of the verb.
For 五段 verbs, you simply modify the final syllable, like in 買う → 買い. It’s because there are five possible sound endings that they are called as such by the way!
For 一段 verbs, you remove the る syllable (and you might have to add a slight variation depending on the helper word).

い

• ます : formal version of the verb
• たい : means “to want”.
• noun : converts the verb into a noun describing an action
• そう : means “to look like”

あ

• ない : negation
• れる / られる : receptive
• せる / させる : causative

え

• る / られる : potential

お

• う / よう : volitional