Japanese Verbs on Progress Action,
Habitual Action and Occupation

In this lesson you will get to learn an important topic in Japanese verbs, which is て-form + います (te-form + imasu).て-form + います (te-form + imasu) is widely used in many Japanese sentences.
And because it has many functions many people get confused on its applications.
Most of the time you have to read from the actual sentence to understand the context and what does it means.
I will introduce 3 of them in this lesson:

1. Progress Action or Motion (~ing)
2. Habitual Action
3. One's Occupation

1. Progress Action or Motion (~ing)

You have already learned that past tense in Japanese verbs is used for events in the past which has already finished. For example...

• わたしはゆうべテレビをみました。
  watashi wa yuube terebi wo mimashita
  
  Meaning: I watched TV last night.

The above sentence means the speaker has already finished watching TV, which occurred on last night. Now let's look at this sentence in present tense...

• わたしはこんばんテレビをみます。
  watashi wa konban terebi wo mimasu
  
  Meaning: I am going to watch TV tonight.

From the above sentence, you can see that present tense is also used for future event in Japanese, as there is no future tense in Japanese verbs.
So how do you going to describe the action that you are doing now? Yes, I think you should have known by now. Use て-form + います (te-form + imasu).

• わたしはいまテレビをみています。
  watashi wa ima terebi wo mite imasu
  
  Meaning: I am watching TV now.

In the above example, the speaker has started to watch TV in the past, is watching now, and is continuing to watch to the future. It's like adding the "ing" to the verb. The speaker is in the middle of the action of watching TV, as shown in the following diagram.

Let's make some sentences using te-form + imasu to show the action in progress in Japanese verbs...

• Question: いまなにをしていますか。
  ima nani wo shite imasu ka
  
  Meaning: What are you doing now?
• Answer: いまいぬとさんぽしています。
  ima inu to sanpo shite imasu
  
  Meaning: I am strolling with my dog now.
• Answer: いまほんをよんでいます。
  ima hon wo yonde imasu
  
  Meaning: I am reading a book now.
• Answer: いまえをかいています。
  ima e wo kaite imasu
  
  Meaning: I am drawing a picture now.

2. Habitual Action in Japanese Verbs

Habitual action is used to describe the same action which is repeatedly performed over a period of time. And the action is still continuing.
The Japanese verb sentences which associated with habitual action always include words like まいあさ (maiasa - every morning), まいばん (maiban - every night), まいにち (mainichi - everyday), いつも (itsumo - always), etc. For example,

• わたしは まいにち にほんごをべんきょうしています。
  watashi wa mainichi nihongo wo benkyoushite imasu
  
  Meaning: I am studying Japanese every day.

The presence of the words まいにち (mainichi - everyday) indicates this is a habitual action. However if you are saying the following instead...

• わたしは いま にほんごをべんきょうしています。
  watashi wa ima nihongo wo benkyoushite imasu
  
  Meaning: I am studying Japanese now.

The word いま (ima) indicates this is a action in progress, not habitual action.

3. One's Occupation

One of the functions of te-form + imasu is to describe one's occupation. You can use any of the following when you want to talk about somebody's occupation...

Profession を しています - (I am Profession)
Place で はたらいています - (work at/in)
Place(Company's name) に つとめています - (work for)

In "Profession を しています", you can replace "Profession" with the type of occupation you want to talk about. You use this Japanese verb sentence structure to describe somebody is working as some profession. For example...

• たなかさんはいしゃをしています。
  tanaka san wa isha wo shite imasu
  
  Meaning: Mr Tanaka is working as a doctor.
• やまださんはせんせいをしています。
  yamada san wa sensei wo shite imasu
  
  Meaning: Mr Yamada is working as a teacher.
• きむらさんはけいさつかんをしています。
  kimura san wa keisatsukan wo shite imasu
  
  Meaning: Mr Kimura is working as a Policeman.

In "Place で はたらいています", you are talking about the place where somebody is working. The "Place" here can be the country, the work place or the actual company name. Take note that the particle here is で (de).

• たなかさんはびょういん で はたらいています。
  tanaka san wa byouin de hataraite imasu
  
  Meaning: Mr Tanaka is working at the hospital.
• やまださんは ABC がっこう で はたらいています。
  yamada san wa ABC gakkou de hataraite imasu
  
  Meaning: Mr Yamada is working at ABC school.
• きむらさんはアメリカ で はたらいています。
  kimura san wa amerika de hataraite imasu
  
  Meaning: Mr Yamada is working in America.

In "Place(Company's name) に つとめています", you are giving the actual company's name where somebody is working for. In this case, the particle used here is に (ni).

• たなかさんは XYZ びょういん に つとめています。
  tanaka san wa XYZ byouin ni tsutomete imasu
  
  Meaning: Mr Tanaka is working for XYZ hospital.
• いとうさんは Citibank に つとめています。
  itou san wa Citibank ni tsutomete imasu
  
  Meaning: Ms Itou is working for Citibank.
• さとうさんは Toyota に つとめています。
  satou san wa Toyota ni tsutomete imasu
  
  Meaning: Mr Satou is working for Toyota.

In summary, these are the 3 basic functions for て-form + います (te-form + imasu) in Japanese verbs.
There are 2 Japanese verbs, いる (iru) and ある (aru), which cannot have te-form + imasu. Therefore there is no いています (ite imasu) and あっています (atte imasu).

Making Japanese Verbs te-form

As you will see, て-form (te-form) of Japanese verbs has many functions. You can use it to form different verb sentences.
One basic function of te-form is to connect verb sentences.
When two or more actions take place in succession, the actions are mentioned in the order of occurrence by using the te-form.
It looks similar to the function of the English word "then".
There is no past tense for te-form. The tense of the sentence is determined by the tense form of the last verb in the sentence.

Therefore for those actions taken before the last verb, they are always represented by te-form. For example,

• あさパンをたべて、コーヒーをのんで、がっこうへいきます。
  asa pan wo tabete, ko-hi- wo nonde, gakkou e ikimasu
  
  Meaning: In the morning, I eat bread, drink coffee and go to the school.
• としょかんへいって、ほんをかりて、うちへかえりました。
  toshokan e itte, hon wo karite, uchi e kaerimashita
  
  Meaning: I went to the library, borrowed a book and went back home.

How to Make Japanese Verbs て-form (te-form)?

Let's see how to make te-form from dictionary-form.

Group 1 Verbs

For Group 1 verbs which end up with the words う (u), つ (tsu) or る (ru), replace these words with って (tte). For those verbs which end up with the words む (mu), ぬ (nu) or ぶ (bu), replace the words with んで (nde).
For group 1 verbs which end up with the word く (ku), change the word to いて (ite). For those which end up with the word ぐ (gu), change it to いで (ide). And for those which end up with the word す (su), change it to して (shite).
However, there is one exception. (In Japanese you always come across many exceptions). For the japanese verb いく (iku) which means "to go", the te-form is いって (itte).

Group 2 Verbs

Group 2 verbs always end with the word る (ru), you just need to replace る (ru) with て (te).

Group 3 Verbs

For group 3 verbs, the te-form of する (suru) is して (shite) and the te-form of くる (kuru) is きて (kite).
The following diagram shows the summary of how to change from dictionary-form to te-form for Japanese verbs.

Examples of Changing Japanese Verbs to te-form

Let's see some examples of changing Japanese verbs from dictionary-form to te-form.

Group 1 Verbs

	dict-form	Meaning	te-form
1.	ある	Exist (Thing)	あって
2.	かかる	Hang/Take	かかって
3.	よむ	Read	よんで
4.	のむ	Drink	のんで
5.	きく	Listen/Ask	きいて
6.	みがく	Brush	みがいて
7.	あらう	Wash	あらって
8.	かう	Buy	かって
9.	いく	Go	いって (Exception)
10.	かえる	Go Back	かえって (Not Grp 2)
11.	はいる	Enter	はいって (Not Grp 2)
12.	はしる	Run	はしって (Not Grp 2)
13.	のる	Get On/Ride	のって
14.	わかる	Understand	わかって
15.	おくる	Send	おくって
16.	およぐ	Swim	およいで
17.	あそぶ	Play	あそんで
18.	かく	Write	かいて
19.	だす	Take Out/Submit	だして
20.	とる	Take/Pick Up	とって
21.	ひく	Pull/Play (Piano)	ひいて
22.	おろす	Lower/Get Down	おろして
23.	はなす	Speak/Talk	はなして
24.	まつ	Wait	まって
25.	はじまる	Begin/Start	はじまって
26.	おわる	End/Finish	おわって
27.	おもう	Think/Feel	おもって
28.	もらう	Receive/Get	もらって

Group 2 Verbs

	dict-form	Meaning	te-form
1.	いる	Exist (Human/Animal)	いて
2.	たべる	Eat	たべて
3.	みる	See	みて
4.	あびる	Bathe/Shower	あびて
5.	でる	Appear/Leave	でて
6.	おりる	Alight/Get Off	おりて
7.	みえる	Be Seen/Seem/Appear	みえて
8.	きこえる	Be Heard/Said to be	きこえて
9.	むかえる	Welcome/Greet	むかえて
10.	ねる	Go to Bed	ねて
11.	おきる	Wake Up/Rise/Happen	おきて
12.	あげる	Give/Offer/Raise	あげて
13.	くれる	Be Given/Let One Have	くれて

Group 3 Verbs

	dict-form	Meaning	te-form
1.	くる	Come/Arrive	きて
2.	する	Do/Execute/Play	して
3.	べんきょうする	Study	べんきょうして
4.	さんぽする	Walk/Stroll	さんぽして

You can use te-form of Japanese verbs to make long sentences. For example, you can make one long sentence if you want to say all the things you are doing everyday...

• あさおきて、はをみがいて、ごはんをたべて、シャワーをあびて、せいふくをきて、しんぶんをよんで、がっこうへいって、。。。て、。。。て。。。
  asa okite, ha wo migaite, gohan wo tabete, shawa- wo abite, seifuku wo kite, shinbun wo yonde, gakkou e itte, ...te, ...te, ...
  
  Meaning: I wake up in the morning, brush my teeth, eat cooked rice, take a shower, wear my uniform, read newspaper, go to school, ..., ..., ...

You can make a sentence using te-form just like the above example. It is also fine to make a sentence with only two actions with te-from, as long as the order of occurrence is followed as mentioned in the sentence.

Giving and Receiving in Japanese Verbs

In this lesson you will get to learn the Japanese verbs on giving and receiving.
There are 3 special verbs that you will come across very often on giving and receiving.
They are あげます (agemasu), もらいます (moraimasu) and くれます (kuremasu).
In the first 2 verbs, あげます (agemasu) means "to give" and もらいます (moraimasu) means "to receive".

Let's look at the following expressions using this 2 Japanese verbs...

Giver は Receiver に Object を あげます
Giver wa Receiver ni Object wo agemasu
Receiver は Giver に/から Object を もらいます
Receiver wa Giver ni/kara Object wo moraimasu

In the first expression, the focus is put on the Giver as it is the topic. It means the Giver is giving Object to the Receiver. Whereas in the second expression, the emphasis is put on the Receiver. The sentence means the Receiver is receiving Object from the Giver. For the second expression, you can either use に (ni) or から (kara) before the Object.
Let's make some examples using the above 2 expressions to explain the two Japanese verbs more clearly. Assuming that yesterday was Mr Yamada's birthday and he has received a present from his friend Mr Tanaka.

• たなかさん は やまださん に ほんを あげました。
  tanaka san wa yamada san ni hon wo agemashita
  
  Meaning: Mr Tanaka gave a book to Mr Yamada.
• やまださん は たなかさん に ほんを もらいました。
  yamada san wa tanaka san ni hon wo moraimashita
  
  Meaning: Mr Yamada received a book from Mr Tanaka.

How to Ask Question in あげます and もらいます Sentences?

You can change the Japanese verb sentence into question by changing some of the words. Let's use the previous example as a model...

• たなかさん は やまださん に ほんを あげました。

If you want to ask who is the person that たなかさん has given the book to, change やまださん to だれ (dare)...

• たなかさんは だれ にほんをあげましたか。
  tanaka san wa dare ni hon wo agemashitaka

If you want to ask what is the thing that たなかさん has given to やまださん, change ほん to なに (nani)...

• たなかさんはやまださんに なに をあげましたか。
  tanaka san wa yamada san ni nani wo agemashitaka

If you want to ask who has given やまださん a book, change たなかさん to だれ (dare). However, you cannot have question word with は (wa) such as だれは (darewa). In this case you need to replace は (wa) with が (ga)...

• だれが やまださんにほんをあげましたか。
  dare ga yamada san ni hon wo agemashitaka

Using the same logic, you can create the questions for the もらいます sentences.

• やまださんは だれ にほんをもらいましたか。
  yamada san wa dare ni hon wo moraimashitaka
• やまださんはたなかさんに なに をもらいましたか。
  yamada san wa tanaka san ni nani wo moraimashitaka
• だれが たなかさんにほんをもらいましたか。
  dare ga tanaka san ni hon wo moraimashitaka

あげます (agemasu) and くれます (kuremasu) Sentences

The third Japanese verb くれます (kuremasu) has the same meaning of "to give" as あげます (agemasu). However, you need to take note of some rules to decide which one to use in your sentence.

Giver は Receiver に Object を あげます
Giver wa Receiver ni Object wo agemasu
Giver は Receiver に Object を くれます
Giver wa Receiver ni Object wo kuremasu

In Japanese custom, it is important and is always the first priority to show respect to other people (third person). In that perspective, your family members are considered part of yourself. Therefore when comparing to third person, your family members have to be in lower priority.
Secondly, if third person is absent, you have to show respect to your family members, putting yourself in the lowest priority. This is even true to family members younger than you.
Based on the above two conditions, when you have to show respect to ONLY the Giver, use くれます (kuremasu). Other than that you have to use the Japanese verb あげます (agemasu).
In summary, look at the following table to decide which Japanese verb to use...

	Giver	Receiver	Use
1.	Third Person	Third Person	あげます
2.	Third Person	Me/Family Members	くれます
3.	I/Family Members	Third Person	あげます
4.	Family Members	Me	くれます
5.	I	Family Members	あげます

It will be easier to understand the above with some examples...

1. たなかさんはやまださんにはなを あげました。
   tanaka san wa yamada san ni hana wo agemashita
   
   Meaning: Mr Tanaka gave flower to Mr Yamada.
2. たなかさんはいもうとにはなを くれました。
   tanaka san wa imouto ni hana wo kuremashita
   
   Meaning: Mr Tanaka gave flower to my younger sister.
3. ちちはたなかさんにコーヒーを あげました。
   chichi wa tanaka san ni ko-hi- wo agemashita
   
   Meaning: My father gave coffee to Mr Tanaka.
4. おとうとはわたしにプレゼントを くれました。
   otouto wa watashi ni purezento wo kuremashita
   
   Meaning: My younger brother gave present to me.
5. わたしはははにおかねを あげました。
   watashi wa haha ni okane wo agemashita
   
   Meaning: I gave money to my mother.

It will be good if you can understand the concept of the above Japanese verbs because Japanese use them frequently in their daily conversation.

Japanese Verbs Part 2
Dictionary-form and Nai-form -

In this lesson, you will get to learn how to change Japanese verbs from dictionary-form to ます-form (masu-form) and ない-form (nai-form). There are some rules that you need to follow in order to change verbs from dictionary-form to other forms.

Rules for Changing dictionary-form to masu-form

The following are the rules for the 3 groups of Japanese verbs.

Group 1 Verbs

Group 1 verbs always end up with words containing u-sound. To change group 1 verbs to masu-form, change the u-sound to i-sound in the last word.
After that append ます (masu) to the changed words and you will get the masu-form of the verb.
For example, this group 1 verb のむ (nomu) ends up with む (mu). If you change the u-sound to i-sound, む (mu) becomes み (mi).
Adding ます (masu) at the end, you will get のみます (nomimasu).
Let's look at one more example, this group 1 verb かわる (kawaru) ends up with る (ru). If you change the u-sound to i-sound, る (ru) becomes り (ri). Adding ます (masu) at the end, you will get かわります (kawarimasu).

Group 2 Verbs

Changing group 2 verbs from dictionary-form to masu-form is much simpler. All group 2 verbs end up with る (ru). To change to masu-form, simply replace る (ru) with ます (masu) and you will get the masu-form of the verb.
For example, this Japanese verb たべる (taberu) is a group 2 verb. To change to masu-form, replace る (ru) with ます (masu) and you will get たべます (tabamasu).
I will use another example to show the change. This group 2 verb ねる (neru) means go to bed. Change る (ru) to ます (masu) and you will get ねます (nemasu).

Group 3 Verbs

Group 3 verbs are irregular verbs. You just need to memorize them. The masu-form of くる (kuru) is きます (kimasu) and the masu-form of する (suru) is します (shimasu).
In summary, the following diagram shows the rules when changing dictionary-form to masu-form for Japanese verbs.

Rules for Changing dictionary-form to nai-form

For this section you will learn how to change dictionary-form (Plain Present Affirmation) to nai-form (Plain Present Negative). The following are the rules for the 3 groups of Japanese verbs.

Group 1 Verbs

To change group 1 verbs from dictionary-form to nai-form, change the u-sound to a-sound in the last word. After that append ない (nai) to the changed words and you will get the nai-form of the verb.
For example, this group 1 Japanese verb かく (kaku) ends up with く (ku). If you change the u-sound to a-sound, く (ku) becomes か (ka). Adding ない (nai) at the end, you will get かかない (kakanai).
However there is one exception. For group 1 verbs end up with the word う (u), instead of changing it to あ (a), you need to change it to わ (wa). For example, this group 1 verb かう (kau) ends up with う (u). Therefore you need to change う (u) to わ (wa). Adding ない (nai) at the end, you will get かわない (kawanai).

Group 2 Verbs

Group 2 verbs are much simpler. You just need to change る (ru) to ない (nai) and you will get the nai-form Japanese verbs.

Group 3 Verbs

Group 3 verbs are irregular verbs. You just need to memorize them. The nai-form of くる (kuru) is こない (konai) and the nai-form of する (suru) is しない (shinai).
In summary, the following diagram shows the rules when changing dictionary-form to nai-form for Japanese verbs.

Examples of Changing Japanese Verbs to masu-form and nai-form

Let's see some examples of changing Japanese verbs from dictionary-form to masu-form and nai-form.

Group 1 Verbs

	dict-form	Meaning	masu-form	nai-form
1.	ある	Exist (Thing)	あります	あらない ない (Exception)
2.	かかる	Hang/Take	かかります	かからない
3.	よむ	Read	よみます	よまない
4.	のむ	Drink	のみます	のまない
5.	きく	Listen/Ask	ききます	きかない
6.	みがく	Brush	みがきます	みがかない
7.	あらう	Wash	あらいます	あらわない
8.	かう	Buy	かいます	かわない
9.	いく	Go	いきます	いかない
10.	かえる	Go Back	かえります	かえらない (Exception, not Grp 2)
11.	はいる	Enter	はいります	はいらない (Exception, not Grp 2)
12.	はしる	Run	はしります	はしらない (Exception, not Grp 2)
13.	のる	Get On/Ride	のります	のらない
14.	わかる	Understand	わかります	わからない
15.	おくる	Send	おくります	おくらない
16.	およぐ	Swim	およぎます	およがない
17.	あそぶ	Play	あそびます	あそばない
18.	かく	Write	かきます	かかない
19.	だす	Take Out/Submit	だします	ださない
20.	とる	Take/Pick Up	とります	とらない
21.	ひく	Pull/Play (Piano)	ひきます	ひかない
22.	おろす	Lower/Get Down	おろします	おろさない
23.	はなす	Speak/Talk	はなします	はなさない
24.	まつ	Wait	まちます	またない
25.	はじまる	Begin/Start	はじまります	はじまらない
26.	おわる	End/Finish	おわります	おわらない
27.	おもう	Think/Feel	おもいます	おもわない
28.	もらう	Receive/Get	もらいます	もらわない

Group 2 Verbs

	dict-form	Meaning	masu-form	nai-form
1.	いる	Exist (Human/Animal)	います	いない
2.	たべる	Eat	たべます	たべない
3.	みる	See	みます	みない
4.	あびる	Bathe/Shower	あびます	あびない
5.	でる	Appear/Leave	でます	でない
6.	おりる	Alight/Get Off	おります	おりない
7.	みえる	Be Seen/Seem/Appear	みえます	みえない
8.	きこえる	Be Heard/Said to be	きこえます	きこえない
9.	むかえる	Welcome/Greet	むかえます	むかえない
10.	ねる	Go to Bed	ねます	ねない
11.	おきる	Wake Up/Rise/Happen	おきます	おきない
12.	あげる	Give/Offer/Raise	あげます	あげない
13.	くれる	Be Given/Let One Have	くれます	くれない

Group 3 Verbs

	dict-form	Meaning	masu-form	nai-form
1.	くる	Come/Arrive	きます	こない
2.	する	Do/Execute/Play	します	しない
3.	べんきょうする	Study	べんきょうします	べんきょうしない
4.	さんぽする	Walk/Stroll	さんぽします	さんぽしない

Japanese Verbs plus Polite and Plain Styles

Japanese can be divided into 2 types of speech - Polite and Plain styles (or forms).
What you have learned so far until this lesson are all in polite style.
That's to say, those sentences which ended with です (desu), でした (deshita), ではありません (dewa arimasen), ではありませんでした (dewa arimasen deshita), ます (masu), ました (mashita), ません (masen), ませんでした are all polite style.
On the other hand, Plain style, which is shorter when compared to Polite style are sentences ended with だ (da), だった (datta), ない (nai), た (ta), なかった (nakatta), etc.
You can use Polite style anytime, talking to anybody. When talking to someone who you have met for the first time or not close enough, or to your superiors, it's best to speak in Polite style in order to be polite. It's considered rude if you speak in Plain style to these people.
Whereas for Plain style, you use it when you are talking to family members, colleagues or close friends. It will seem strange to speak in polite style to them. Besides, Plain style is commonly used in written work like Newspaper, books, etc. However most letters are written in the Polite style.

How to Decide If The Sentence is Polite or Plain Style?

The style of the speech is decided by the last Japanese verb (for verb sentence) that you used in a sentence. Even if you have used many plain forms within the sentence, as long as it ends with polite form, the sentence is considered to be Polite style or form.
On the contrary, even if you have put in many polite forms within the sentence, as long as it ends with plain form, the sentence becomes Plain style. For example consider the 2 following sentences...

1. わたしはあしたがっこうへ いく と おもいます。
   watashi wa ashita gakkou e iku to omoimasu
2. わたしはあしたがっこうへ いく と おもう。
   watashi wa ashita gakkou e iku to omou

Both sentences mean "I think I am going to school tomorrow". The underlined Japanese verb いく is the dictionary-form of いきます (ikimasu) which means "to go". Dictionary-form is considered one of the plain form (I will go into that later).
As you can see, the first sentence ended with the Japanese verb おもいます (omoimasu) which means "to think". This is a polite ます-form (masu-form) verb. Therefore this sentence is considered to be a Polite style sentence.
However, the second sentence ended with the dictionary-form (plain form) of "to think", おもう (omou). In this case, this sentence is considered to be a Plain style sentence.

Plain Style of Japanese Verbs

Actually the Polite style that you have learned so far is not the basic of Japanese. The basic of Japanese is in the Plain style. The dictionary-form that I mentioned just now is one of the Plain style. The reason why it is called dictionary-form is because it is the form you can find in dictionary.
Dictionary-form is also considered to be the Present Affirmative of Plain style. And you will get to learn the other forms in Plain style in future lessons. See the following table for the various forms in Plain style for Japanese verbs.

	Polite Style	Plain Style
Present Affirmative	ます	じしょ-form or dictionary-form
Present Negative	ません	ない-form or nai-form
Past Affirmative	ました	た-form or ta-form
Past Negative	ませんでした	なかった-form or nakatta-form

The 3 Groups of Japanese Verbs in Dictionary-Form

Japanese verbs can be divided into 3 groups.
Group 1 verbs are verbs ended with う (u), く (ku), ぐ (gu), す (su), つ (tsu), ぬ (nu), ぶ (bu), む (mu), and the words of あ (a) column, う (u) column, お (o) column in the hiragana chart plus る (ru). For example, the following are group 1 verbs:

• いう (iu) - say, tell
• いく (iku) - go
• およぐ (oyogu) - swim
• なおす (naosu) - fix, repair
• まつ (matsu) - wait
• しぬ (shinu) - die
• あそぶ (asobu) - play
• のむ (nomu) - drink
• わかる (wakaru) - understand
• ねむる (nemuru) - sleep
• まもる (mamoru) - protect

There are some exceptions whereas the verbs don't fulfil the above rules but still considered as group 1 verbs. Or you can say that they look like group 2 verbs but are actually group 1 verbs. For example like はいる (hairu), はしる (hashiru) and かえる (kaeru). There are many other exceptions but for the meantime I will only list three of them.
Group 2 verbs are verbs ended with い (i) column, え (e) column in the hiragana chart plus る (ru). The following are some examples of group 2 verbs:

• たべる (taberu) - eat
• おきる (okiru) - get up, rise

Group 3 verbs are くる (kuru) and all verbs ended with する (suru). The following are some examples of group 3 verbs:

• くる (kuru) - come
• べんきょうする (benkyou suru) - study
• さんぽする (sanpo suru) - stroll, walk

In next lesson, you will get to learn how to change the verbs from dictionary-form to masu-form and nai-form for all the three groups.

Japanese Verbs - Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Transitive verbs or 他動詞 (tadoushi) are verbs indicating personal action of changing something. The focus is on someone who did the action.
On the other hand, intransitive verbs or 自動詞 (jidoushi) are verbs indicating movement of something.
The focus is on the movement itself and it doesn't matter who did the movement.
Basically the sentence patterns of transitive and intransitive Japanese verbs look like the following...

Transitive verb: Person は/が Object を Verb

Intransitive verb: Noun が/は Verb

You can see from the sentence patterns that since an transitive verb is talking about action done by someone, there is always a direct object to act upon. Therefore particle を (wo) is always being used.
As for intransitive verbs, since the focus is on the movement and not on the person who did the action, particle が (ga) is normally used.

Examples of Transitive and Intransitive Japanese Verbs

Let's use some examples to show how both transitive and intransitive Japanese verbs are being used.

• たなかさんはタクシー を とめました。
  tanaka san wa takushi- wo tomemashita
  Meaning: Mr Tanaka stopped the taxi.
  
  タクシー が とまりました。
  takushi- ga tomarimashita
  Meaning: Taxi stopped.

In the above first example, you want to say that Mr Tanaka stopped the car (he made the change). Therefore the transitive verb とめる (tomeru) is used. In the second example, you want to describe the movement of "taxi stopped", hence the intransitive verb とまる (tomaru) is used.
The rest of the examples will be similar. The first one is the transitive verb and the second one is the intransitive verb.

1. やまださんはドア を しめました。
   yamada san wa doa wo shimemashita
   Meaning: Mr Yamada closed the door.
   
   ドア が しまりました。
   doa ga shimarimashita
   Meaning: Door closed.
2. たなかさんはまど を あけました。
   tanaka san wa mado wo akemashita
   Meaning: Mr Tanaka opened the window.
   
   まど が あきました。
   mado ga akimashita
   Meaning: Window opened.
3. せんせいはでんき を つけました。
   sensei wa denki wo tsukemashita
   Meaning: Teacher swithed on the light.
   
   でんき が つきました。
   denki ga tsukimashita
   Meaning: Light switched on.
4. はははテレビ を けしました。
   haha wa terebi wo keshimashita
   Meaning: My mother switched off the TV.
   
   テレビ が きえました。
   terebi ga kiemashita
   Meaning: TV switched off.
5. わたしはねこ を へやにいれました。
   watashi wa neko wo heya ni iremashita
   Meaning: I brought the cat into the room.
   
   むし が へやにはいりました。
   mushi ga heya ni hairimashita
   Meaning: Insect came into the room.
6. わたしはねこ を そとにだしました。
   watashi wa neko wo soto ni dashimashita
   Meaning: I put the cat outside the room.
   
   むし が そとにでました。
   mushi ga soto ni demashita
   Meaning: Insect went outside the room.
7. はははおさら を ならべました。
   haha wa osara wo narabemashita
   Meaning: My mother laid the plates.
   
   わたしはみせのまえにならびました。
   watashi wa mise no mae ni narabimashita
   Meaning: I went into the queue in front of the store.
8. せんせいはじゅぎょう を はじめました。
   sensei wa jugyou wo hajimemashita
   Meaning: Teacher started the lesson.
   
   じゅぎょう が はじまりました。
   jugyou ga hajimarimashita
   Meaning: Lesson started.

Identify between Transitive and Intransitive Japanese Verbs

Unfortunately there is no rule to differentiate between transitive and intransitive Japanese verbs. The best way is to memorize by hard. The more pairs of Japanese verbs you come across, the more you can tell which one belongs to which group.
Although it's not always the case, you can use the following general guidelines to tell the differences...

1. Most of the time transitive verbs end with an "eru" or "su" sound, like for example, あける (akeru) and けす (kesu).
2. Intransitive verbs oftenly end with an "aru" or "ku" sound. But sometimes they also end with an "eru" sound. For example, とまる (tomaru), あく (aku) and でる (deru).

However there are always exceptions in Japanese, so it's not always true for the above guidelines. Therefore the best way is still to memorize them.
Below is the list of some commonly used pairs of transitive and intransitive Japanese verbs...

	Verb	Kanji/ Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning
1.	Trans. 他	止める/ とめる	tomeru	to stop
	Intrans. 自	止まる/ とまる	tomaru	to be stopped
2.	Trans. 他	閉める/ しめる	shimeru	to close
	Intrans. 自	閉まる/ しまる	shimaru	to be closed
3.	Trans. 他	開ける/ あける	akeru	to open
	Intrans. 自	開く/ あく	aku	to be opened
4.	Trans. 他	点ける/ つける	tsukeru	to switch on
	Intrans. 自	点く/ つく	tsuku	to be switched on
5.	Trans. 他	消す/ けす	kesu	to turn off
	Intrans. 自	消える/ きえる	kieru	to be turned off
6.	Trans. 他	入れる/ いれる	ireru	to put in
	Intrans. 自	入る/ はいる	hairu	to enter
7.	Trans. 他	出す/ だす	dasu	to take out
	Intrans. 自	出る/ でる	deru	to leave
8.	Trans. 他	並べる/ ならべる	naraberu	to arrange
	Intrans. 自	並ぶ/ ならぶ	narabu	to queue
9.	Trans. 他	始める/ はじめる	hajimeru	to start
	Intrans. 自	始まる/ はじまる	hajimaru	to be started
10.	Trans. 他	落とす/ おとす	otosu	to drop
	Intrans. 自	落ちる/ おちる	ochiru	to fall
11.	Trans. 他	動かす/ うごかす	ugokasu	to move
	Intrans. 自	動く/ うごく	ugoku	to be moved
12.	Trans. 他	増やす/ ふやす	fuyasu	to increase
	Intrans. 自	増える/ ふえる	fueru	to be increased

4. 2 Basic verb forms - ～dictionary、～ます

There are many ways to conjugate verbs, but here we will focus on two present tense forms: "dictionary form" (also known as "plain form") and " ~masu form" (also known as "polite form")

Note Switching between these two verb forms does not change the meaning of the verb but the dictionary form is more casual.

• The dictionary form gets its name because it is what is found in the dictionary.
• The dictionary form verbs ends in -u and many end in -ru.
• The masu form verbs are so called because they always end in -masu in the present tense.

Examples

Dictionary Form	-Masu Form	Meaning
たべる tabe ru 00:00	たべます tabe masu 00:00	Both mean "to eat"
のむ nom u 00:00	のみます nomi masu 00:00	to drink
はしる hashi ru 00:00	はしります hashiri masu 00:00	to run
する su ru 00:00	します shi masu 00:00	to do (this is one of the 2 irregular verbs)

You will notice some other changes between the two forms. I would recommend learning about the three verb groups here, but for our purposes right now, just memorize a few examples and try to find patterns with other verbs. And remember: Mistake making is memory making! (As long as you correct yourself, of course.)