動詞 – The Basics of Japanese verbs
Verbs are words representing movement, action, events, and states. Pretty much they tell you that something is happening. Japanese verbs are probably the most complex type of words in Japanese. However, if you just remember a few basics you will soon get used to them.
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Transitive and Intransitive verbs
Verbs can be categorized in many different ways. One way to classify Japanese verbs is by transitivity. That is if they are transitive or intransitive. Transitive verbs have one subject and a direct object. Intransitive verbs on the other hand only have a subject.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/This is an important distinction in Japanese since many Japanese verbs come in pairs of one transitive and one intransitive. Usually, these verbs are very similar except for one sound.
落ちる
to fall (intransitive)
落とす
to drop (transitive)
立つ
to stand (intransitive)
立てる
to stand something up (transitive)
Inflections of Japanese Verbs
Japanese verbs are the most grammar-like types of words in Japanese. The reason is that they are inflected. This just means the verb changes sound to represent more ideas.
Take an English example, walk compared to walked. By adding the ed the word becomes the past tense. Japanese has the same sort of features. Let’s take a look.
走る → 走った
run → ran
Japanese verbs change their ending to represent other things such as the negative, wants, or even politeness.
走らない：not run
走りたい：to want to run
走ります：run (polite)
Punctual, Continual, and Static verbs
Another way to classify verbs in Japanese is by their meaning. For example, some words are one single action while others are continuous action. This is important since depending on what type of verb it is, adding ている at the end will change the meaning. ている can be thought of as ing in Japanese a lot of the time.
落ちている
dropped (and still on the ground)
跳んでいる
jumping
