This is the reference paradigm for a 五段 (godan) verb ending in -む. The model is 読む（よむ, "to read"). -む is the flagship of the voiced nasal 撥音便 (hatsuon-bin) group: its te-form and past are 読んで, 読んだ, exactly like -ぶ (遊ぶ→遊んで) and -ぬ (死ぬ→死んで). The trap this page targets is keeping the み before て — writing ×読みて — when み only ever surfaces before ます. Once the nasal ん takes over, the み is gone.
The complete paradigm
| Form | 読む | Hepburn |
|---|---|---|
| Plain (casual) forms | ||
| Dictionary / non-past | 読む | yomu |
| Negative | 読まない | yomanai |
| Past | 読んだ | yonda |
| Past negative | 読まなかった | yomanakatta |
| Te-form | 読んで | yonde |
| Volitional | 読もう | yomō |
| Conditional (ば) | 読めば | yomeba |
| Conditional (たら) | 読んだら | yondara |
| Imperative | 読め | yome |
| Prohibitive | 読むな | yomu na |
| Polite (ます) forms | ||
| Non-past | 読みます | yomimasu |
| Negative | 読みません | yomimasen |
| Past | 読みました | yomimashita |
| Past negative | 読みませんでした | yomimasen deshita |
| Volitional | 読みましょう | yomimashō |
| Derived stems (each conjugates as a 一段 verb) | ||
| Potential | 読める | yomeru |
| Passive | 読まれる | yomareru |
| Causative | 読ませる | yomaseru |
| Causative-passive | 読ませられる → 読まされる | yomaserareru → yomasareru |
| Desiderative (〜たい) | 読みたい | yomitai |
The ま-row ladder
Consonant m fixed; the vowel walks the ま行 column ま・み・む・め・も. Clean romanization all the way down: ma, mi, mu, me, mo.
| Row | Kana | Stem | What it feeds |
|---|---|---|---|
| あ | ま (ma) | 読ま | negative, passive, causative |
| い | み (mi) | 読み | polite ます, 〜たい, the ます-stem |
| う | む (mu) | 読む | dictionary, prohibitive 〜な |
| え | め (me) | 読め | potential, conditional ば, imperative |
| お | も (mo) | 読も | volitional 〜う |
撥音便: nasal, then voiced で／だ
The final む becomes ん, and the connector voices to で/だ. Because む is a voiced nasal to begin with, the voicing carries all the way through — the same nasal change shared by -ぶ and -ぬ.
- 読む yo-mu → yo-n-de → 読んで
- 飲む → 飲んで, 休む → 休んで, 住む → 住んで, 頼む → 頼んで — the entire -む family is regular.
説明書をよく読んでから使ってね。
setsumeisho o yoku yonde kara tsukatte ne
Read the manual carefully before you use it, okay?
その本、もう読んだよ。すごく面白かった。
sono hon, mō yonda yo. sugoku omoshirokatta
I already read that book — it was really good.
電車で本を読んでいたら、乗り過ごした。
densha de hon o yonde itara, norisugoshita
I was reading on the train and missed my stop.
毎朝、ニュースアプリで見出しだけ読みます。
maiasa, nyūsu apuri de midashi dake yomimasu
Every morning I read just the headlines on a news app.
The passive 読まれる vs the potential 読める
Two derived forms are worth contrasting because English collapses both into "read." The potential 読める means "can read / be able to read" (an ability); the passive 読まれる means "is read (by people)." Keep the stems apart: potential is the え-row 読め + る, passive is the あ-row 読ま + れる.
この漢字、読める？
kono kanji, yomeru?
Can you read this kanji?
あの作家の本は、今も世界中で広く読まれている。
ano sakka no hon wa, ima mo sekaijū de hiroku yomarete iru
That author's books are still widely read around the world.
The causative 読ませる ("make/let read") and its contracted causative-passive 読まされる ("be made to read") complete the set. 読まされる is a staple of office and school complaints.
子供には毎日少しずつ本を読ませている。
kodomo ni wa mainichi sukoshi zutsu hon o yomasete iru
I have my kid read a little every day. (causative)
会議の前に、分厚い資料を全部読まされた。
kaigi no mae ni, buatsui shiryō o zenbu yomasareta
Before the meeting I was made to read the whole thick document. (causative-passive)
The え-row cluster and volitional
The potential 読める, conditional 読めば, and plain imperative 読め all share the え-row; the volitional 読もう is the お-row.
最後まで読めば、きっと意味が分かるよ。
saigo made yomeba, kitto imi ga wakaru yo
If you read it to the end, it'll surely make sense.
今夜はこの続きを読もう。
konya wa kono tsuzuki o yomō
Tonight I'll read the next part.
つべこべ言わずに、まず説明書を読め。
tsubekobe iwazu ni, mazu setsumeisho o yome
Quit grumbling and read the manual first. (blunt imperative)
The plain imperative 読め and prohibitive 読むな are commanding — fine on a sign or from a parent, not for a polite request (use 読んでください).
人の日記を勝手に読むな。
hito no nikki o katte ni yomu na
Don't go reading someone's diary without asking. (prohibitive)
How this differs from English
English "read" is the same shape in "read a book," "read and left," "can read," "was read" — only surrounding words change. 読む carries all of that inside its own final kana: the negative pulls it to the あ-row (読ま), the potential and imperative to the え-row (読め), and the te-form dissolves the み into a nasal ん (読んで). The single hardest habit to break is treating 読み — the first form most courses teach, because 読みます comes early — as the stem. It isn't; it is only the ます/たい stem. English gives you no warning here because our verb has one invariant root, so the instinct to keep 読み everywhere is strong. The cure is to internalize which row each ending demands, then let the stem follow.
One more useful nuance: 読む reaches past "read text" into "read a situation" — 空気を読む ("read the air," i.e. sense the mood) is an everyday idiom, and 手を読む is to read an opponent's next move. The conjugation is identical; only the object changes.
Bonus: the み-stem is also a word-builder
The ます-stem 読み is not just a conjugation waypoint — on its own it behaves like a noun and glues into compounds, which is a general property of the ます-stem (連用形). This is why the み you learn for 読みます keeps paying off in vocabulary:
| Compound | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 読み方 | yomikata | how to read / the reading (of a word) |
| 読み書き | yomikaki | reading and writing (literacy) |
| 読み物 | yomimono | reading material |
| 下読み | shitayomi | reading ahead / prep-reading |
この名前の読み方が分からない。
kono namae no yomikata ga wakaranai
I don't know how to read this name.
So the み you drill in 読みます resurfaces as a noun-forming stem all over the vocabulary — one more reason the ます-stem is worth locking in early.
Common mistakes
❌ 本を読みて、レポートを書いた。
hon o yomite, repōto o kaita
Incorrect — み is the ます-stem only; the te-form takes the nasal 撥音便.
✅ 本を読んで、レポートを書いた。
hon o yonde, repōto o kaita
I read a book and wrote a report. (撥音便: む → ん + で)
❌ その本、もう読んた。
sono hon, mō yonta
Incorrect — the connector must voice after ん: it's 読んだ, not 読んた.
✅ その本、もう読んだ。
sono hon, mō yonda
I've already read that book.
❌ 新聞は読みない。
shinbun wa yominai
Incorrect — the negative is the あ-row 読ま, not the み-stem.
✅ 新聞は読まない。
shinbun wa yomanai
I don't read the newspaper. (negative = あ-row 読ま + ない)
❌ この漢字が読まれる。
kono kanji ga yomareru
Odd — 読まれる is the passive ('is read by people'); to say you can read it, use the potential.
✅ この漢字が読める。
kono kanji ga yomeru
I can read this kanji. (potential = え-row 読め + る)
Key takeaways
- 読む is the model 五段 -む verb. Consonant m fixed; the vowel walks ま・み・む・め・も.
- Te-form and past take the voiced nasal 撥音便: 読んで, 読んだ — the same shape as 遊ぶ and 死ぬ.
- み is the ます-stem only — it does not carry into the te-form. ×読みて is the classic slip.
- The connector voices to で/だ; ×読んた is wrong. The negative/passive/causative all live on the あ-row 読ま.
- Don't confuse the potential 読める ("can read") with the passive 読まれる ("is read"). Compare 遊ぶ and the full te/ta sound-change chart.
Now practice Japanese
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- 遊ぶ: Full 五段 -ぶ ParadigmN4 — The complete conjugation of 遊ぶ, the model 五段 verb ending in -ぶ, whose te-form and past take the voiced nasal 撥音便 (遊んで・遊んだ).
- te/ta Sound-Change (音便) Master ChartN4 — The definitive euphonic-change reference: every verb ending mapped to its te and た form, with the three 音便 types, the voicing rule, and the single 行く exception.
- 五段 Verbs: Class OverviewN5 — The canonical paradigm reference for the 五段 (godan / Type-1 / consonant-stem) class — the nine dictionary endings and the single mechanism behind every form: sliding the final kana across the あ・い・う・え・お rows.