The stem that ます rides on — 読み, 書き, 食べ — has a formal name, the 連用形（れんようけい）, and it is the single busiest form in the whole verb system. Learners meet it as "the bit before ます" and stop there, missing that the same stem also builds nouns, fuses verbs into compounds, and serves as the base for たい, ながら, やすい, すぎる, なさい, and the formal written "and." This page is the master list of what the 連用形 does, anchored throughout on 読む → 読み.
Everything below hangs on one thing: producing the stem correctly. For 五段 verbs the stem is the い-row: 読む→読み, 書く→書き, 話す→話し, 待つ→待ち, 泳ぐ→泳ぎ. For 一段 verbs, just drop る: 食べる→食べ, 見る→見. する→し, 来る→来（き）.
The master list: everything the 連用形 does
| Job | Pattern (on 読む) | Result | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polite base | 読み + ます | 読みます | reads (polite) |
| Desiderative | 読み + たい | 読みたい | want to read |
| Simultaneous | 読み + ながら | 読みながら | while reading |
| Ease / difficulty | 読み + やすい／にくい | 読みやすい | easy / hard to read |
| Excess | 読み + すぎる | 読みすぎる | read too much |
| Compound verb | 読み + 始める／終わる… | 読み終わる | finish reading |
| Purpose motion | 読み + に行く | 読みに行く | go to read |
| Manner noun | 読み + 方（かた） | 読み方 | how to read / a reading |
| Gentle command | 読み + なさい | 読みなさい | read (parental) |
| Bare noun | 読む → 読み | 読み | a reading, insight |
| Compound noun | 読み + 物（もの） | 読み物 | reading matter |
| Formal "and" (連用中止法) | …読み、… | 本を読み、… | reads …, and … |
A note on the past た and the て-form: those also attach to the 連用形 historically, but for 五段 verbs the sound-change (音便) hides the stem — 読み + た surfaces as 読んだ, not ×読みた. That machinery has its own 音便 chart; on this page we cover the uses where the clean 読み stem stays visible.
As a noun — the transparency payoff
Strip a verb to its 連用形 and you very often land on a real dictionary noun meaning "the act or result of the verb." Once you see this, a whole layer of vocabulary stops being arbitrary.
| Verb | 連用形 noun | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 動く（うごく, move） | 動き | movement, a trend |
| 話す（はなす, speak） | 話（はなし） | a story, a talk |
| 休む（やすむ, rest） | 休み | a break, a holiday |
| 帰る（かえる, go home） | 帰り | the way home, the return |
| 楽しむ（たのしむ, enjoy） | 楽しみ | a pleasure, a thing looked forward to |
| 願う（ねがう, wish） | 願い | a wish, a request |
最近、株価の動きが気になる。
saikin, kabuka no ugoki ga ki ni naru
Lately I've been keeping an eye on the movement of stock prices. (動き, from 動く)
週末の楽しみは、カフェでのんびりすることです。
shūmatsu no tanoshimi wa, kafe de nonbiri suru koto desu
My weekend pleasure is relaxing at a café. (楽しみ, from 楽しむ)
The same stem also fronts compound nouns: 読み物（reading matter）, 飲み物（a drink）, 食べ物（food）, 買い物（shopping — 買い from 買う + 物）.
何か温かい飲み物でもいかがですか。
nanika atatakai nomimono demo ikaga desu ka
Would you like something warm to drink? (飲み物, from 飲む)
As a compound base — fusing two verbs
Glue the 連用形 of one verb onto a second verb and you get a compound whose meaning combines both; only the second verb conjugates.
面白くて、一気に読み終わっちゃった。
omoshirokute, ikki ni yomiowacchatta
It was so good I finished reading it in one sitting. (読む + 終わる)
昨日、飲みすぎて今日は頭が痛い。
kinō, nomisugite kyō wa atama ga itai
I drank too much yesterday, so my head hurts today. (飲む + すぎる)
The slot is hugely productive: 〜始める（start）, 〜終わる（finish）, 〜続ける（keep）, 〜直す（redo）, 〜忘れる（forget to）, 〜合う（do to each other）— all ride the 連用形.
Under たい・ながら・やすい・なさい
These four everyday endings all attach straight to the 連用形.
今、話題になっている小説を読みたい。
ima, wadai ni natte iru shōsetsu o yomitai
I want to read the novel everyone's talking about right now. (読み + たい)
音楽を聞きながら勉強すると、集中できない。
ongaku o kikinagara benkyō suru to, shūchū dekinai
If I study while listening to music, I can't concentrate. (聞き + ながら)
この先生の説明は、本当に分かりやすい。
kono sensei no setsumei wa, hontō ni wakariyasui
This teacher's explanations are really easy to follow. (分かり + やすい)
ゲームはあとにして、先に宿題をやりなさい。
gēmu wa ato ni shite, saki ni shukudai o yarinasai
Save the games for later — do your homework first. (やり + なさい, a parent's command)
The 〜方 slot and the formal "and"
〜方（かた） turns a stem into "the way / manner of doing" — one of the most useful patterns you can learn: 読み方（how to read / the reading of a kanji）, 使い方（how to use）, 作り方（how to make）, 考え方（way of thinking）.
すみません、この漢字の読み方が分かりません。
sumimasen, kono kanji no yomikata ga wakarimasen
Excuse me, I don't know how to read this kanji. (読み + 方)
Finally, in formal and written Japanese the bare 連用形 works as a clause-linking "and," the written cousin of the て-form. This is the 連用中止法（れんようちゅうしほう）, and する's stem し is its poster child — you meet it constantly in newspapers and reports. (register: formal / written)
台風が九州に接近し、各地で被害が出ている。
taifū ga kyūshū ni sekkin shi, kakuchi de higai ga dete iru
The typhoon is approaching Kyushu, and damage is being reported in various areas. (接近し = する-stem 'and', newspaper register)
会議は予定どおり始まり、一時間ほどで終わった。
kaigi wa yotei-dōri hajimari, ichijikan hodo de owatta
The meeting began on schedule and finished in about an hour. (始まり = 連用中止法 'and', written register)
In casual speech you would use the て-form here (接近して, 始まって); the bare stem is the crisp, formal register.
Common mistakes
1. Building the 五段 stem on the wrong vowel. The stem is the -i- row, not the -a- row: 書き, 話し, 待ち — a compound is 書き始める, never ×書か始める (that -a- form is the negative base).
❌ レポートを書か始めた。
Wrong — the compound base is the 連用形 書き (-i- row): 書き始めた. 書か- is the negative/未然 base.
✅ レポートを書き始めた。
repōto o kakihajimeta
I started writing the report.
2. Using the dictionary form before たい. たい rides the 連用形, not the plain form.
❌ 新しいカフェに行って、コーヒーを飲むたい。
Wrong — たい attaches to the stem 飲み, not the dictionary form 飲む: 飲みたい.
✅ 新しいカフェに行って、コーヒーを飲みたい。
atarashii kafe ni itte, kōhī o nomitai
I want to go to the new café and drink a coffee.
3. Keeping る on a 一段 verb before ながら. Drop it: the stem is 食べ.
❌ テレビを見るながらご飯を食べる。
Wrong — 見る drops る for the stem: 見ながら.
✅ テレビを見ながらご飯を食べる。
terebi o minagara gohan o taberu
I eat while watching TV.
4. Forgetting the trap stem 帰り. 帰る is a 五段 verb, so its 連用形 is 帰り, not ×帰.
❌ 帰に、パンを買ってきて。
Wrong — 帰る is 五段, so the stem noun is 帰り (the way home): 帰りに.
✅ 帰りに、パンを買ってきて。
kaeri ni, pan o katte kite
Pick up some bread on your way home.
Key takeaways
- The 連用形 is the -i- row stem (読み, 書き, 話し, 待ち) for 五段; 一段 just drops る (食べ, 見).
- One stem does a dozen jobs: noun (動き, 話, 帰り), compound base (読み終わる), and the base for たい・ながら・やすい・すぎる・なさい・方.
- The bare stem links clauses as a formal, written "and" (連用中止法): 接近し、…／始まり、….
- The killer error is using the -a- stem (書か-) where the -i- stem (書き-) belongs — that -a- base is for negatives, not compounds.
Now practice Japanese
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Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- ます-Form: Conjugation TableN5 — The complete polite ます-family across every verb class — present, negative, past, past-negative, and volitional — all built on the い-row 連用形 stem.
- Desiderative 〜たい: Formation TableN4 — How to build 'want to' — attach たい to the ます-stem (書きたい・食べたい・したい・来たい), then inflect it like an い-adjective (書きたくない・書きたかった), watch the を→が object shift, and hand third-person desire to 〜たがる.
- All Forms, All Classes: Master ChartN4 — The one-sheet everything reference — every major verb form (dictionary through causative-passive, volitional, conditional, imperative) down the side and 書く・食べる・する・来る across the top, so you can verify any form without hunting across pages.