Almost every verb in Japanese sorts itself instantly. If it doesn't end in -る, it is godan — full stop. The only genuinely tricky verbs are the ones ending in -る, because both classes can end that way: ichidan 食べる and godan 作る both close with る. This page gives you three tools, from fastest to most foolproof, for cracking any -る verb.
First, eliminate the easy cases
Before you even worry about -る, check the ending:
- Ends in く, ぐ, す, つ, ぬ, ぶ, む, う → godan, guaranteed. No exceptions. 書く, 泳ぐ, 話す, 待つ, 飲む, 買う are all godan and nothing else can be.
- Ends in -る → now you have to think.
- The verb is する or 来る（くる） → irregular; those are the language's only two irregular verbs and get their own pages.
So the entire "which class?" problem collapses down to a single question about -る verbs.
Test 1: the vowel before る
Look at the vowel immediately before the final る:
| Vowel before る | Class | Certainty | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| a (あ-row) | godan | always | 分かる (wakaru), ある (aru) |
| u (う-row) | godan | always | 作る (tsukuru), 降る (furu) |
| o (お-row) | godan | always | 乗る (noru), 取る (toru) |
| e (え-row) | ichidan | usually | 食べる, 教える, 寝る |
| i (い-row) | ichidan | usually | 見る, 起きる, 着る |
The top three rows are ironclad: if -る follows an a / u / o vowel, the verb is always godan. There is no such thing as an ichidan verb ending in -ある, -うる, or -おる in normal modern use. That already resolves a huge share of verbs with certainty.
週末は近所の公園まで走る。
shūmatsu wa kinjo no kōen made hashiru
On weekends I run to the neighborhood park.
The remaining uncertainty lives entirely in -eる and -iる verbs. They are usually ichidan — but not always.
Test 2: memorize the -eる / -iる godan exceptions
A small, closed set of verbs end in -eる or -iる yet conjugate as godan. These are the classic traps. There aren't many, and the common ones are worth committing to memory as a block:
| Verb | Reading | Meaning | Looks like | Actually |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 帰る | kaeru | to go home | ichidan | godan |
| 入る | hairu | to enter | ichidan | godan |
| 走る | hashiru | to run | ichidan | godan |
| 要る | iru | to need | ichidan | godan |
| 切る | kiru | to cut | ichidan | godan |
| 知る | shiru | to know | ichidan | godan |
| 減る | heru | to decrease | ichidan | godan |
A few more you'll meet later — 限る (kagiru, "to limit"), 滑る (suberu, "to slip"), 蹴る (keru, "to kick"), 参る (mairu, humble "to go/come") — belong to the same godan-exception club. Treat the list as memory work; there is no rule that generates it.
毎晩十一時ごろ家に帰る。
maiban jūichi-ji goro ie ni kaeru
I get home around eleven every night.
はさみで丁寧に紙を切る。
hasami de teinei ni kami o kiru
I carefully cut the paper with scissors.
Contrast those with a true ichidan -iる verb, which keeps the class you'd expect:
週末はたいてい家で映画を見る。
shūmatsu wa taitei ie de eiga o miru
On weekends I usually watch a movie at home.
Test 3: the negative — the surest test of all
When no dictionary is handy and you can't remember the exception list, there is an empirical test that never lies: form the negative. The two classes build it in visibly different ways.
- Ichidan: attach 〜ない straight to the bare stem → 見ない, 食べない, 起きない. Nothing is inserted.
- Godan: insert an あ-row kana before ない → 帰らない, 切らない, 走らない, 作らない.
That extra ら / さ / た vowel is the fingerprint of a godan verb. If a native speaker says 帰らない, you have just watched the verb declare itself godan — an ichidan verb could never produce that inserted ら. (For the full mechanics of the negative, see Forming ない.)
今日はまだ会社に来る人が多いから、帰らない。
kyō wa mada kaisha ni kuru hito ga ōi kara, kaeranai
A lot of people are still coming into the office today, so I'm not going home.
この映画はもう見ないと思う。
kono eiga wa mō minai to omou
I don't think I'll watch this movie again.
そんなに時間はいらないよ。
sonna ni jikan wa iranai yo
I don't need that much time. (要る is godan → 要らない)
The past tense works as a second confirmation: ichidan 見る → 見た, but godan 帰る → 帰った (with a euphonic っ that ichidan verbs never produce). If you know the plain past form, 帰った vs ×帰た settles it just as decisively.
Common mistakes
❌ もう帰ます。
Incorrect — 帰る is a godan exception; it can't drop the る.
✅ もう帰ります。
mō kaerimasu
I'm heading home now. (godan: 帰り + ます)
❌ ナイフでパンを切ない。
Incorrect — 切る is godan, so the negative needs the あ-row.
✅ ナイフでパンを切らない。
naifu de pan o kiranai
I don't cut the bread with a knife. (godan: 切ら + ない)
❌ その話は知ない。
Incorrect — 知る is godan; there is no bare-stem negative 知ない.
✅ その話は知らない。
sono hanashi wa shiranai
I don't know that story. (godan: 知ら + ない)
❌ 見らない
Incorrect — 見る is genuinely ichidan; no あ-row is inserted.
✅ 見ない
minai
I don't watch (it). (ichidan: bare stem 見 + ない)
Every one of these is a class-identification error. Once you know which class the verb is in, the correct form is automatic — which is exactly why nailing the diagnostic matters more than memorizing individual conjugations.
Key takeaways
- Not -る → always godan. The whole problem is only about -る verbs.
- -る after a / u / o → always godan (作る, 乗る, ある). Certain.
- -る after e / i → usually ichidan (食べる, 見る), except a memorized set: 帰る, 入る, 走る, 要る, 切る, 知る, 減る.
- The negative is the foolproof test: ichidan adds ない to the bare stem (見ない); godan inserts an あ-row kana (帰らない).
- When in doubt, conjugate the negative out loud — the verb tells you its own class.
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
- Ichidan (一段) Verbs & the -る DropN5 — The tidy verb class whose dictionary form ends in -る after an /e/ or /i/ vowel and which conjugates by simply dropping る.
- Godan (五段) VerbsN5 — The largest verb class, whose stem ends in a consonant and whose final kana shifts across all five vowel rows.
- Forming 〜ない Across the ClassesN4 — The mechanical rule for the plain negative — godan to the あ-row (with わ for う-verbs), ichidan drop-る, and the two irregulars — plus the ある → ない exception.