The Volitional 〜よう / おう

English scatters the idea of intention across a handful of little words: "let's go," "I'll do it," "shall we?" Japanese gathers all of them into a single conjugation — the volitional form (意向形, いこうけい). 行く becomes 行こう ("let's go / I'll go"), 食べる becomes 食べよう ("let's eat"). One form covers the group invitation, the private resolve, and the tentative proposal, because at bottom they are the same thing: the speaker projecting their will onto an action that has not happened yet. This page teaches how to build the plain volitional for every verb class and, more importantly, what it means — which is what lets it slot into the larger modality system.

The plain 〜よう／おう is the casual counterpart of the polite ましょう. If you want the polite form for use with strangers and superiors, see 〜ましょう; everything here is the plain-form register you use with friends, family, and yourself.

Formation by verb class

The volitional splits cleanly along the ichidan / godan line, plus the two irregulars.

Ichidan verbs: just add よう

Chop the final る and attach よう. No sound changes, ever.

• 食べる → 食べよう
• 見る → 見よう
• 起きる → 起きよう
• 寝る → 寝よう

Godan verbs: shift the last vowel to お and add う

This is the mechanical heart of the form. Take the dictionary-form final syllable, move it from the -u row to the -o row, and add う. So く→こ, む→も, つ→と, ぶ→ぼ, ぐ→ご, す→そ, う→お, る→ろ, ぬ→の.

The two irregulars

• する → しよう ("let's do it")
• 来る → 来よう（こよう）("let's come" — note the reading shifts to こ)

What the volitional actually means

Build is the easy half. The half that makes you fluent is understanding that the volitional expresses the speaker's will or proposal about a not-yet-real action — never a plain statement of fact. It has three overlapping readings, all flowing from that one core:

1. Invitation / suggestion — "let's." With a plural or inclusive subject:

2. First-person resolve — "I'll / I think I'll." Talking to yourself or announcing your own intention:

3. Deliberation — "what shall I…?" In a question to yourself:

Why it resists a plain third-person subject

Because the volitional is anchored to the speaker's own will, it behaves like English "let's": it wants a first-person or inclusive subject. Handing it a bare third-person subject is odd — 彼が行こう ("he'll-let's go") does not work, just as English "let's he go" does not. To attribute intention to someone else, Japanese does not use the bare volitional; it wraps it in a reporting frame like 〜と思っている ("intends to") or leaves the volitional for the speaker alone.

Notice the volitional 留学しよう survives, but only inside 〜と思っている — the reporting frame is what lets a third person's intention be described.

The volitional as a foundation: 〜と思う and 〜とする

This is why the plain volitional is worth mastering early: it is the base other modality is built on. Because the volitional names intention rather than fact, it plugs directly into two hugely productive patterns:

• 〜ようと思う — "I intend to / I'm thinking of." Adds a layer of deliberateness to your own volitional. See 〜と思う.
• 〜ようとする — "be about to / try to." The volitional + する describes an action on the verge of happening or an attempt in progress. See 〜とする.

Both are impossible without the volitional stem — which is exactly why this "simple" form sits under so much of intermediate Japanese.

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• The plain volitional (意向形) means "let's / I'll / shall we" — the speaker's will or proposal about a future action.
• Ichidan: drop る + よう (食べよう). Godan: last vowel -u → -o + う (行こう, 飲もう, 待とう). する → しよう, 来る → 来よう（こよう）.
• Build it off the -o vowel, never the -a negative stem — that is the classic slip.
• It names intention, not fact, so it is first-person(-inclusive) at heart, has no ordinary negative or past, and resists a bare third-person subject.
• It is the base for 〜ようと思う ("intend to") and 〜ようとする ("about to / try to") — master it and those come almost for free.