Learn Japanese
Lesson 185: The Plain Form III: Present Tense Negative Verbs

Conjugating verbs to the negative present tense in the plain form varies depending on the verb's ending. There are three types of endings we need to pay attention to:

1. Group 2, or 一いち段だん verbs, which all end in -る
2. Group 1, or 五ご段だん verbs that end in -う
3. Group 1, or 五ご段だん verbs that do not end in -う
4. The irregular verbs です、ある、する、来る

For 一いち段だん verbs, replace the -る with -ない. For example, 食べる becomes 食べない.

For 五ご段だん verbs that end in -う, change the -う into -わない. For example, 買う becomes 買わない.

For 五ご段だん verbs not ending in -う, change the う-sound into an -あ-sound, and add ない. For example, 行いく becomes 行いかない.

And finally, the negative plain form for the irregular verbs is as follows:

And here are example sentences for each of them: