Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 3: 9/19

う・よう (Volitional)Let's, I shall (Casual volitional)

Structure

Examples:
[る1]Verb() +
[る5]Verb(すわ) +
[う]Verb(うた) +
[く]Verb(ある) +
[す]Verb(はな) +
[つ]Verb() +
[ぬ]Verb() +
[ぶ]Verb() +
[む]Verb(やす) +
[ぐ]Verb(およ) +


Exceptions:
する → しよう
くる → こよう

Details

  • Standard

About Verb[よう]

よう (and ) are grammar constructions that function in a similar way to ましょう, or to be more precise, ましょう is the polite (conjugated) form of these auxiliary verbs. They are used as a casual way of expressing 'let's' when making suggestions, or 'I shall' when making statements.

よう is only one of the potential forms of this grammar point, and can actually be divided into two separate auxiliary verbs, (used with う-Verbs), and よう (used with る-Verbs, する, and くる).

When attaching to う-Verbs, simply replace the last kana with the equivalent お sound kana from within the same column (く becomes こ, う becomes お, す becomes そ, etc.), before adding . For る-Verbs, replace る with よう.

As with many other verb conjugations, する and くる behave in a slightly different way to regular う-Verbs and る-Verbs. する will become しよう, while くる will become こよう.

The type of statements that , and よう can be used for in Japanese are usually divided into three categories.

推量(すいりょう) - Expresses guesses (has a similar meaning to だろう, which itself is the よう form of )

意志(いし) - Expresses intentions (has a similar meaning to ~するつもりだ)

勧誘(かんゆう) - Expresses invitations or encouragement (has a similar meaning to (さそ)う 'to invite')

Caution

Although よう is used with る-Verbs, する, and くる, it should not be confused with ようだ, another auxiliary verb that is used when describing likeness (in a similar way to そうだ).


Antonyms



Vocab Coverage

All Bunpro Vocab that appears on this item.

Examples

--:--

  • あなたが好きなケーキ()ってあげよう

    I'll buy you a cake that you like.

  • 毎日(まいにち)スポーツしよう

    Let's play sports every day.

  • (あさ)(はん)()べに()こう

    Let's go out to eat for breakfast.

  • ここあまりいいものがないから(かえ)ろう

    There is not really anything good here, so let's go home.

  • 今日(きょう)(はや)(かえ)ろう

    Let's go home early today.

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      Verb[よう] – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (10 in total)

      • Jerfy

        Jerfy

        Hi, I was just wondering will stuff like this be on the JLPT Exam?

        推量 - Expresses guesses (has a similar meaning to だろう, which itself is the よう form of だ)

        意志 - Expresses intentions (has a similar meaning to ~するつもりだ)

        勧誘 - Expresses invitations or encouragement (has a similar meaning to 誘う ‘to invite’)

        LIke we gotta know the kanji names of each use of う・よう?

      • casual

        casual

        As far as I’ve seen, JLPT is a practice-oriented test, not a theory-oriented test. You are not expected to answer what category/part of speech/etc a word or usage falls under. You just have to understand what words mean and how they are used.

        So it’s helpful to understand that the same ~よう form can mean different things, but you don’t have to know these category names.

        That said, the words 意志 and 勧誘 themselves are common enough to come up on JLPT.

      • Jerfy

        Jerfy

        Thank you!

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