Structure
Examples:
座る + らない
歌う + わない
歩く + かない
話す + さない
打つ + たない
死ぬ + なない
飛ぶ + ばない
休む + まない
泳ぐ + がない
Exceptions:
ある → ない
Details
Part of Speech
Verb
Word Type
Auxiliary Verb
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Standard
About う-Verb (Negative)
The negative form of う-Verbs are conjugated based on the same set of rules used for other forms of う-Verb conjugation (changing the last kana, followed by the addition of something else). In the case of negation, the additional component will be ない (casual), or ません (polite).
As can be seen here, the kana change differs depending on whether ない or ません is being used. If ない will be used, the last kana will always change from the kana ending with a う sound, to the kana ending with an あ sound within the same row. If ません will be used, the change will be from the う sound kana to the い sound kana. The only exception to this rule are verbs that end in the kana う. Instead of changing to あ (the あ sound kana in the same row), う will become わ, when used with ない.
While the common translation of ない and ません is simply 'not', they actually have several possible nuances. These nuances are 'don't' (usually not), 'won't' (intentionally not), or 'can't' (unintentionally not).
Both ない and ません are auxiliary verbs (ません is a conjugation of ます), meaning that they have their own set of conjugation rules.
Caution
The ない attached to make the negative form of adjectives is a different word, and therefore follows different conjugation rules. The ない attached to adjectives is an い-Adjective itself, and not an auxiliary verb.
Examples
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お金はない。
お金はないです。
お金はありません。
I don't have money.
車は持たない。
車は持たないです。
車は持ちません。
I won't have a car.
木は歩かない。
木は歩かないです。
木は歩きません。
Trees do not walk.
トミーは話さない。
トミーは話さないです。
トミーは話しません。
Tommy does not talk.
ボールを打たない。
ボールを打たないです。
ボールを打ちません。
to not hit a ball
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る-Verbs
Imabi
う-Verbs
Imabi 2
Negative Verbs
Tae Kim
Japanese verb conjugation
Kanji Link
INFORMAL NEGATION VERBS
Japanese Ammo
Negation of masu verbs ません
Japanese Ammo
Informal Past Negative form of Verbs
Japanese Ammo
Aeron Buchanan's Japanese Verb Chart
Wikipedia Commons
Offline
みんなの日本語 I
Page 110 [CH 17]
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 47
Try N5
Page 20
Genki I 2nd Edition
88 & 190
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う-Verb (Negative) – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (5 in total)
KanjiCollector
That video was super helpful!
SienaDream
Hi!
Just to clarify so I don’t get it mixed up, Godan Verbs are five-step and Ichidan Verbs are one-step right?
Daru
That is exactly right!
Godan and Ichidan both literally mean that, five-steps or one-step!
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