Inflection – Japanese words change in many ways

“Inflection” – If you have learnt Japanese language, this would be a barrier to learn.

In the word “走る(はしる),” there are many types of inflection, “走ら(ない),” “走り(ます),” “走る,” “走る(とき),” “走れ(ば),” “走れ.”

“走(はし)” doesn’t change and we call it “stem.” “ら“, “り“, “る“, “る“, “れ“, and “れ” are called “inflection.

Each type has a different function and let me tell you how to learn it.

The key is vowel

To understand the inflection, the most important things in to focus on vowel.

If it’s “走る(はしる/run),” the inflections are “ら” “り” “る” “る” “れ” “れ” and the vowels are “a” “i” “u” “u” “e” “e.”

Similar to this, the inflections of “聞く(きく/listen)” are “か” “き” “く” “く” “け” “け”. You’ll find that the vowels are same.

There are different combinations of vowels.

For example, the inflections of “見る(みく/look)” are “み” “み” “みる” “みる” “みれ” “みよ(みろ)”. “み” inflects by itself.

The inflections of “出る(でる/get out)” are “で” “で” “でる” “でる” “でれ” “でよ(でろ)” and “で” inflects by itself as well.

If you learn these 3 types of inflections, you can cover most cases.

Functions of each inflection

As I mentioned, each inflection has their own function.

For example, after the first inflection such as “走ら”, “聞か”, “見” and “出”, we can put “ない” as a negation.

It’ll be “走らない(don’t run)”, “聞かない(don’t listen)”, “見ない(don’t look)” and “出ない(don’t get out)”.

　　　廊下(ろうか)を走(はし)らないでください(Don’t run in the corridor.)

We can put verb including “ます” after the second inflection such as “走り,” “聞き”, “見” and “出”.

　　　彼(かれ)は走(はし)り出(だ)した(He started running.)

The third inflection is used as the original. “走る”, “聞く”, “見る” and “出る” are the originals.

After the fourth inflections, we can put noun including “とき(when)”, such as “走るとき”, “聞くとき,” “見るとき” and “出るとき.”

　　　話を聞くときには静かにしなさい(Be quiet when you listen to someone.)

The fifth inflections are used to show hypothesis and we can put “ば” as an example.

　　　あれを見ればあなたも分かるでしょう(You’ll understand it if you look at that.)

The last inflections are used to order something. You don’t have to add anything to use.

Please be careful to use this because it may sound too aggressive.

　　　ここから出ろ(Get out of here.)

I recommend you to focus on these grammars when you see or hear Japanese language. It may see/sound different from before.

To learn the inflection, you need to be exposed to Japanese language so may times. Reading this will be a way to find clues.



This is the end of this blog. I hope you enjoy learning Japanese language.