Hi everyone
Got a question. It’s my second try with Japanese and I am again where I left last time - る verbs. I know there is a song (and very cute videos) and I tried bunpro - but the thing is both sources have all/almost all those verbs together. I must confess it’s too overwhelming for me…
Is there any other resource that has a more step by step approch?
Would really appreciate it!
What are you trying to learn exactly? Specific conjugations or something?
Wanikani doesn’t provide mnemonics for verb endings, but I make my own, and I use a different mnemonic for る verbs than I do with う verbs ending with る. That way I hammer it down in my head which it is from the moment I start memorizing. It also helps to not just remember the dictionary form, but the polite form too, that also will clue you in to which it is. (as in, does it “conjugate” to ます or ります)
Get a textbook!
What! We live in the world of cool conjugation songs on YouTube. Leave that textbook to gramps.
Nah, seriously though, you just need to learn the conjugation rules and practice. It’ll take time. I still make conjugation mistakes after studying Japanese for over 3 years.
I recommend Ligodeer to learn and drill the basics. And there’s Tae Kim’s gide for more in-depth explanations.
Another thing is, with verbs ending in る it’s impossible tell if they are う-verbs or る-verbs. You just need to know that. Again, this just comes with practice and exposure to Japanese.
For me listening to a ton of native content helps. You don’t even need to intentionally listen it for practice. I watch a lot of anime. And quite often part of the pleasure is to parse what the characters are saying. If I don’t know the vocab I glance at the subs and try to “plug the holes” in what I understood. This way I practice listening and even learn new vocab.
Cure Dolly is the one that made it all make sense for me. The voice and android schtick may be a turn off but the content is good.
Here is a site to practice conjugations:
Ichidan verbs are the easier of the two main verb conjugation groups, since all you have to do to find the stem is just remove the る.
しんじる
しんじます
しんじた
たべる
たべます
たべた
and so on
Godan verbs have the same endings as ichidan verbs. (with the caveat that sometimes they become voiced, so a た changes to だ in certain words in a predictable pattern) However to find the stem, you must change the final sound of the dictionary form, so it’s a bit trickier.
まもる
まもります
まもった
およぐ
およぎます
およいだ
I know sometimes these are called る verbs and う verbs, but not all verbs that end in る are ichidan so be careful about that. If a verb doesn’t end in る, you’ll know it’s godan. If it does end in る, the best thing to do is look it up. You can also determine which group it’s in if you hear it / see it conjugated, once you get more used to it. Not sure if that’s the info you were looking for but hopefully it’s helpful. ^^;
I was just gonna post that. Basically, everytime someone says we have to learn all the exceptions, there’s a dolly video explaining that we actually don’t.
I’m just re-starting as well and I’m so glad I clicked on those videos despite the very very odd thumbnails.
It’s all about programming the brain not to map our language onto Japanese really. I only know English and romantic languages so it’s been tricky for me not to try and match Japanese to what I know but it does not work.
Practice is what you need with conjugations
Try this page, https://steven-kraft.com/projects/japanese/
It’s great to practice them. Choose “Negative Form” or “て-Form” or whatever you wanna train, select the settings you prefer and study. Good Luck!
Yup, I think that’s a terrible name and it trips up so many people. Once you learn about godan and ichidan those terms are much less confusing to use.
This is probably the biggest take away from CD. Once you learn that, everything starts to make sense. I think that’s why he/she resonates so much with people.
Yep, I guess the idea behind that name was that it’s because you remove る to get the stem. But it still is confusing. JFZ uses to call them －いる/－える verbs, (and the godan ones he calls “regular”), which seems a bit more logical.
Looking back at it all, I think I’d prefer if they just introduced the names "ichidan"and “godan” right away - I mean, they aren’t exactly difficult names 
- and just explain that ichidan verbs can be recognized by ending with “いる” or “える” sound, while mentioning that there are some godan verbs that sound the same, which should be enough for beginner.
Still, I think the worst are those textbooks that just call them the infamous “Group 1” and “Group 2” verbs.
Why is that terminology considered bad? I went to two different schools in Tokyo that both used that terminology, and it doesn’t seem to harm anything. I don’t disagree that it might be slightly better to just use the godan/ichidan terms from the beginning, but Group 1/2 doesn’t seem actively harmful.
You’re right, I wouldn’t go so far as to call it actively harmful. However, among the options presented, I think it’s the worst choice, because it lacks any, how to say it, descriptiveness of the others?
“Ichidan” and “Godan” are “official” names for those groups of verbs, and, while somewhat cryptic to the beginner, those names are also connected to the way those verbs conjugate if I’m not mistaken. The “る/う” or “－いる/－える” names are arbitrary, but they were created to help beginners differentiate between those groups. “Group 1” / “Group 2” is arbitrary and tells you exactly nothing about each group. I mean - what’s the point of coming up with an arbitrary name, if it doesn’t seem to have any advantages over the “official” one (ichidan/godan)?
Have a look at this video: GENKI 1: Lesson 3 | Part One | Japanese VERB CONJUGATION - YouTube
It helped me a lot since the explanation in Genki was so bad!
This video was amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Oh man, that’s probably the worst. Even after going through material that references it that way I still can’t remember which is which.
It’s not actively bad, the name just doesn’t contain any information on which group would be which. At least -う/-る distinctions are descriptive even if they’re confusing.
I think I saw a video where George was considering switching to ichidan/godan in a later edition but he kept the Regular naming convention so as not to confuse past students.
Never heard them be called いる verbs before 