Can someone explain the sentence examples for verb vocabulary

In this example the る Isn’t present in any of the examples. Is る only used as a way to identify that the vocab is a verb in Japanese or are there instances where It is present in sentences as well. If it isn’t present in actual sentences should we even pronounce the る.

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When ichidan (ru-verbs) are conjugated the る is replaced by the conjugation. There are cases where the verbs are not conjugates, and the る. You might want to start doing some grammar studies as well

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The vocab is given to you in what is known as the ‘dictionary from’, this is the, I guess you could call it, ‘neutral form’ of the verb, i.e To Insert, as opposed to its conjugated forms (inserted, inserting etc.)

Japanese has lots of different conjugations for verbs (many that I’m certain we don’t have in English) that alter with politeness level too, it would be helpful to look at a basic grammar textbook too whilst you’re learning :slight_smile:

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As @Kumirei mentioned, verbs conjugate when used. The dictionary form you see when doing vocabulary reviews is actually used in real sentences, you often use it as the present-tense short-form of a verb, which you will come across a lot.

In the examples sentences shown here, the verb is conjugated three times:

  1. 入れます: the present-tense formal-form of the verb
  2. 入れて: the te-form of the verb, in this case used with ください to express a request
  3. いれた: the past-tense short-form of the verb

So in each of the three sentences the verb is just conjugated. You do actually use the dictionary form a lot, you’ll learn about the applications once your grammar studies reach verb short forms.

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By conjugate do you mean changes in tenses?

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In Japanese, verbs conjugate for a variety of reasons. They can change for tense like English verbs do, but also for politeness (e.g. 入れます vs 入れる), or into a bunch of other forms to signify certain nuances (e.g. there are forms to express possibility and desire), or for grammatical constructs (e.g the て form of a verb can be used in certain construction to express requests, ongoing actions or a variety of other features).

You’ll encounter a lot of different verb conjugations once you start doing your grammar studies, so it’s best to keep up with those and you’ll learn about them eventually.

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Yes, those are conjugations, and as @BIsTheAnswer stated, conjugations can happen for a lot of reasons, and Japanese has many more forms than English does.

For example, Japanese has a conjugation for something that was done regrettably ( Verb[ ] + しまう; 入れてしまった a double conjugation as it is also past tense ) whereas we would normally use an adverb (I regrettably entered).

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Sorry, I don’t want to derail this thread, but is using auxiliary verbs like しまう really considered a conjugation by itself?

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いれる its the “neutral” form of the verb… - TO INSERT.

when you read, you’ll often find the conjugation variations.

ex:
いれた -INSERTED (past tense) remove the るand add whatever you need to conjugate.

So, wanikani will teach you all the “neutral” forms… its up to you to know the so called “conjugations”

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I actually don’t know sorry, interesting question though :slight_smile: someone else may be better to field this one to!

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Yeah, I’d call that a grammar structure, but not a conjugation. The conjugation in that one is just the ~て form.

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English also conjugates for person and number (he eats vs they eat vs you eat). Japanese verbs only conjugate for tense, though there are many auxiliary verb constructions.

English also uses tons of auxiliary verbs e.g. “have eaten”, “had eaten”, “has been eating”, “does eat”, “would eat”, etc. Honestly I think verbs in Japanese are easier than English ones, although I’m a native English speaker so it’s hard to say.

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I’ve always disliked the term “dictionary form”. Makes it sound like it’s only found in a dictionary.

To add in with what other people are saying, while it’s true that there are many conjugations for Japanese verbs, don’t let that make you feel overwhelmed. Those conjugations often just make up for other parts of speech found in English.

For example, expressing the desire to do (insert godan verb here) is done by taking the last mora, changing it to its い equivalent, and then adding たい.

to read む → 読み → want to read 読みたい
to wait つ → 待ち → want to wait 待ちたい

So instead of having a word to express the desire to do an action, they use a conjugation.

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But it is the form that you would find in the dictionary.

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What other description would you use to describe the form of the verb that would be found in a dictionary other than 辞書形? :man_shrugging:

Seems a fairly logical term to me.

Do you refer to the English infinitive form as “dictionary form”?

I have, yes.

Even if I didn’t, I would still use it in the context of Japanese because that’s the term used in Japanese. :man_shrugging:

My teacher sometimes referred to it as 普通形 (“normal form”) since it’s used in normal speech rather than polite speech.

Sure, there’s a variety of synonyms for lemma even in English. Basic form, canonical form, dictionary form, etc.

Honestly, in English I’d probably say “present tense”. But unlike Japanese, I don’t typically have conversations about English grammar.