| The rentaikei conjugation is the basic conjugation of verbs
and verbal adjectives. This conjugation is also the form under which
you would look for a word in a dictionary.
The rentaikei has two functions:
- The main (closing) verb of a sentence.
- The attributive verb in front of nouns.
The conjugation
The rentaikei conjugation of verbs can be recognized because it
ends on a kana syllable from the "u" column. There is
however one other conjugation which is used as the rentaikei: the
ren'youkei
+た (ta).
| 買う |
かう |
kau |
to buy |
| 書く |
かく |
kaku |
to write |
| 泳ぐ |
およぐ |
oyogu |
to swim |
| 落とす |
おとす |
otosu |
to drop something |
| 待つ |
まつ |
matsu |
to wait |
| 死ぬ |
しぬ |
shinu |
to die |
| 住む |
すむ |
sumu |
to live somewhere |
| 食べる |
たべる |
taberu |
to eat |
| |
| The rentaikei conjugation of verbal adjectives
always ends on the "i"-syllable. |
| |
| 可愛い |
かわいい |
kawaii |
to be cute |
| 高い |
たかい |
takai |
to be high / to be expensive |
| 大きい |
おおきい |
ookii |
to be large / to be big |
| 小さい |
ちいさい |
chiisai |
to be small |
| 楽しい |
たのしい |
tanoshii |
to be fun |
| 少ない |
すくない |
sukunai |
to be little |
| |
| NOTE: Not all adjectives
ending on the "i"-syllable are verbal adjectives. |
| |
| 綺麗 (な) |
きれい (な) |
kirei (na) |
clean / pretty / beautiful |
| 嫌い (な) |
きらい (な) |
kirai (na) |
a dislike |
| |
The main (closing) verb
In Japanese, the main verb is placed at the absolute end of the
sentence. It may be followed by a particle, but that's about it.
This verb is almost always in the rentaikei form.
| 手紙を書く。 |
てがみをかく。 |
Tegami wo kaku. |
I'm going to write a letter. |
| 家が大きい。 |
いえがおおきい。 |
Ie ga ookii. |
The house is big. |
| |
| When dealing with a compound verb, the last part
of the compound is in the rentaikei form. |
| |
| 来られる |
こられる |
korareru |
to be able to come |
| 来 (mizenkei of 来る "to come") +られる (rentaikei) |
| |
| 食べさせる |
たべさせる |
tabesaseru |
to have someone eat |
| (mizenkei of 食べる "to eat") +させる (rentaikei) |
| |
| 書いている |
かいている |
kaite iru |
to be writing |
| 書いて (ren'youkei + -te form of 書く "to write")
+いる (rentaikei of "to be") |
| |
| 買います |
かいます |
kaimasu |
to buy (polite) |
| 買い (ren'youkei of 買う "to buy") +ます (rentaikei
/ polite) |
| |
| 大きくない |
おおきくない |
ookikunai |
to not be big |
| 大きく (mizenkei of 大きい "to be big") +ない
(rentaikei / negative) |
| |
The rentaikei can function as both the main verb of the main clause,
and as the main verb of the subordinate clause. The two clauses
must be connected by a conjunction such as "because" or
"though".
The attributive verb
The rentaikei conjugation can also be used in front of nouns. In
this case the verb describes the noun it is placed directly in front
of.
| 書く手紙 |
かくてがみ |
kaku tegami |
the letter I'm going to write |
| 買った物 |
かったもの |
katta mono |
the thing I bought |
| 大きい家 |
おおきいいえ |
ookii ie |
the big house |
| |
Special combinations
The rentaikei can adopt special functions when combined with certain
words or particles. Click on the links to find out more.
Rentaikei
+ か (ka)
Rentaikei
+ そう (sou)
Rentaikei
+ と (to)
Rentaikei
+ な (na)
Rentaikei
+ なら(ば) (nara(ba))
Rentaikei
+ の (no)
Rentaikei
+ べき (beki)
Rentaikei
+ まい (mai)
Rentaikei
+ みたい (な) (mitai na)
Rentaikei
+ らしい (rashii)
Rentaikei
+ よう (you)
The Rentaikei and particles
A number of particles
can be combined with the rentaikei. As these are not special grammatical
structures, you can refer to these particles individually. |
