100 Basic Japanese Verbs All Learners Should Know

There are 898 Pokémon species combined. If you think about it, 100 basic Japanese verbs (otherwise known as どうしor 動詞) is less than one-tenth of them. How many of them do you know, and how often will you use them in daily Japanese conversations (the verbs, not the Pokémon)?

Sure, the number of vocabularies you know says a lot about your Japanese language level. For example, if you know 500 to 1,000 basic Japanese words, you’re unofficially a beginner. Bump it up to 2,000 words, and you can pat yourself in the back because then you’re a full-fledged intermediate. Advanced learner? That’s roughly 8,000 words.

However, if there’s one thing more important than remembering them, it’s learning the right words. This is why learning basic Japanese verbs shouldn’t just be basic — it should be essential. After getting familiar with the important grammar patterns, what you need to do next is implement them and broaden your mental vocab library.

Before we get to the point, we want to make sure that you already have a strong foundation for Japanese verbs. This will be a simple and comprehensive cheat sheet, where we won’t be diving into verb modifications and grammar rules. For that, check out our Japanese verb guide.

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How Are Japanese Verbs Different From English Verbs?

Let’s break down the basic sentence structure in the English language: subject, followed by a verb and an object. For example, “I (subject) buy (verb) a book (object).” In all scenarios, a verb must precede the object to make the phrase grammatically accepted.

In Japanese, the main components are the same, but the order is different — the object goes before the verb.

Subject	Object	Verb
私は watashi ha	ご飯を gohan o	食べる taberu

This grammar rule might cause a lot of beginner learners a spin on the head (as most language follows the same sentence structure as English), but it gets easier with practice — and, conveniently, with a simple Japanese language hack, too.

Japanese speakers like to keep things short and concise. Unlike English, the Japanese language only needs at least one verb to make a complete sentence. If both the subject and object are obvious, omitting them is valid.

A: 田中さん、ご飯もう食べている？
A: Tanaka-san, gohan mou tabete iru?
A: Tanaka-san, have you eaten your meal?

B: 僕もう食べた。
B: Tabeta.
B: I have.

In the example above, the context is clear: the object is “meal” (ごはん also means “rice”) and the subject is the person being questioned. This shortcut is partly why you’ll notice a slight glitch in Japanese-to-English translations, especially when you don’t provide all the necessary elements most languages require.

In other ways, too, the Japanese language is simple. Singular and plural verbs don’t exist, and regardless of whether it’s one, or two — or a hundred — the verb stays the same. To prove our point, take a look at two examples.

レストランで一人のお客様は食べている。
Resutoran de hitori no okyakusama ha tabete iru.
One person is eating at the restaurant.

レストランで10人のお客様は食べている。
Resutoran de juunin no okyakusama ha tabete iru.
10 people are eating at the restaurant.

In English, quantifiers affect the verb. Singular nouns use is, while plural nouns use are. When the verb matches the subject, that’s called subject-verb agreement. There are also languages that are gendered, like Spanish, French and Arabic. In Japanese, it doesn’t matter.

But (and it’s a big but), Japanese verbs are split into three groups: Ru-verbs, U-verbs and irregular verbs. Which of these categories an action word belongs to affect their conjugation.

Conjugation Form	Ru-verb	U-verb	Irregular verb
Dictionary form	みる	のむ	くる
Present (ます)	みます	飲みます	きます
Present negative	みません	飲みません	きません
Past affirmative	みました	飲みました	きました
Past negative	みませんでした	飲みませんでした	きませんでした

One more thing: the table above represents four of the most basic conjugation that doesn’t include verb-ing (such as eating, drinking, walking). For this, you will need to change the word into its て-form — how it’s modified, again, depends on the type of verb it is.

Types of Japanese Verbs

For this specific guide, instead of grouping them based on the three types listed above, we’ll be categorizing the words based on social contexts, such as when and where they are usually used. We like to think it’s the best way to remember them. Plus, it’s also simpler and more effective — just remember not to get confused between Ru-verbs and U-verbs; transitive and intransitive verbs.

If you want to get a more complete guide, visit our article on types of Japanese verbs and verb conjugations.

Jump to:

• Japanese verbs related to mental situations and emotions
• Japanese verbs commonly used for daily activities at home
• Japanese verbs for physical actions
• Japanese verbs for verbal expression
• Irregular Japanese verbs

Japanese Verbs Related to Mental Situations And Emotions

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
驚く	おどろく	odoroku	to be surprised
泣く	なく	naku	cry
怒る	おこる	okoru	get angry
笑う	わらう	warau	laugh
怖がる	こわがる	kowagaru	fear
惚れる	ほれる	horeru	fall in love
慌てる	あわてる	awateru	panic, be flustered
慰める	なぐさめる	nagusameru	comfort, console
思う	おもう	omou	think
考える	かんがえる	kangaeru	consider
褒める	ほめる	homeru	praise
支える	ささえる	sasaeru	support
忘れる	わすれる	wasureru	forget
覚える	おぼえる	oboeru	remember, learn
疲れる	つかれる	tsukareru	get tired
信じる	しんじる	shinjiru	to believe
要る	いれる	iru	to need
間違える	まちがえる	machigaeru	make a mistake
知る	しる	shiru	to know
苦しむ	くるしむ	kurushimu	suffer
痛む	いたむ	itamu	become hurt, damaged
可愛がる	かわいがる	kawaigaru	love, be affectionate

Japanese Verbs Commonly Used For Daily Activities at Home

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
住む	すむ	sumu	to live
洗う	あらう	arau	to wash
付ける	つける	tsukeru	to turn on (light)
帰る	かえる	kaeru	to return (home)
切る	きる	kiru	to cut
寝る	ねる	neru	fall asleep
手伝う	てつだう	tetsudau	help
飲む	のむ	nomu	to drink
食べる	たべる	taberu	to eat
浴びる	あびる	abiru	bathe
磨く	みがく	migaku	brush (teeth)
食べる	たべる	taberu	to eat
寝る	ねる	neru	to sleep
触る	さわる	fureru	touch
着る	きる	kiru	to wear
届ける	とどける	todokeru	deliver
焼く	やく	yaku	bake
混ぜる	まぜる	mazeru	mix
開ける	あける	akeru	to open
入る	はいる	hairu	to enter
出る	でる	deru	to leave
作る	つくる	tsukuru	to make
置く	おく	oku	to put
遊ぶ	あそぶ	asobu	to play

Japanese Verbs For Physical Actions

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
歩く	あるく	aruku	walk
走る	はしる	hashiru	run
登る	のぼる	noboru	climb
泳ぐ	およぐ	oyogu	swim
座る	すわる	suwaru	sit
飛ぶ	とぶ	tobu	to fly
来る	くる	kuru*	to come
行く	いく	iku	to go
通う	かよう	kayou	commute
踊る	おどる	odoru	dance
抱く	だく	daku	embrace, hug
会う	あう	au	meet
働く	はたらく	hataraku	to work
泳ぐ	およぐ	oyogu	swim
書く	かく	kaku	to write
消す	けす	kesu	to erase
聞く	きく	kiku	to listen
待つ	まつ	matsu	to wait
動く	うごく	ugoku	to move
次ぐ	つぐ	tsugu	be next
見る	みる	miru	to see
見せる	みせる	miseru	to show
起きる	おきる	okiru	to get up
降りる	おりる	oriru	to get off
逃げる	にげる	nigeru	run away, escape
倒れる	たおれる	taoreru	fall down, collapse
急ぐ	いそぐ	isogu	to hurry
	あげる	ageru	give
	もらう	morau	receive
終わる	おわる	owaru	to finish
買う	かう	kau	to buy
返す	かえす	kaesu	to return
代わる	かわる	kawaru	switch
押す	おす	osu	to push
引く	ひく	hiku	to pull

Japanese Verbs for Verbal Expressions

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
話す	はなす	hanasu	to speak
言う	いう	iu	say
歌う	うたう	utau	sing
話す	しゃべる	shaberu	to talk; to chat
答える	こたえる	kotaeru	answer
教える	おしえる	oshieru	teach, show
聞く	きく	kiku	to ask
頼む	たのむ	tanomu	to ask (favor)
呼ぶ	よぶ	yobu	to call

Irregular Japanese Verbs

apanese verb conjugation is very regular, as is usual for an agglutinative language, but there are a number of exceptions. The best-known irregular verbs are the common verbs する suru “do” and 来る kuru “come”, sometimes categorized as the two Group 3 verbs

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	English
	する	suru	to do
電話する	でんわする	denwa suru	to call
勉強する	べんきょうする	benkyou suru	to study
宿題する	しゅくだいする	shukudai suru	to do homework
復習する	ふくしゅうする	fukushuu suru	to review
料理する	りょうりする	ryouri suru	cook
練習する	れんしゅうする	renshuu suru	practice
結婚する	けっこんする	kekkon suru	get married
掃除する	そうじする	souji suru	to clean
散歩する	さんぽする	sanpo suru	to take a stroll

What’s Next After Learning Japanese Verbs?

Solely memorizing these essential words isn’t enough. Applying them to simple situations is one thing, but speaking Japanese goes beyond present, past and negative tenses. For example, the Japanese language makes far more use of passive verbs than English (head to our guide on Japanese passive voice here). Besides that, there will also come a time where you want to use volitional forms (“Let’s do it” in English).

There’s a lot to take in, but we’re guiding you one step at a time. After this, learn to make a wider range of expressions and draw in details by learning about Japanese adjectives and adverbs. If you aren’t sure you’re ready for it, head to our 100 basic Japanese words guide.

Ready to go to the next chapter of our Japanese learning guide? Read our other comprehensive article on:

• 100 Most Common Japanese Adjectives You Need to Know
• 101 Basic Japanese Adverbs You Need to Know

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