Japanese Verb Auxiliaries

All sorts of things that can come after verb stems and -te forms to create more complicated phrases. Other than being grouped by whether they follow the verb stem or the -te form, the entries on this page are in no particular order.

Verb Stem Compounds

Compounds:

A second verb may attach to a verb stem to form a compound verb. There are a huge number of these that are common, many of which are listed in most dictionaries. On top of this, people, especially writers, make up their own fairly often.

Some common auxiliary verbs follow.

Begin to do (-dasu, -hajimeru):

Add ～出す (-dasu) or ～始める (-hajimeru) when an action is just beginning. ～出す has a connotation of a more sudden or rapid start.

The more literal meaning of moving something to a more open or public place may apply instead when using ～出す, though.

Redo (-naosu, -kaeru):

Add ～直す (-naosu) or ～替える (-kaeru or -gaeru) for redoing an action. Typically, ～直す is used with a sense of correcting or improving something that was done imperfectly or incompletely, or was disrupted after having already been done, while ～替える is used with a sense of discarding the previous result and starting over.

Do deeply (-komu):

Add ～込む (-komu) for a sense of moving inside or doing something deeply, intensely, or thoroughly.

Do fully (-kiru):

Add ～切る (-kiru or -giru) when something is done completely, utterly, or resolutely.

The more literal meaning of cutting may apply instead, though, and in some cases it could be interpreted either way without significantly affecting the meaning.

Purpose of movement (...ni iku, ...ni kuru, etc.):

Appending に (ni) to a verb stem and following with a movement verb means to travel somewhere for the purpose of that activity. Common movement verbs include 行く (iku, to go), 来る (kuru, to come), and 帰る (kaeru, to return, usually home).

Archaic commands (o + [verb stem]):

This is rare in modern language, but prefixing お～ (o-) to a verb stem is one way of suggesting or ordering that an action be taken, and is occasionally used at least in fiction. It also shows up semi-idiomatically in some common phrases, like お帰り (okaeri, "welcome home") and お休み (oyasumi, "good night"), and is additionally used as follows, as Inuyasha fans may recognize:

Polite requests (o + [verb stem] + kudasai):

Sandwiching a verb stem between お～ (o-) and ～下さい (-kudasai) is a highly polite way to request that an action be taken. Don't be fooled by the word "request", though, as this form is often used in the service industry when telling customers what to do, and should be taken as instruction rather than suggestion.

Want to... (-tai):

To express what you want (or don't want) to do, just add ～たい (-tai) to the verb stem, and conjugate the result as an -i adjective.

This form is normally used only when referring to your own desires. It is not considered proper in Japanese to speak of the thoughts, feelings, or desires of others as though you understand them. After all, who really knows what goes on in the mind of another? Instead, you can say that they said they want to, perhaps using ～と言った (-to itta), that you think they want to, perhaps using ～と思う (-to omou), or that their behavior suggests that they want to, using the ～がる (-garu) adjective ending.

Note that there is no ～たい version of the copula. To say "want to be", use なりたい (naritai, want to become) for something that you aren't already, or でいたい (de itai) for an existing state.

For what you someone else to do, refer to ～てほしい (-te hoshii).

Overdoing it, too much... (-sugiru):

Add the auxiliary verb ～すぎる (-sugiru) to the stem of another verb to express the idea of doing too much of something. ～すぎる conjugates as a -ru verb, and has some negative connotation to it, so can't normally be used in any complimentary way.

Imminent events (-sou):

When something seems like it's getting ready to happen any moment now, attach ～そう (-sou) to the verb stem. To form the negative, add ～そうもない (-sou mo nai) instead. The verb stem + そう combination acts as a -na adjective, so you can also use it to modify nouns by adding ～な (-na) after ～そう.

The particle ばかり (bakari) can be used to similar effect, but seems to be far less common.

Concurrent events (-nagara):

When someone is doing two things at the same time, add ～ながら (-nagara) to the verb stem of one action, and follow it with the second one as a normal sentence. ～ながら can only be used when the same actor performs both actions. The more important or more central action goes second, while the less important or more incidental action comes first, assuming it makes any sense to rank them.

～ながら can also be used to indicate a contrast, especially when followed with も (mo). This is roughly equivalent to "even as."

Though the copula has no verb stem (except in literary form), ながら can be used directly after nouns and adjectives to give the meaning of "while being." Refer to the ながら (nagara) particle entry.

Easy or hard to do (-yasui, -nikui, and -gatai):

Express that an action is easy to do by adding ～やすい (-yasui) to the verb stem.

Conversely, express the difficulty of an action by adding ～にくい (-nikui) or ～がたい (-gatai) to the verb stem.

These tend to refer to ease or difficulty based on how the person involved handles it, and not on purely external factors, such as something being difficult to buy because of scarcity. For that, you can noun the verb and then describe the action as 難しい (muzukashii, difficult), for instance.

How to... (-kata):

Attach ～方 (-kata) to a verb stem to form a noun for how to do the action, or the way in which it is done.

Do this (-tamae):

Attach ～たまえ (-tamae), the command form of the verb たまう (tamau, to give or bestow) to a verb stem to form a request that this action be done. This can be anything from a prayerful plea to an order that is expected to be followed, and is also fairly outdated. Using たまえ commands with subordinates apparently conveys an affectionate tone.

～たまえ may also be written in kanji as ～賜え or ～給え.

Effectiveness (-gai):

Attach ～がい (-kata), also written 甲斐, to a verb stem to form a noun for the effect or usefulness of the action. This tends to be used in the form ～がいがある (-gai ga aru) to indicate that something is worth doing (has a meaningful effect), or the form ～がいはない (-gai wa nai) to indicate that it's doesn't do any good (has no meaningful effect). As is usually the case for these particles, the は (wa) and が (ga) are somewhat interchangable in this usage, though it affects the emphasis, and either can be replaced with の (no) when modifying a noun.

-te Form Compounds

Even if (-te mo):

X～てもY (X -te mo Y), using a -te form verb, means Y even if, even though, or even when X. When X is a question phrase, it becomes a no matter who/what/where/etc. meaning. The ～なくて (-nakute) form is used for negatives rather than the ～ないで (-naide) form.

The equivalent forms of the copula are でも (de mo) and じゃなくても (ja nakute mo). それでも (sore de mo, even though that) and just でも often appear at the beginning of a sentence to mean "even though [what was previously mentioned]," usually equating to "but."

Be careful; this でも looks just like the particle でも, but the usage and meaning are different.

 

Especially in casual speech past tense + って (tte) may be used to mean basically the same thing as -te form + も, though it may be more emphatic. This seems to be used more frequently with affirmative verbs than negative ones, but both do occur. The equivalent copula form is だって (datte), while -i adjectives replace the ～い (-i) with ～くたって (-kutatte). Negative verbs similarly replace the final ～ない (-nai) with ～なくたって (-nakutatte).

May do... can do... (-te mo ii):

To say that something is allowed, add もいい (mo ii) to the positive -te form of a verb. This can also be used in past tense to say that something was allowed, and can be used in questions to ask for permission.

The literal meaning is basically, "it's okay even if..." It's also possible to drop the も (mo), but this is less common.

In casual speech, past tense + って (tte) may be used instead of -te form + も, as explained under ～ても, though that's overly emphatic for most situations.

May refrain from... don't have to do... (-nakute mo ii):

To say that something is not mandatory, add もいい (mo ii) to the ～なくて (-nakute) negative -te form of a verb (do not use the ～ないで (-naide) negative). This can also be used in past tense to say that not doing something was okay, or in questions to ask whether it's okay to not do something.

The literal meaning is basically "It's okay even if you don't..." It's possible to drop the も (mo), but this is less common.

In casual speech, the short nonpast negative with the ～ない (-nai) changed to ～なくたって (-nakutatte) may be used instead of -te form + も, as explained under ～ても, though that's overly emphatic for most situations.

Must do... have to do... (-nakucha ikenai, etc.):

To say that something has to be or must be done, add は (wa) and いけない (ikenai), which literally means "can't go", to the ～なくて (-nakute) negative -te form of a verb (never the ～ないで (-naide) negative). Use いけません (ikemasen) instead of いけない for long form.

In this form, ～ては is often contracted to ～ちゃ (-cha) even in formal speech, but generally not in writing. In casual speech, ～なくては (-nakute wa) may be shortened all the way to ～なきゃ (-nakya). Also, だめ (dame), which roughly means "no good" and is often written in katakana as ダメ, especially in exclamations, can be used instead of いけない, and is even less formal.

ならない (naranai) and なりません (narimasen), which are literally "won't become" (or possibly "won't bear fruit" or "won't be of use"; it's hard to tell since they're all the same kana), can be used in place of いけない (ikenai) and the others. Actually, I think just about anything that gives a vague negative sense works, but the ones listed here are by far the most common.

Furthermore, the negative of the provisional (-ba) form (or its variants) may be used in place of the -te form. My observation is that the negative -te and だめ tend to go together, the negative provisional form and ならない tend to go together, and both forms go with いけない roughly equally. A negative verb plus the と (to) particle in its conditional function also works.

Every one of these variants can also be used in past tense to say that something had to be done in the past. Additionally, all are actually double negatives, basically saying that not doing whatever is not okay (therefore it must be done).

Especially in casual speech, the first half of the phrase will sometimes appear at the end of a sentence, without being followed by the second half, as a shortening of this usage.

Must not do... May not do... (-cha ikenai and -te wa ikemasen):

To say that something is not allowed, add は (wa) and いけない (ikenai), which literally means "can't go", to the positive -te form of a verb. Use いけません (ikemasen) instead of いけない for long form.

In casual speech, ～ては may be shortened to ～ちゃ (-cha), and ～では may be shortened to ～じゃ (-ja). Also, だめ (dame), which roughly means "no good" and is often written ダメ especially in exclamations, can be used instead of いけない, and is even more informal. All variants can be used in the past tense to say that something was not allowed.

ならない (naranai) and なりません (narimasen), which are literally "won't become" (or possibly "won't bear fruit" or "won't be of use"; it's hard to tell since they're all the same kana), can be used in place of いけない (ikenai) and the others. Actually, I think just about anything that gives a vague negative sense works, but the ones listed here are by far the most common.

Unlike the "must do" equivalent, the provisional (-ba) form and negative verb plus と (to) are not used for "must not do" sentences.

Requests (-te kudasai and -naide kudasai):

～て下さい (-te kudasai), using a positive -te form verb, equates to "please do..." and the negative form ～ないで下さい (-naide kudasai) equates to "please don't..." The ～なくて negative is not used for this purpose. ください may be written in kana rather than kanji, and both ways are common.

Casual requests may drop ください entirely or use less polite attachments.

These are only the basics. For a little more detail, see the section on requests.

Apologies (-te sumimasen and -nakute sumimasen):

～てすみません (-te sumimasen), using a positive -te form verb, is an apology for having done something, and ～なくてすみません (-nakute sumimasen) is an apology for having not done something. The ～ないで negative is not used for this purpose.

As with requests, these are only the basics. For a little more detail, see the section on apologies.

Actions and effects in progress (-te iru):

A -te form verb + いる (iru) refers to an action with an associated duration that includes the present. What, exactly, this means depends on whether the verb is in the transitive action-focused category or the intransitive change-focused category. This gets a little complicated, so hang on...

For the transitive type, the duration is simply the duration of the action itself. 食べている (tabete iru) means "is eating." This is easy enough to understand; it's the same as the present progressive ('-ing' form) in English.

For the intransitive type, however, it's a state caused by the action. 起きている (okite iru) doesn't mean "is currently waking up;" it's more like "is in the state resulting from waking up," or "has woken" or "is awake." Most of these verbs don't have a significant duration of their own (including stand up, sit down, board, put on, die, take up residence, achieve understanding, lift, and many others). However, 行く (iku), 来る (kuru), and 帰る (kaeru)—go, come, and return home—and some others with a significant duration fall into this group anyway. Therefore, 行っている (itte iru) means "is in the state resulting from going" or "went and is still there," not the more obvious (to English speakers, anyway) "is going." Similarly, 友達は来ている (tomodachi wa kite iru) means "a friend is in the state resulting from coming" or "a friend has come and is still here," rather than "a friend is coming."

Incidentally, this tense used to exist in English. Ever wonder why Joy to the World says "the Lord is come?" That's why. Using "is come" captures the concepts of "has come" and—explicitly rather than just implicity— "is here" in a single succinct phrase. Or at least used to. The idea hasn't completely died out—one story on Not Always Related involves a sister who liked to claim she "was adopted" (an adoption had happened) when her family embarrassed her, who then revised that to "is adopted" (an adoption happened and is still in effect) after another family member countered that, sure, she was adopted, but then they gave her back—but it doesn't come up all that often any more, and in cases like this when it does, the verb form generally functions more like an adjective than a true verb anyway. Regardless, "has come" usually does the job of "is come" well enough unless someone decides to be particularly pedantic.

Getting back to the original topic, to describe an intransitive verb action that is currently in the middle of occurring, you can use the short nonpast affirmative form followed by 途中 (tochuu, in progress, in the middle of, partway). For example, if your friend is on the way over, you could say 友達は来る途中 (tomodachi wa kuru tochuu).

As another example, ドアが開いている (DOA ga aite iru), with the intransitive verb 開く (aku), means "the door is open," while ドアを開けている (DOA wo akete iru), with the transitive verb 開ける (akeru), means "I am opening the door." Transitive verbs are still transitive even when the object isn't stated; 食べている (tabete iru), with the transitive verb 食べる (taberu), is still "I'm eating" even though the object (what I'm eating) isn't mentioned.

Various other conjugations of いる are also legitimate, such as the past and negative forms.

In speech, especially when casual, ～ている and ～でいる are often shortened to ～てる (-te ru) and ～でる (-de ru).

Actions done in preparation (-te oku):

A -te form verb + おく (oku) refers to an action that is done in preparation for something or otherwise done in advance.

In casual speech, ～ておく (-te oku) may be shortened to ～とく (-toku). Simlarly, ～でおく (-de oku) may become ～どく (-doku).

By itself, おく means to put, place, or leave something, so you could also think of this as doing something and then leaving the outcome in place for later.

Caused actions still in effect (-te aru):

A -te form verb + ある (aru) describes actions with lasting effects, similar to the ～ている (-te iru) construct. The largest difference is that ～てある specifically indicates that the effect is the result of what someone has done. It's related to ～ておく (-te oku) in that ～ておく actions generally have ～てある effects, and ～てある effects generally have ～ておく causes. As a grammatical point, ～てある uses が instead of を to mark the thing affected (unlike ～ておく), and transitive verbs rather than intransitive ones (unlike the equivalant ～ている phrase). The following examples compare ～てある, ～ている, ～ておく, and related simple sentences that use none of them.

Trying something out (-te miru):

～てみる (-te miru), using a verb in -te form, indicates attempting something and seeing what happens. みる (miru) here is the same verb, and conjugates the same way, as 見る (miru, to see), but the kanji doesn't normally appear in this usage.

Another common comparable phrase is "see what it's like to do."

This is not the same as trying in the sense of making an ongoing effort to do something, but not being confident that it will keep up. So you wouldn't, for example, use ～てみる to say that you try to get up at dawn every day, unless you're just trying it out to find out how you like it. For making an effort, use ようにする (you ni suru) or a construct involving the volitional form.

～てみせる (-te miseru):

A -te form verb plus みせる (miseru) has at least two possible meanings. One directly draws on the literal meaning of 見せる (miseru, to show), and refers to performing an action so that it will be seen, or putting it on display, sometimes purely for appearances.

The other meaning uses perhaps a looser usage of "show" and indicates a determination to carry out an action. It has something of a sense of "I'll show you!" This meaning is less likely to use the kanji.

Since, ever since (-te kara):

X～てからY, with a verb in -te form and the particle から (kara), can mean either "Y ever since X" or "X and then Y".


～てしまう and ～ちゃう (-te shimau and -chau):

A -te form verb plus しまう (shimau) has two distinct possible meanings. One indicates that the action is carried out with determination, usually meaning that the action is completely finished.

The other meaning is that the outcome was not intended, and usually that it is unfortunate. This is often a good thing to use when apologizing, since that indicates you didn't mean for it to happen that way.

Either way, in more casual usage, ～てしまう may be shortened to ～ちゃう (-chau), and ～でしまう to ～じゃう (-jau). I've also seen ～ちまう (-chimau) several times. Kansai dialects often use ～てまう (-te mau) instead. These variants all conjugate as usual.

There may be cases where it is unclear which meaning is intended, but context is usually enough to tell.

(Not) giving in without a fight (-te tamaru):

Add たまる (tamaru, infrequently written in kanji as 堪る) to a -te form verb to give the sense of simply putting up with something, or allowing it to occur, without any opposition. This is typically phrased as a question, giving the indication that it most certainly will NOT happen without a fight.

The verb たまる rarely appears outside of this usage except in the negative form たまらない (tamaranai), and similarly the past negative たまらなかった (tamaranakatta). Here, たまらない roughly translates to "unbearable" or "irresistable" depending on context.

Also refer to the sentence ending もんか (mon ka), which expresses a similar concept and may be paired with ～てたまる.

I'm glad that ... happened (-te yokatta):

If you like the way things turned out and want to say so, use the -te form and follow with よかった (yokatta, was good). This works with the negative -te form as well—either one, though ～なくて (-nakute) seems more common probably because it adds some implication of cause and effect—and also when talking about other people and unrelated events.

Contrast this with the similar phrase provisional + yokatta that expresses regret about an unfavorable outcome:

Want someone else to... (-te hoshii):

For things that you want someone else to do, add ～ほしい (-hoshii) to the -te form of the verb. Use the particle に (ni) to mark the person you want to do something.

To negate it, either negate ほしい, which is an -i adjective, or use the negative -te form ～ないで (-naide). Do not use the ～なくて (-nakute) negative.

ほしい may also be written with kanji as 欲しい.

For what you want to do yourself, refer to the ～たい (-tai) verb ending.

～て行く (-te iku):

One of many combinations with more than one possible meaning, a -te form verb plus 行く (iku) may combine the more literal meaning of 行く (to go) with the -te form's standard connective function to result in the meaning "go after doing" or "do before (or when) going."

It may also have a looser meaning of an ongoing situation or gradual change continuing from the present into the future.

～て来る (-te kuru):

One of many combinations with more than one possible meaning, a -te form verb plus 来る (kuru) may combine the more literal meaning of 来る (to come) with the -te form's standard connective function to result in the meaning "come after doing" or "do before (or when) coming." This is often equivalent to English "go do" (since you can't come until you've first gone).

The related verbs 戻る (modoru, to come/go back) and 帰る (kaeru, to return home) can be used in the above sense as well.

～て来る may also have a looser meaning of an ongoing situation or gradual change leading up to the present from the past.