Japanese Verbs - Lesson 54

Lesson 54
Base 5

I'm afraid there isn't much you can do with Base 5. Looking over my list of Base 5 possibilities, I saw four that I feel are somewhat useful. I think we'll cover them all in this lesson.

First, let's get out the tables from Lesson 48 and add Base 5:

Yodan verbs:

Base 1	Base 2	Base 3	Base 4	Base 5
kawa	kai	kau	kae	kaou
aruka	aruki	aruku	aruke	arukou
isoga	isogi	isogu	isoge	isogou
kasa	kashi	kasu	kase	kasou
mata	machi	matsu	mate	matou
shina	shini	shinu	shine	shinou
asoba	asobi	asobu	asobe	asobou
yoma	yomi	yomu	yome	yomou
kaera	kaeri	kaeru	kaere	kaerou

Ichidan verbs:

Base 1	Base 2	Base 3	Base 4	Base 5
tabe	tabe	taberu	tabere	tabeyou
oboe	oboe	oboeru	oboere	oboeyou
kime	kime	kimeru	kimere	kimeyou
de	de	deru	dere	deyou
kari	kari	kariru	karire	kariyou
mi	mi	miru	mire	miyou

Irregular verbs:

Base 1	Base 2	Base 3	Base 4	Base 5
ko	ki	kuru	kure	koyou
shi	shi	suru	sure	shiyou

As you can see, Base 5 obediently follows the "vowel order rule" (Don't quote me, I just made that up...) by changing to end in an "oh" sound, the fifth vowel in the Japanese "alphabetical order": ah, ee, oo, eh, oh. (see Lesson 48) Also, in Base 5 the "oh" is elongated, so stretch it out a bit when you use it.

Base 5 Alone

The first handy thing you can do needs no attachments. It'll give you the plain form for "let's do (something)." The polite form is Base 2 + mashou, which we already mastered back in Lesson 9. Use Base 5 when you don't need to be polite:

Ikou. (Let's go.)
Tabeyou. (Let's eat.)
Yasumou. (Let's take a break.)

Base 5 + ka

Adding question-forming ka (Lesson 12) quickly changes these to suggestions:

Ikou ka. (Shall we go?)
Tabeyou ka. (Shall we eat?)
Yasumou ka. (Do you want to take a break?)

Please note that question-forming no cannot be used here.

Base 5 + ka na / ka naa

This gives you the equivalent of "I wonder if I should...." Ka na usually means the mind is pretty much made up; the drawn out ka naa means someone is still not sure:

Kaimono ni ikou ka na. (I think I'll go shopping.)
Kaimono ni ikou ka naa. (I wonder if I should go shopping.)
Terebi o miyou ka na. (Maybe I'll watch TV.)
Bob ni denwa shiyou ka naa. (I wonder if I should call Bob.)
Kyou wa tenki ga ii kara, arukou ka na. (I think I'll walk today since the weather's nice.)

Base 5 + to suru

This one is to express "try to do (something)." Suru is shown plain, but can be converted as necessary:

John wa koyou to suru to omou. (I think John will try to come.)
Naoto wa hikouki o miyou to shimashita ga, miemasen deshita. (Naoto tried to see the airplane, but he couldn't.)

These are the more useful Base 5 forms. You probably won't hear any others unless you watch samurai dramas or talk with people who don't get out very often. I'm sure you'll be able to get them memorized quickly.

Word Check

denwa suru: to call (on the telephone)
tenki: the weather
hikouki: airplane
mieru: to be able to see (something)

(Verbs are shown in their plain form.)