Which verb form should I learn?
 

I'm a bit worried, I've been taught loads of verbs in the polite form, I went out of my way to learn a few in the dictionary form. But now I'm wanting to use -te conjugations more and I'm having problems figuring them out as I don't know all the dictionary forms.

I know the eimasu to ete trick, but that doesn't cover the i-verbs.

Is it better to learn the -masu form and the -te form? or should I only really only be learning the dictionary or root form and then figuring out all the others from there?

I've googled, but it seems to differ. some places say stick to learning the dictionary forms. Others say just learn the forms as you use them (so masu, then -te) etc.

Thanks!

It seems you haven't googled enough.

Using the te form is really simple to use.

Te form

So basically

u,tsu,ru- tte
mu, bu, nu -nde
ku-ite
gu-ide
su-shite

and iku become itte

other rules

Group 2 verbs

just drop the ru and add te

group 3 - suru - shite kuru - kite

the masu form is important

You will need to learn the dictionary form before being able to use the ～て forms comfortably. Your teacher should have explained that to you.

I assume (like many of us) that you aren't fortunate enough to have a Japanese teacher to help you out atm. I, myself, only used books and the internet to get through learning the majority of what I learned.

I would recommend you get yourself a good book/guide that will act as a good study and reference. (I liked Japanese Step-by-Step by Gene Nishi when I began). I do recommend branching out like you are doing, if just to familiarize yourself with conjugations and such. But, you need to build your basics first.

First off, the -masu and -te have different functions in a sentence all together (they can even be used together). The -masu (-mashita, -masen, -masen-deshita) adds politeness to your verbs while the -te has a variety of purposes which actually change the meaning of the sentence.

In any case, definitely learn the -masu conjugation inside and out. Learn to conjugate to it and find the base verb from it. It will be used all the time. The -te you will probably learn first is the imperative conjugation. It is more advanced and should be learned a little later.

I completely agree. I learned the ~masu form first, then the ~te form, then the ~ru (well, dictionary) form last.

Yuusuke put learning the ~te form in such a complicated way...to me, anyways; that's not what I learned at all even after I learned the dict form. After dropping the ~masu part, you get the stem of the verb:

Weak verbs: Verb stem+ te

Strong verbs, if it ends in:

i/chi/ri, drop and add tte
mi/bi/ni, drop and add nde
ki, drop and add ite
gi, drop and add ide
shi, simply add te

Irregular:

shite (to do)
kite (to come)
itte (to go)
atte (to have/exist (inanimate object))

That's why you should learn ~masu first. It's very useful when you want the stem of a verb to convert it to the dict form eventually, as well as other forms.

Thanks Scelestus,

That's what I was looking for, couldn't find a set of rules anywhere to get the stem from a masu conjugated word ready to be used for te conjugations.

ありがとう！

How did i put it in a complicated way. lol u drop the ru and add those.

it's not hard at all XD. And thats from "plain" form. Which I think you should qkno.

Masu form just flows with me. But I'm just saying. They should also qkno from plain form to ~te form, instead of just ~masu to ~te

I learned ~masu form first in my japanese class, then learned plain then ~te form So it's natural for me to hear a verb in ~masu form change it to plain and put it in ~ te form

I agree. It's always better to go with the polite form first, e.g sushi wo tabemashita instead of tabeta. When you become more familiar with the person, you can start using nonda instead of nomimashita, for example. All in good time.

You only really need to know one way. I just take the stem of the verbs for everything. I can do it fairly quickly now, so I don't actually realize that that's what I'm doing.

Thats nice, but going into ~te form
like I said is natural for me

Doesn't it make sense to just learn the dictionary forms and then just to conjugate them depending on what you want them to become.

I mean you you don't need to learn 食べる and 食べます separately. You just need to that it becomes the stem of ichidan verbs is removed in base 2 conjugations. There's no point learning everything separately when you can just learn the rules of verb conjugation. I mean there are only 2 irregular verbs in the language (3 if you count the partially irregular 行く) so there aren't many exceptions.

I mean I'm still a beginner at Japanese so I could be wrong. If I am then I am sorry. This is the way I've looked at it so far though and it has stopped me from running into a lot of the problems like the ones you have just mentioned so far.

One is polite, and the other is "casual", that's why people tend to learn them separately. It's just like what I was saying with the stem of the verbs, just drop the ます and you're good to go for a lot of things --even getting the dictionary form.

But, I was taught that there are four irregular verbs: ある、　行く、　来る、　and　する.

My mistake. Yes I think ある is irregular also.I know one is polite and one is not but they can all be conjugated from the dictionary form so it makes sense just to learn dictionary forms for learning the verbs but learn how to conjugate them.

uwaa....
it appears that you and i are in the same boat >.>""'

and.... my way of learning....
find someone who speaks japanese.. or atleast knows more about it than you....
and just say whatever comes to mind
and hopefully xD
that person will be kind/rude enough to correct you =DD

I am using a text book to learn and am fixed unclarities on this forum.

Learn short forms :D

i stopped studying japanese a good 5 years ago
so all that i know now
is what i learned back in middle school =P

Unfortunately I know what you mean. I started a good 6 months or so ago but had to stop for a couple months as college was finishing for the final rush and so forth and just very recently have I had to pick it back up again. I have just this week started a 3 hour a day minimum study regiment with the hopes of learning again now that college has finished. I just need to keep up the willpower.

I use the studying of Japanese to help keep my mind straight in college when I have studied too much of difficult subject matter :D . It may sound counterproductive, but learning a language is pretty soothing for me after hours of computer science and calculus. It's sort of like using different parts of the brain. Complex algorithm making/calculus proofs vs. memorization. It's still keeping my brain active so it helps me unwind without losing the momentum!

Exactly! It's a lot easier to learn the base word and then a set of rules rather than trying to treat and memorize conjugated words as a separate entity. This is how I approached Spanish and Japanese.

Pardon me for sticking my nose in on this one, but I'm with Sceptile in that I think its a better idea to learn the dictionary form from the off. And for a number of good reasons.
The majority of all study guides teach conversational Japanese, and as such provide you with the polite forms first, and that's fine if your goal is just communication i guess. But knowing the dictionary form + conjugation rules will provide you with far more flexibility when you start making more complicated sentences. Not to mention, the majority of dictionaries and webtools relay on you nailing the dictionary form:
If you find yourself a little unsure of how to conjugate check out this resource Japanese verb conjugator - you put the dictionary form of the work in and you get a complrehensive list of conjugations.
Unsure of what the dictionary form is? place the conjugated verb you have in here: Japanese verb deconjugator and it'll give you the dictionary form.
and of course, my favourite resource in thr world: if you want to check how these words you are conjugating/deconjugating are used in practice then head over to WWWJDIC: Word Search
type in your word in dictionary form click search, and then again on the [ex] box... voila ... its amazing.
If you're lucky enough to have an Iphone then buy CodeFromTokyo because that dictionary has all the common conjugations for verbs and adjectives built in .... that was a godsend when i first started out.