Common Ichidan Verbs in Japanese

Ichidan verbs (一段動詞いちだんどうし) are the easiest verb group to conjugate in Japanese: drop る, add the ending, done. That simplicity is exactly why they're a good place to build vocabulary fast. This page is a working list, not a grammar lecture: common ichidan verbs sorted by what you actually do with them (waking up, eating, opening things, giving things), full conjugation tables for a few of them, and the verbs that look ichidan on paper but conjugate as godan instead.

If you haven't covered the rules behind ichidan conjugation yet, read Japanese Verb Conjugation: Godan, Ichidan & Irregular Verbs first. This page assumes you already know the difference between the two groups and want a reference to build vocabulary from.

Kami-Ichidan and Shimo-Ichidan: The Two Types

Every ichidan verb belongs to one of two historical subgroups, based on where its stem vowel sits on the old gojuon chart:

In modern standard Japanese, kami-ichidan and shimo-ichidan verbs conjugate in exactly the same way, so you don't need to track which category a verb belongs to day to day. The split matters mainly for historical grammar and for understanding older texts, where the two paradigms produced different endings. Every table below simply lists verbs as "ichidan" since that's the only distinction that affects how you conjugate them today.

Daily Routine Verbs

These are the ichidan verbs you'll use to talk about a normal day: waking up, going out, and going to sleep.

Perception, Learning & Thought Verbs

Watching, eating, remembering, and reasoning through a problem all run through ichidan verbs. These six show up constantly in classroom Japanese.

Opening, Closing & Changing Things

A large group of ichidan verbs describe acting on an object: opening it, closing it, starting it, stopping it. Every verb below is transitive, meaning it takes a direct object marked with を.

Notice the pattern: every verb in this table has a godan counterpart that describes the same event happening on its own, with no one doing it. 開ける (open something) pairs with 開く (something opens); 止める (stop something) pairs with 止まる (something stops). Ichidan for "someone acts on it," godan for "it happens by itself" is common enough across Japanese verb pairs that it's worth learning as a pattern rather than one exception at a time.

Giving, Existing & Ability

A handful of high-frequency ichidan verbs don't fit neatly into the categories above but come up in nearly every conversation.

Homophone Traps: Same Sound, Different Group

A few ichidan verbs share a reading with an unrelated godan verb. Kanji and context usually separate them in writing, but in conversation the negative form is what tells you which one you're hearing.

Full Conjugation Reference

起おきる (okiru, kami-ichidan) and 忘わすれる (wasureru, shimo-ichidan)

These two verbs conjugate identically despite belonging to different historical subgroups, which is the clearest proof that the kami/shimo split doesn't affect modern usage.

Mistakes Specific to Ichidan Verbs

1. Dropping ら in the Potential Form (ra-nuki kotoba)

2. Mixing Up 着る and 切る

3. Using 閉める and 閉まる Interchangeably

How to Practice This List

• Drill one category at a time (daily routine, then perception, then the transitive group) instead of the whole list at once.
• Make flashcards for the three homophone pairs specifically: 着る/切る, 変える/帰る, 止める/止まる. Put the negative form on the back as the answer key.
• Build one sentence per verb using を for the transitive group (窓を開ける) and が for its godan counterpart (窓が 開く) to lock in the transitivity pattern.
• Check any verb you're unsure about on Jisho's JLPT N5 verb search, which tags each entry with its conjugation class.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between kami-ichidan and shimo-ichidan verbs?

Kami-ichidan (upper ichidan) verbs end in iru and shimo-ichidan (lower ichidan) verbs end in eru, based on where their vowel sits in the old gojuon chart. Examples: 似にる (niru, kami-ichidan) and 寝ねる (neru, shimo-ichidan). In modern Japanese both groups conjugate identically, so the distinction is historical rather than practical.

Why do 着る and 切る sound the same but conjugate differently?

They are two unrelated verbs that happen to share the reading kiru. 着きる (to wear) is ichidan, so its negative form is 着きない. 切きる (to cut) is godan, so its negative form is 切きらない. The negative test tells them apart every time.

Is ra-nuki kotoba (dropping ら from the potential form) wrong?

Ra-nuki kotoba, saying 食たべれる instead of 食たべられる, is extremely common in casual spoken Japanese but is still marked as nonstandard in formal writing, business email, and JLPT grammar sections. Use the full -られる form in anything formal and expect to hear the shortened form in daily conversation.

Is できる the potential form of する?

Yes. できる (dekiru, to be able to do) functions as the potential form of the irregular verb する, but it conjugates as its own regular ichidan verb: できない、できます、できた, and so on.

Are there more ichidan verbs or godan verbs in Japanese?

Godan verbs outnumber ichidan verbs overall, but ichidan verbs make up a large share of the highest-frequency verbs learners meet first, including 食たべる, 見みる, 起おきる, and 寝ねる, because everyday actions like eating, watching, waking, and sleeping happen to fall in this group.