Day Ten: Base Te and Ta

The Final Bases 

Let’s finish learning the conjugation tables. Yesterday we learned the first 5 bases. Those tend to be easy and follow a simple stream of logic. The other two bases tend to require a little more forced memorization. Luckily, once we get today’s grammar point down you will be able to make full fledged Japanese sentences, and from there you can start diving into the depths of the Japanese language. 

The first of the last 2 bases is called Base Te – also called Base 6. 

With Ichidan verbs you simply remove the る and replace it with て. That easy.

Deru でる　(To Leave) – Dete でて

Okiru おきる　(To Awake) – Okite おきて

Neru ねる　(To Sleep) – Nete ねて

The next base is called Base Ta – also called Base 7. With Ichidan verbs you simply remove the る and replace it with た. Yep, super simple.

Deru でる　(To Leave) – Deta でた

Okiru おきる　(To Awake) – Okita おきた

Neru ねる　(To Sleep) – Neta ねた 

Godan Verbs on the other hand are a little bit more touchy. 

Instead of just adding Te onto the end, you have to change more of the form of the word, depending on the last Hiragana symbol in the word.

If the verb ends with: BU, MU, or NU = Base Te conjugates into NDE

Yobu (よぶ) Yonde (よんで) – To Call

Nomu (のむ) Nonde (のんで) – To Drink

Shinu (しぬ) Shinde (しんで) – To Die

If the verb ends with: U, RU, TSU = Base Te conjugates into TTE

Kau (かう) Katte (かって) – To Buy

Noru (のる) Notte (のって) – To Ride

Tatsu (たつ) Tatte (たって) – To Stand

If the verb ends with: KU = Base Te conjugates into ITE

Kaku (かく) Kaite (かいて) – To Write

If the verb ends with GU = Base Te conjugates into IDE 

Oyogu (およぐ) Oyoide (およいで) – To Swim

Now for Base 7. You may notice that instead of Te it is simply Ta, and that Nde is simply Nda. Which does make it quite a bit simpler. So if you learn one, you are really learning both.

If the verb ends with BU, MU, or NU = Base Ta conjugates into NDA

Yobu (よぶ) Yonda (よんだ) – To Call

Nomu (のむ) Nonda (のんだ) – To Drink

Shinu (しぬ) Shinda (しんだ) – To Die 

If the verb ends with U, RU, TSU = Base Ta conjugates into TTA

Kau (かう) Katta (かった) – To Buy

Noru (のる) Notta (のった) – To Ride

Tatsu (たつ) Tatta (たった) – To Stand 

If the verb ends with KU = Base Ta conjugates into ITA

Kaku (かく) Kaita (かいた) – To Write 

If the verb ends with GU = Base Ta conjugates into IDA 

Oyogu (およぐ) Oyoda (およいだ) – To Swim 

This may be a little hard to memorize at first. In order to really get this down, we recommend writing all of the verbs that we have given you down and then conjugating each of them into all their conjugated forms. This may take some time, and that’s okay. If you take the necessary time to learn them now, it’ll help you out like crazy later down the road. If you memorize all of the bases and how to conjugate them now, you’ll be able to apply these rules to any verb you learn from here on out.