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Dekiru Conjugation

できる (dekiru) means "to can" in Japanese. Non-past, affirmative: (no subject pronoun required — see the Pronouns list in Vocabulary) できる (dekiru) — polite: できます (dekimasu). Below: all 19 tenses we teach, with examples.

Non-past, affirmative 非過去・肯定

The dictionary (plain) form doubles as present and future; add ます to the stem for polite speech.

Non-past, negative 非過去・否定

Godan verbs change the final -u to -a and add ない; ichidan verbs drop る and add ない. Polite negative replaces ます with ません.

Past, affirmative 過去・肯定

Plain past follows the same sound changes as the te-form (て→た, で→だ); polite past replaces ます with ました.

Past, negative 過去・否定

Plain negative past drops the い of the non-past negative and adds かった; polite negative past adds でした after ません.

Present continuous, affirmative 現在進行・肯定

Te-form + いる. Describes an action happening now, or a habitual/ongoing state.

Present continuous, negative 現在進行・否定

Negate いる like any ichidan verb: いない (plain), いません (polite).

Past continuous 過去進行

Past tense of いる: いた (plain), いました (polite). Describes what was happening, or an ongoing state, in the past.

Volitional (plain and polite) 意向形

Godan: -u→-o + う. Ichidan: drop る, add よう. Polite volitional: stem + ましょう.

-tai, non-past affirmative たい形・非過去・肯定

Stem + たい, conjugated exactly like an い-adjective; add です for polite speech.

-tai, negative たい形・否定

Negate like an い-adjective: drop い, add くない.

-tai, past たい形・過去

Past like an い-adjective: drop い, add かった.

-sou (appearance/imminence) 様態のそうだ

Attach そう to the verb stem to say something looks about to happen, based on visual evidence.

-rashii (hearsay) 伝聞のらしい

Attach らしい after the plain non-past (or past) form to report what you've heard or inferred, without vouching for it.

-ba conditional ば形

Godan: change the final -u to -e, add ば (飲む→飲めば). Ichidan: drop る, add れば.

-tara conditional たら形

Plain past form + ら. Describes a specific, one-off condition; the main clause is often something the speaker discovers or a resulting action.

-nara conditional なら形

Plain non-past form + なら. Comments on a condition or topic already raised in the conversation.

-to conditional と形

Plain non-past form + と. States an automatic or habitual result; can't be followed by a command, request or invitation.

Imperative, affirmative 命令形・肯定

Godan: change the final -u to -e. Ichidan: drop る, add ろ (spoken) or よ (formal/written).

Imperative, negative 禁止形

Plain non-past form + な, attaches to any verb type including irregulars.

Examples

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