Group 3 (Irregular) And Group 1 Exceptions
“It is better to be looked over than overlooked.” - Mae West
There are two things we need to go over – “Group 3 Verbs” (also known as Irregular Verbs) and “Exceptions.” In a way, Group 3 Verbs are also exceptions, but they’re exceptions in a different way so I’ll separate them out.
The first type involves a group of verbs that don’t follow any of the rules you just learned. They are totally different, and you’ll have to memorize these words separately. The second type are exceptions off of Group 1 verbs. Unfortunately, there are a handful of exceptions where even though the verb has an “い sound” before the ます it still is treated like (and is) a Group 2 Verb. For example, しんじます (to believe) ends with an い sound (じ) but it’s dictionary form is しんじる (and it’s a Group 2 Verb).
To begin, let’s look at the “Group 3″ verbs. You’ll have to memorize these as they really don’t make any sense.
Group 3
The two main Group 3 “Irregular Verbs” are also incredibly common words, which will hopefully make them easy for you to remember.
します ー ”to do”
きます ー ”to come”
They don’t convert in any of the ways you learned above, though they are similar to each other.
します → する
きます → くる
The best thing you can do with these is to 1) memorize them and 2) jot down a note about these in case you forget what you memorized. The lucky thing for you is that they’re so common you’ll see them everywhere!
Group 1-ish Exceptions
There are a handful of verbs that seem like they should be Group 1, but are actually Group 2 (and treated like Group 2). There isn’t really any way to know what these verbs are except to remember them (sorry!). The only exception to this is verbs with only one kana before the ます. For example, the word います only has one kana (い) before the ます. These verbs are always treated like Group 2 verbs (meaning います becomes いる). Besides that, though, you’ll have to remember these. Through time and practice you’ll automatically know that Verb X is a Group 2 Verb (even though it seems like a Group 1 Verb) – so just remain patient and keep practicing your vocab, and it’ll become easy for you over time.
Here are the “Group 1-ish exceptions”
audio伸びます → audio伸びる
のびます → のびる
audio飽きます → audio飽きる
あきます → あきる
audio信じます → audio信じる
しんじます → しんじる
audio出来ます → audio出来る
できます → できる
audio落ちます → audio落ちる
おちます → おちる
audio感じます → audio感じる
かんじます → かんじる
audio生きます → audioいきる
いきます → いきる (not to be confused with “to go” いきます)
audio過ぎます → audioすぎる
すぎます → すぎる
audio借ります → audio借りる
かります → かりる
audio着ます → audio着る
きます → きる (not to be confused with “to come” きます)
audio起きます → audio起きる
おきます → おきる
So that’s 13 Verbs that seem like they should be Group 1, but actually aren’t :( It’s a fairly small percentage, but large enough to be a little irritating at first. Do what you can to remember which of these verbs are exceptions. We’ll keep practicing, and it’ll be something that develops for you over time, but the more you can identify now, the easier it’ll be on you later. Write them down so you have access to which verbs are going to be problematic, that way you can check on them any time.