Which iru and eru verbs are actually group I (consonant-stem, godan) verbs?

This page gives extended examples on which Japanese verbs ending in iru and eru are actually consonant-stem or godan (五段) verbs.

Here is some general advice on how to pick out these ones. If ...eru and ...iru words have more than one syllable before the -ru, and you can find out how they are written in kanji, whether or not the syllable ending with "e" or "i" is written in kana, or the -ru comes right after the character, will usually tell you. If the vowel is included in the kanji, it will be a consonant verb (-tte, -ranai, etc.). This doesn't work for one-syllable roots such as "mi-ru," of course. And usually, if you have what is needed to find out how it is written, you have the information you want in the same source.

Here are some example verbs. The links on the examples go to the conjugation of the verb.

Godan verbs that end in -iru

Verb (romaji)	Verb (kanji)	Meaning
aburagiru	脂ぎる油ぎる	to be greasy
bibiru	びびる	to be surprised
chigiru	千切る	to tear to pieces
chiru	散る	to scatter
dojiru	どじる	to mess up
guchiru	愚痴る	to grumble
hairu	入る	to enter
hashiru	走る	to run
hojiru	穿る	to pick, dig out
hotobashiru	迸る	to gush, spurt
ibiru	いびる	to torment, roast
ijiru	弄る	to fiddle with
iru	煎る炒る熬る	to boil down
iru	入る	to go in
iru	要る	to need
iru	煎る炒る熬る	to roast
kagiru	限る	to limit
kajiru	噛る	to knaw, have a smattering of (knowledge)
kiru	切る	to cut
kishiru	軋る轢る輾る	to squeak, creak
kojiru	抉じる	to pry
mairu	参る	to come/go - humble
majiru	混じる	to mingle
meiru	滅入る	to feel depressed
minagiru	漲る	to overflow
mushiru	毟る挘る	to pluck; to pick; to tear
najiru	詰る	to rebuke
nejiru	ねじる	to twist
nigiru	握る	to grasp
nonoshiru	罵る	to abuse verbally
ochiiru	陥る	to fall, sink
sebiru	せびる	to pester for
shiru	知る	to know
soshiru	謗る譏る誹る	to slander
tagiru	滾る激る	to seethe
tamagiru	魂消る	to be frightened
yajiru	やじる	to jeer at
yojiru	攀じる	to twist, distort

Godan verbs that end in -eru

Verb (romaji)	Verb (kanji)	Meaning	Notes
aseru	焦る	to hurry
fukeru	ふける	to be absorbed in	The verb fukeru (老ける) meaning "to get old" acts as a vowel-ending verb.
fuseru	伏せる	to hide, lie in ambush
heru	減る	to decrease
hineru	捻る	to twist
hoteru	火照る	to feel hot; to flush; to burn
kaeru	帰る	to return
kageru	陰る	to become cloudy
kakeru	翔る	to soar	This is in contrast to other kakeru verbs which are all verb-end.
keru	蹴る	to kick
kuneru	くねる	to be crooked
kutsugaeru	覆る	to be overturned
nameru	舐める嘗める甞める	to lick
neru	練る煉る	to knead, to temper	The verb neru (寝る) meaning "to sleep" is verb-end.
nomeru	のめる	to fall forward
numeru	滑る	to be slippery
omoneru	阿る阿ねる	to flatter
seru	競る糶る	to compete
seseru	挵る	to pick, play with
shaberu	喋る	to talk
shigeru	茂る繁る滋る	to grow thick
shikeru	湿気る	to become damp
suberu	滑る	to slip
takeru	猛る	to act violently
teru	照る	to shine
tsumeru	詰める	to pinch
tsuneru	抓る	to pinch
uneru	畝る	to undulate
yomigaeru	蘇る	to rise from the dead

Acknowledgements

The advice on telling the differences was edited from a newsgroup post by Bart Mathias. Thanks to Aya Van Kerkhove for a correction.

If you have questions, corrections, or comments, please contact Ben Bullock or use the discussion forum / Privacy policy


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