Hi, I'm Pato from KANJI-Link. In this video, I would like to explain how to make the polite form of verbs in Japanese. We will start with group 1 verbs. In order to explain how to make the polite form, I will need the Hiragana chart. As you know, group 1 verbs have 9 possible endings, located on the U row. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out my previous video or my website! Since not all columns contain a verb ending, I will just take them out so that it is easier to read. Ah, much better! And here is the polite form, MASU. Just imagine MASU is like this very important person, and when he is around, everybody has to wear a nice costume. How can a verb do that? That's very easy. You just have to change the U ending syllable into a I ending syllable, which is 1 row up. Then, you can add MASU. Let's try with concrete examples. First, with NOMU, to drink. This verb ends with the syllable MU. I look for it in the hiragana chart, oh, here it is. I move up one row and change MU into MI. Then, I just have to add MASU. The polite form of NOMU is NOMIMASU. What about TORU, to take. It ends with the syllable RU. I look for it in the hiragana chart and move up one row. RU becomes RI and I add MASU. TORU becomes TORIMASU. One last example for the group 1 that will show you the importance of learning hiragana. Let's have a look at HANASU, to talk. If you think in rômaji, you might want to change the ending U into I. But the thing is, the sound SI doesn't exist in Japanese. If we look for the ending syllable SU in the hiragana chart and move up one row, we have SHI not SI. So the polite form of HANASU is HANASHIMASU. I hope this will make you want to memorize hiragana! Okay, that's it for group 1! The good news is that you did the most difficult part. Group 2 verbs are much easier. As you know, they always end with RU with a E or I ending syllable before. Well, this RU is very weak, because anytime we want to conjugate a group 2 verb, it just disappears! Just try with the verb MIRU, to look. I take out the RU, and put MASU instead. That's it! MIRU becomes MIMASU. We're done with group 2! Moving on to group 3, the 2 irregular verbs SURU, to do, and KURU, to come. Since they are irregular, you just have to memorize their conjugation. SURU becomes SHI and KURU becomes KI. Then, we just add MASU. Let's practice with BENKYO SURU to study. SURU becomes SHI, so BENKYO SURU becomes BENKYO SHI MASU. OK, we studied all the groups! Let's summarize everything. For group 1, you change the U ending syllable into a I ending syllable by moving up 1 row. For group 2, you just take out the ending RU. In group 3, SURU becomes SHI and KURU becomes KI. Once you've made all these changes, you just have to add MASU. And you want to know something cool? You just killed not 2 but 5 birds with one stone. Let's say you want to make the polite negative. Well, you just have to add MASEN instead of MASU. For example, since WAKARU, to understand, is a group 1 verb, the negative of WAKARU would be WAKARIMASEN. Want to put it in the past? Add MASHITA instead of MASU. WAKARU, WAKARIMASHITA, I understood. You didn't understand? Add MASEN DESHITA instead of MASU. WAKARU, WAKARIMASEN DESHITA, I didn't understand. Finally, if you want to say LET'S do something, you just have to add MASHO instead of MASU. For example, to rest, YASUMU, let's rest, YASUMIMASHO! That's it for the polite form. Now you can kick back and relax. YASUMIMASHO! If you need more help with Japanese, check out my website, KANJI-Link.com