Godan verbs are negated by performing an あ-stem transformation and appending the negative helper adjective γͺい.1

Example

買う (buy) β†’ 買わγͺい (not buy)

Info

買う is transformed by shifting from the う-stem to the あ-stem.γ€€γͺい is then appended to make it into the negative form.

Exceptions

  • ます: does not become まさγͺい, it becomes ません.
  • いい: does not become γ„γ‹γ£γŸ or いくγͺい, it becomes γ‚ˆγ‹γ£γŸ and γ‚ˆγγͺい.

Footnotes

  1. Japanese from Scratch (7) ↩