Last time, you learned how omissions of particles works in conversation, e.g. “バスを降りる (We will get off the bus),” and “電車に乗る (We will take the train).” Omissions have a very important role in Japanese. Then, if you’d like to express two actions at the same time like “get off of one vehicle and take another” how do you say it? In this lesson, you will learn compound verbs.
Explanation for How Compound Verbs Work
| Table of Contents Conjugation Rule Main Four Groups |
You are actually able to express two actions at the same time by using what you have learned in the compound sentence section. For example, you can utilize the te-form which indicates sequential actions like “バスを降りて、電車に乗る (We will get off the bus and take the train).” However, by utilizing compound verbs, you can express it in a more sophisticated way like “バスから電車に乗り換える (We will transfer from the bus to the train).”
Conjugation Rule
All Verbs: To Attach Verbs to the Polite Form Instead of です
| 乗る: to take (transportation) + 換える: to interchange => 乗り換える: to transfer |
| 食べる: to eat + 歩く: to walk => 食べ歩く: to try out foods at various restaurants |
| 見る: to look at + 上げる: to raise => 見上げる: to look up |
| 分かる: to understand + 合う: to fit, match => 分かり合う: to understand each other |
Some of the compound verbs can work as a noun by further conjugation. If you apply the polite form for the second verb without です, it will become a noun. In the above examples, 乗り換える and 食べ歩く are applicable. They can be a noun like 乗り換え and 食べ歩き.
Main Four Groups
| 1. Verb + Verb | The combination of two verbs expresses sequential actions or states, or simultaneous actions. |
| 2. Verb + Helping Verb | The second verb works as a helping verb and adds some meaning onto the main first verb. |
| 3. Prefix + Verb | The first verb works as a prefix and modifies the main second verb. |
| 4. Verb (One Word) | Two verbs are recognized as one word and indicate a new meaning. |
Compound verbs are categorized into the above four groups. Unfortunately, there is no certain pattern to categorize verbs. Thus, you need to memorize which function each compound verb has. Here is a wonderful database named “Compound Verb Lexicon.” Please refer to it when you encounter words that you are unfamiliar with. For the sake of better understanding, we would like to show some examples below.
Group 1. Verb + Verb
| 子供は遊び疲れて、寝て（しまった / しまいました）。 The children got tired by playing and went to bed. |
| 横井さんは戦争から生き（残った / 残りました）。 Yokoi-san survived from the war. |
| 二人は激しく言い争って（いた / いました）。 The two people were intensely disputing. |
| 田中さんは恋愛のことで思い悩んで（いる / います）。 Tanaka-san is troubled with things about romances. |
The first and the second examples indicate sequential events. You can reword them by using the te-form, i.e. 遊んで疲れる (to play and then get tired) and 生きて残る (to live and then remain). By contrast, the third and the fourth examples indicate simultaneous actions. You can reword them by using the sentence pattern: ながら, i.e. 言いながら争う (to compete while saying) and 思いながら悩む (to be troubled while thinking). One important point here is that the seconds verbs determine the proper particles. For example, with the fourth example, the particle で indicates reasons which corresponds to 悩む.
Group 2. Verb + Helping Verb
| 子供が家の中を走り回って（いる / います）。 The children are running around inside of the house. |
| 困ったらこの家を売り（払おう / 払いましょう）。 If [we] are in trouble, let’s sell out this house. |
| 田中さんは走り始め（た / ました）。 Tanaka-san started running. |
| 急に雨が降りだし（た / ました）。 It has suddenly started raining. |
You can actually subdivide Group 2 based on whether it has grammatical functions or not. With the first and the second examples, the helping verbs: “回る: to turn” and “払う: to clear away” indicate the additional meaning with the main verbs. The third and the fourth examples indicate the aspect of the main verb, that is to say, they have grammatical functions. Depending on the sub-group, the usages will change, e.g. Suru-verb can only connect with helping verbs that have grammatical functions. We recommend you memorize each combination as a set phrase. However, if you would like to know the grammatical pattern, please visit here: Syntactic and Lexical Compound Verbs. In the page, they use the word “syntactic.” You can (very) roughly consider the meaning as “grammatical.”
Group 3. Prefix + Verb
| 調査を途中で打ち（切った / 切りました）。 [We] stopped the investigation halfway. |
| 頭を切り替え（よう / ましょう）。 Let’s change our thinking. |
| 発言は簡単に取り消せ（ない / ません）よ。 As for statements, [You] cannot easily take [it] back. |
| ジャイアンはドローンをぶち壊し（た / ました）。 Gian completely broke the drone. |
Here, the second verbs hold the main meaning. The second verbs may work alone, e.g. with the third example, if you say, 発言は簡単に消せない (As for statement, yon cannot easily delete it), it still somehow makes sense. However, by using the first verbs as a prefix, you can express more detailed or stronger meanings. Particles are determined by the second verbs.
Group 4. Verb (One Word)
| 漢字をこの空白に当てはめてください。 Please fill this blank with kanji. |
| 会ってすぐに打ち解け（た / ました）。 Soon after [we] met, [we] got friendly. |
| 少し落ち着いて（ください）。 Please calm down a little. |
| 先生に必死に食い（下がった / 下がりました）。 [I] ask the teacher [questions] desperately and persistently. |
In general, you should consider verbs which are categorized into this group as one word. Most of them are not related to the original meaning, but create new ones.
Summary
- For the conjugation, you attach verbs to the polite form instead of です.
- Some can become a noun by applying the polite form without です for the second verbs.
- There are four structures which are “Verb + Verb,” “Verb + Helping Verb,” “Prefix + Verb,” and “Verb (One Word).”
Compound verbs may be closer to vocabulary than grammar. Thus, you need to memorize words one by one, not by the grammatical rule. Again, this database: “Compound Verb Lexicon” is the best tool to learn compound verbs. Please make the most use of it.