Class 1, class 2..
Sep. 14th, 2010 08:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranJapanese class 2 verbs all end in "iru" or "eru", but not all "-iru" or "-eru" verbs are class 2. Although it seems strange at first, these exceptions sometimes play useful roles. For example, it's not obvious that "kaer.u" (to return) would be class 1, but it does make it easy to distinguish from "Kae.ru" (the potential of "kau" (to buy)).
It was only last night that I worked out that "Iru" itself is a class 1 verb, despite (or maybe because of) its consisting entirely of one marker for class 2. This explains why I've always had trouble remembering the -te form. If was class 2, it would have been "ite", but now I know it's class 1, it's obviously "itte" (and indistinguishable from "itte", the -te form of "iu"). Okay, so it's not always logical...
It was only last night that I worked out that "Iru" itself is a class 1 verb, despite (or maybe because of) its consisting entirely of one marker for class 2. This explains why I've always had trouble remembering the -te form. If was class 2, it would have been "ite", but now I know it's class 1, it's obviously "itte" (and indistinguishable from "itte", the -te form of "iu"). Okay, so it's not always logical...
