Ichidan verbs
Building block:る-verbs
Verbs ending in る with an い-sound or え-sound just before it, like 食べる (to eat) and 見る (to see). Their stem never changes, which makes them the easiest verbs to conjugate.
How it works
- Drop the final る to get the stem, then add the ending for the form you want.
- Every form attaches to that same stem. What changes from form to form is only the ending — and for some forms the ending differs from the godan one, like られる for the potential.
- Not every verb ending in -iru or -eru is ichidan. 帰る (to go home), 入る (to enter) and 走る (to run) are godan, so check a dictionary when you meet a new one.