The term kateikei is used with modern Japanese. The term izenkei 已然形 is used with classical Japanese. The kateikei evolved from the izenkei. Although they're similar, their functions are different.
For example, in nomeba 飲めば, the nome~ 飲め～ part is the kateikei or the izenkei. In modern Japanese, it's the kateikei, and nomeba means "if [you] drink [it]." In classical Japanese, it's the izenkei, and nomeba means "because [you] drink [it]."
Conjugation
For reference, how to conjugate the kateikei.| ~ba | |
| Irregular Verbs | |
| kuru くる | kure~ くれ～ |
| suru する | sure~ すれ～ |
| Godan Verbs | |
| kau 買う | kae~ 買え～ |
| kaku 書く | kake~ 書け～ |
| oyogu 泳ぐ | oyoge~ 泳げ～ |
| korosu 殺す | korose~ 殺せ～ |
| katsu 勝つ | kate~ 勝て～ |
| shinu 死ぬ | shine~ 死ね～ |
| asobu 遊ぶ | asobe~ 遊べ～ |
| yomu 読む | yome~ 読め～ |
| kiru 切る | kire~ 切れ～ |
| Ichidan Verbs | |
| kiru 着る | kire~ 着れ～ |
| taberu 食べる | tabere~ 食べれ～ |
| i-Adjectives | |
| kawaii 可愛い | kawaikere~ 可愛けれ～ |
| na-Adjectives | |
| kirei na 綺麗な | kirei nara~ 綺麗なら～ |
| Jodoushi 助動詞 | |
| masu ます | masure~ ますれ～ |
| desu です | |
| ~ta ～た | ~tara~ ～たら～ |
For godan verbs, the kateikei ends in the vowel ~e.
The polite jodoushi desu です doesn't have a kateikei.
Usage
In modern Japanese, the kateikei comes before the ba ば conjunctive particle in order to form the ba-form.This ba-form is conditional and is used in a few different ways. First, it means: if you do something, something else happens.
- kusuri wo nomu
薬を飲む
To drink the medicine. - kusuri wo nomeba naoru
薬を飲めば治る
If [you] drink the medicine, [you] heal.
If you drink the medicine, you'll be cured.
This conditional form can also be applied to the passive form, causative form, and so on.
- hito wo korosu
人を殺す
To kill people. - hito ga korosareru
人が殺される
People will be killed. - hito wa korosarereba shinu
人は殺されれば死ぬ
If people are killed, [they] die.
People die when they're killed
Adjectives also have this form.
- yasui
安い
To be cheap. - yasukereba kau
安ければ買う
If [it] is cheap, [I] will buy [it].
This also applies to auxiliaries conjugated like i-adjectives.
- shinitai
死にたい
To want to die. - shinitakunai
死にたくない
To not want to die. - shinitakunakereba hashire!
死にたくなければ走れ！
If [you] don't want to die, run!
Like other conditionals, this ba-form can come before the adjective ii いい, "good," to express something should be fine.
- kiku
聞く
To hear. To listen.
To ask someone a question. - shiranakereba kikeba ii
知らなければ聞けばいい
If [you] don't know, [it] would be good if [you] asked about [it].
If you don't know, it's better if you asked about it.
If you don't know, you should ask.
Like other conditionals, the ba-form can also come before naranai ならない and other negative phrases to mean "must."
- tatakau
戦う
To fight. - tatakawanai
戦わない
To not fight. - tatakawanakereba naranai
戦わなければならない
If [you] don't fight, [it] won't become.
[You] must fight.
The pattern V-ba V hodo ＶばＶほど means "the more you do something, the more something else is true." For example:
- benkyou sureba suru hodo wakaranaku naru
勉強すればするほどわからなくなる
The more [I] study, the less [I] understand. - kusuri wo nomeba nomu hodo waruku naru
薬を飲めば飲むほど悪くなる
The more [I] drink the medicine, the worse [I] become.
The kateikei of the jodoushi da だ is nara~ なら～. Therefore, the ba-form is naraba ならば.
The kateikei of the jodoushi ~ta ～た is ~tara~ ～たら～. Therefore, the ba-form is ~taraba ～たらば.
These two forms, naraba and ~taraba, aren't often used. Instead, nara なら and ~tara ～たら, without the ~ba ～ば, are used instead. For example:
- sore da!
それだ！
[It] is that!
That's [it]! - sore nara ba {nomanai} hou ga ii
それならば飲まない方がいい
If [it] is that, the way [that is] {to not drink [it]} is good.
If that's the case, it's better to not drink it. - sore nara {nomanai} hou ga ii
それなら飲まない方がいい
(same meaning, but more common.)
- mitara ba wakaru
見たらばわかる
If [you] saw [it], [you] would understand.
You'll understand it when you see it. - mitara wakaru
見たらわかる
(same meaning, but way more common.)
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