What Is the Volitional Form?
Volitional form verbs end in either 〜よう or kana from the お column + う—this includes verbs like 食べよう (let's eat), 飲もう (let's drink), or しよう (let's do). To propose an action or invite someone to do something, you conjugate a verb into this form.
If you are looking for more details about the meanings and functions of the volitional form, we have a usage page on the volitional form 〜よう, so please check it out!
Now let's take a look at how to convert verbs to the volitional form.
| Godan | 会う → 会おう
立つ → 立とう 写す → 写そう 代わる → 代わろう 書く → 書こう 泳ぐ → 泳ごう 死ぬ → 死のう 学ぶ → 学ぼう 休む → 休もう |
| Ichidan | 食べる → 食べよう
起きる → 起きよう 閉じる → 閉じよう |
| Irregular | 来る → 来よう
する → しよう |
Godan Verbs
For godan verbs, replace the ending vowel from the う column on the kana chart to its corresponding お column kana and add う. So if the original ending is 〜む, the new ending will be 〜もう. If it's つ, your new volitional ending will be 〜とう.
Let's try conjugating the verb 買う (to buy) into its volitional form (so that you will be able to say, "let's buy it"). With this rule, 買う becomes 買おう. The 〜う changes to 〜お, giving us 買お. After that, attach 〜う to the end to make 買おう:
買
う+ お + う = 買おう
This one was easy because 買う ends in the vowel 〜う as is. Let's look at another example. What about 読む (to read)? You would conjugate 読む into 読もう.
読
む+ も + う = 読もう
Ichidan Verbs
For ichidan verbs, just replace the 〜る ending with 〜よう! For example, 食べる (to eat) becomes 食べよう in its volitional form (this is important to know for those of you who love eating).
食べ
る+ よう = 食べよう
Irregular Verbs
As for irregular verbs, the volitional form of 来る (to come) is 来よう, and する (to do) is しよう.