下二段活用

Japanese

Kanji in this term
下	二	段	活	用

Etymology

A compound of 下二段 (shimo nidan, “lower bigrade”) and 活用 (katsuyō, “conjugation”). Lower bigrade verbs eventually change into lower monograde. Lower refers to the -e- suffix and contrasts with the upper -i-, while bigrade refers to the two-way e/u variation.

Noun

下二段活用 (hiragana しもにだんかつよう, romaji shimo nidan katsuyō)

1. (grammar) lower bigrade conjugation, a verbal conjugation class with the following inflections: e | e | u | uru | ure | e[yo]. Examples:

	Imperfective (未然形)	Continuative (連用形)	Terminal (終止形)	Attributive (連体形)	Realis (已然形) (modern Hypothetical (仮定形))	Imperative (命令形)
uk- "to receive"	uk-e	uk-e	uk-u	uk-uru	uk-ure	uk-e[yo]
nig- "to flee"	nig-e	nig-e	nig-u	nig-uru	nig-ure	nig-e[yo]
tab- "to eat"	tab-e	tab-e	tab-u	tab-uru	tab-ure	tab-e[yo]

See also

• 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan katsuyō)

Related terms

• 五段活用 (godan katsuyō)
• カ行変格活用 (kagyō henkaku katsuyō)
• 上一段活用 (kami ichidan katsuyō)
• 上二段活用 (kami nidan katsuyō)
• ナ行変格活用 (nagyō henkaku katsuyō)
• ラ行変格活用 (ragyō henkaku katsuyō)
• サ行変格活用 (sagyō henkaku katsuyō)
• 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan katsuyō)
• 四段活用 (yodan katsuyō)