Verb exercises

[Larz0rz]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for some good exercises to help me memorize verbs.
Anything that would help me be able to conjugate things faster.
I find that when I'm am studying verbs alone, I can conjugate them rather quickly, but when I have to construct sentences it takes me a bit longer to first remember the verb and then conjugate it correctly.

One simple exercise I use is with flash cards.
On each card there is a verb in dictionary form, I then pick a tense/form (such as -masu, or -te+imasu) and construct a simple sentences, usually with just the first noun that pops into my head. (that makes sense when used with the verb of course.)
ほんをよんでいます。
or
えきにいきます。

I know the best practice is usually just to speak it more, but since I can't really do that as much as I would like to, I'm wondering what kind of exercises you use to help you conjugate and use verbs more quickly in conversation.

If you can't already tell by the lack of kanji, I'm a beginner.
(Chapter 8-9 in Genki Book 1, if that helps...)
So keep the exercises relatively simple but still challenging.

[WalterWills]

I haven't actually done this myself yet but it's something I've thought of-

Have 2 sets of flash cards, one with with verbs in their plain dictionary forms, and the other set of flash cards a list of conjugations, e.g. (please don't), (DON'T!), (plain potential), (-te form), (past-causative-passive-polite) etc etc, and the idea is to pick a card from each set and try to conjugate that verb with the chosen conjugation as quickly as possible.

Maybe that's what you already said you were doing though...


I think it's important because when you're talking you need to be able to conjugate verbs correctly as fast as possible, it's a good skill to have

[Taurus]

You could try learning sentence patterns - that way you'll be learning each verb form in the context in which it's used. So, for example, to learn taberu, you could have one flashcard that says 'sushi wo tabemasu/I eat sushi', and one that says 'tabete kudasai/please eat'.

[johnpa]

You're doing the right thing. I neglected drilling verbs for several months, thinking "This is simple. I understand how to conjugate."
Then — even with simple conversations — I sounded like an idiot. I ended up having to go to a tutor, and here's the exercise he started me out with:
1)List 20 verbs from memory.
2)Conjugate (for example) the past tense.
3)Make up 20 sentences using the past tense.
4)Go back and conjugate (for example) the negative non-past.
5)Make up 20 more sentences.
After several of these drills, try it backwards:
1)List several sentence patterns from memory.
2)Write down several verbs you haven't learned yet.
3)Make up sentences, using these verbs, following the sentence patterns you've listed.
The basic principle is: To learn a new sentence pattern, drill it with verbs you already know. To learn new verbs, drill them with sentence patterns you already know.

IMO these drills improve your conversation skills even quicker than spending the same amount of time in actual conversations.