Godan verb (く)
弾くひく
hikuAlso read ひく: 引く (pull), 轢く (run over). All 3 words
弾く (ひく, hiku) — to play — is a godan verb ending in く: 弾いて (te-form), 弾いた (past), 弾かない (negative), 弾きます (polite).
It is transitive: it takes a direct object.
How 弾く conjugates · godan く-verb
Only the last kana changes: く becomes か, き, け or こ.
Which one depends on the ending. The five are one line of the hiragana chart — same consonant, vowels あ・い・う・え・お — and everything before that kana never changes.
か弾かないnegative
き弾きますpolite present
く弾くdictionary form
け弾けるpotential弾けばif
こ弾こうvolitional
The て and た forms · く → いて, いた
い弾いてte-form弾いたpast
The て and た forms are the only two that don't follow this pattern. Every く- and ぐ-verb changes the same way there; only 行く is different.
N5 N tags give the JLPT level at which the game starts quizzing a form.
PLAIN
| Form | Conjugation | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| present N5 | 弾く ひく hiku | |
| past N5 I played an instrument. | 弾いた ひいた hiita | |
| negative N5 I don't play an instrument. | 弾かない ひかない hikanai | |
| te-form N5 I play an instrument and … | 弾いて ひいて hiite | |
| past negative N4 I didn't play it. | 弾かなかった ひかなかった hikanakatta | |
| volitional N4 Let's play something. | 弾こう ひこう hikou | |
| potential N3 I can play it. | 弾ける ひける hikeru | |
| cond. ば N3 If I play it, ... | 弾けば ひけば hikeba | |
| cond. たら N3 When I play it, ... | 弾いたら ひいたら hiitara | |
| passive N2 It gets played. | 弾かれる ひかれる hikareru | |
| causative N2 I make someone play it. | 弾かせる ひかせる hikaseru | |
| imperative N1 Play it! | 弾け ひけ hike |
POLITE
| Form | Conjugation | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| present N5 | 弾きます ひきます hikimasu | |
| past N5 I played an instrument. | 弾きました ひきました hikimashita | |
| negative N5 I don't play an instrument. | 弾きません ひきません hikimasen | |
| past negative N4 I didn't play it. | 弾きませんでした ひきませんでした hikimasendeshita | |
| volitional N4 Let's play something. | 弾きましょう ひきましょう hikimashou |
ASPECT
| Form | Conjugation | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| ている N4 I'm playing an instrument. | 弾いている ひいている hiiteiru | |
| ていた N4 I was playing an instrument. | 弾いていた ひいていた hiiteita | |
| ています N4 I'm playing an instrument. | 弾いています ひいています hiiteimasu | |
| ていました N4 I was playing an instrument. | 弾いていました ひいていました hiiteimashita |