Godan verb (く)

弾くひく

hiku

to play (a stringed or keyboard instrument) · N5

Also 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.

N4 N tags give the JLPT level at which the game starts quizzing a form.

PLAIN

Form	Conjugation	Audio
present	弾くひく hiku
past I played an instrument.	弾いたひいた hiita
negative I don't play an instrument.	弾かないひかない hikanai
te-form 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	弾きますひきます hikimasu
past I played an instrument.	弾きましたひきました hikimashita
negative 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