Godan verb (つ)

持つもつ

motsu

to hold (in one's hand) · N5

持つ (もつ, motsu) — to hold — is a godan verb ending in つ: 持って (te-form), 持った (past), 持たない (negative), 持ちます (polite).

It is transitive: it takes a direct object. It also means to take; to carry.

How 持つ conjugates · godan つ-verb

Only the last kana changes: つ becomes た, ち, て or と.

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.

た持たないnegative

ち持ちますpolite present

つ持つdictionary form

て持てるpotential持てばif

と持とうvolitional

The て and た forms · つ → って, ったっ持ってte-form持ったpast

The て and た forms are the only two that don't follow this pattern. Every う-, つ- and る-verb has the same って there.

N5 N tags give the JLPT level at which the game starts quizzing a form.

PLAIN

Form	Conjugation	Audio
present N5	持つもつ motsu
past N5 I held it.	持ったもった motta
negative N5 I don't carry one.	持たないもたない motanai
te-form N5 I hold it and …	持ってもって motte
past negative N4 I didn't carry it.	持たなかったもたなかった motanakatta
volitional N4 Let's carry it.	持とうもとう motou
potential N3 I can hold it.	持てるもてる moteru
cond. ば N3 If I hold it, ...	持てばもてば moteba
cond. たら N3 When I hold it, ...	持ったらもったら mottara
passive N2 It gets held by someone.	持たれるもたれる motareru
causative N2 I make someone carry it.	持たせるもたせる motaseru
imperative N1 Hold it!	持てもて mote

POLITE

Form	Conjugation	Audio
present N5	持ちますもちます mochimasu
past N5 I held it.	持ちましたもちました mochimashita
negative N5 I don't carry one.	持ちませんもちません mochimasen
past negative N4 I didn't carry it.	持ちませんでしたもちませんでした mochimasendeshita
volitional N4 Let's carry it.	持ちましょうもちましょう mochimashou

ASPECT

Form	Conjugation	Audio
ている N4 I have it.	持っているもっている motteiru
ていた N4 I had it.	持っていたもっていた motteita
ています N4 I have it.	持っていますもっています motteimasu
ていました N4 I had it.	持っていましたもっていました motteimashita