振り返る (furikaeru) conjugation
to turn head, to turn around, to look back
振り返る (ふりかえる, furikaeru) is a godan verb. Godan verbs change their final kana up and down its column of the kana chart — the a-row for negatives, the i-row before ます, the e-row for potential and ば. Every form below is tappable — hear it, then say it back.
Conjugation table
| Form | Plain (casual) | Polite (~ます) | When you use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dictionary / plain | 振り返る furikaeru | 振り返ります furikaerimasu | The form you look up. Also the casual present and future. |
| Plain negative | 振り返らない furikaeranai | 振り返りません furikaerimasen | “doesn’t / won’t”. From here it conjugates like an i-adjective. |
| Plain past | 振り返った furikaetta | 振り返りました furikaerimashita | The casual past — same ending as the te-form, with た/だ. |
| Plain past negative | 振り返らなかった furikaeranakatta | 振り返りませんでした furikaerimasendeshita | “didn’t”. The negative past, still i-adjective-shaped. |
| Te-form | 振り返って furikaette | — | The connector: requests, linking clauses, ~ている. |
| Progressive (~ている) | 振り返っている furikaetteiru | 振り返っています furikaetteimasu | “is ~ing”, or an ongoing resulting state. |
| Desire (~たい) | 振り返りたい furikaeritai | 振り返りたいです furikaeritaidesu | “want to ~”. Behaves as an i-adjective. |
| Volitional | 振り返ろう furikaerou | 振り返りましょう furikaerimashou | “let’s ~” / “I think I’ll ~”. |
| Potential | 振り返れる furikaereru | 振り返れます furikaeremasu | “can ~”. What you could do; the object often takes が. |
| Passive | 振り返られる furikaerareru | 振り返られます furikaeraremasu | “is ~ed”. Also the honorific and the suffering passive. |
| Causative | 振り返らせる furikaeraseru | 振り返らせます furikaerasemasu | Make or let someone do it. |
| Causative-passive | 振り返らされる furikaerasareru | 振り返らされます furikaerasaremasu | Be made to do it — the long one. |
| Imperative | 振り返れ furikaere | 振り返ってください furikaettekudasai | Blunt order. Use ~てください in real life. |
| Prohibitive | 振り返るな furikaeruna | — | “don’t!” — dictionary form + な. |
| Conditional (~ば) | 振り返れば furikaereba | — | “if ~”. General rules and hypotheticals. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 振り返ったら furikaettara | — | “if / when ~”. The everyday conditional. |
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Why it conjugates this way
Godan verbs change their final kana up and down its column of the kana chart — the a-row for negatives, the i-row before ます, the e-row for potential and ば.
See the full rules on the verb conjugation guide.