引き返す (hikikaesu) conjugation
to turn back, to go back, reverse
引き返す (ひきかえす, hikikaesu) 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 | 引き返す hikikaesu | 引き返します hikikaeshimasu | The form you look up. Also the casual present and future. |
| Plain negative | 引き返さない hikikaesanai | 引き返しません hikikaeshimasen | “doesn’t / won’t”. From here it conjugates like an i-adjective. |
| Plain past | 引き返した hikikaeshita | 引き返しました hikikaeshimashita | The casual past — same ending as the te-form, with た/だ. |
| Plain past negative | 引き返さなかった hikikaesanakatta | 引き返しませんでした hikikaeshimasendeshita | “didn’t”. The negative past, still i-adjective-shaped. |
| Te-form | 引き返して hikikaeshite | — | The connector: requests, linking clauses, ~ている. |
| Progressive (~ている) | 引き返している hikikaeshiteiru | 引き返しています hikikaeshiteimasu | “is ~ing”, or an ongoing resulting state. |
| Desire (~たい) | 引き返したい hikikaeshitai | 引き返したいです hikikaeshitaidesu | “want to ~”. Behaves as an i-adjective. |
| Volitional | 引き返そう hikikaesou | 引き返しましょう hikikaeshimashou | “let’s ~” / “I think I’ll ~”. |
| Potential | 引き返せる hikikaeseru | 引き返せます hikikaesemasu | “can ~”. What you could do; the object often takes が. |
| Passive | 引き返される hikikaesareru | 引き返されます hikikaesaremasu | “is ~ed”. Also the honorific and the suffering passive. |
| Causative | 引き返させる hikikaesaseru | 引き返させます hikikaesasemasu | Make or let someone do it. |
| Causative-passive | 引き返させられる hikikaesaserareru | 引き返させられます hikikaesaseraremasu | Be made to do it — the long one. |
| Imperative | 引き返せ hikikaese | 引き返してください hikikaeshitekudasai | Blunt order. Use ~てください in real life. |
| Prohibitive | 引き返すな hikikaesuna | — | “don’t!” — dictionary form + な. |
| Conditional (~ば) | 引き返せば hikikaeseba | — | “if ~”. General rules and hypotheticals. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 引き返したら hikikaeshitara | — | “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.