返す (kaesu) conjugation
to return something
返す (かえす, kaesu) 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 | 返す kaesu | 返します kaeshimasu | The form you look up. Also the casual present and future. |
| Plain negative | 返さない kaesanai | 返しません kaeshimasen | “doesn’t / won’t”. From here it conjugates like an i-adjective. |
| Plain past | 返した kaeshita | 返しました kaeshimashita | The casual past — same ending as the te-form, with た/だ. |
| Plain past negative | 返さなかった kaesanakatta | 返しませんでした kaeshimasendeshita | “didn’t”. The negative past, still i-adjective-shaped. |
| Te-form | 返して kaeshite | — | The connector: requests, linking clauses, ~ている. |
| Progressive (~ている) | 返している kaeshiteiru | 返しています kaeshiteimasu | “is ~ing”, or an ongoing resulting state. |
| Desire (~たい) | 返したい kaeshitai | 返したいです kaeshitaidesu | “want to ~”. Behaves as an i-adjective. |
| Volitional | 返そう kaesou | 返しましょう kaeshimashou | “let’s ~” / “I think I’ll ~”. |
| Potential | 返せる kaeseru | 返せます kaesemasu | “can ~”. What you could do; the object often takes が. |
| Passive | 返される kaesareru | 返されます kaesaremasu | “is ~ed”. Also the honorific and the suffering passive. |
| Causative | 返させる kaesaseru | 返させます kaesasemasu | Make or let someone do it. |
| Causative-passive | 返させられる kaesaserareru | 返させられます kaesaseraremasu | Be made to do it — the long one. |
| Imperative | 返せ kaese | 返してください kaeshitekudasai | Blunt order. Use ~てください in real life. |
| Prohibitive | 返すな kaesuna | — | “don’t!” — dictionary form + な. |
| Conditional (~ば) | 返せば kaeseba | — | “if ~”. General rules and hypotheticals. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 返したら kaeshitara | — | “if / when ~”. The everyday conditional. |
🔊 Tap any Japanese word to hear it spoken.
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.