勝つ (katsu) conjugation
to win
勝つ (かつ, katsu) 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 | 勝つ katsu | 勝ちます kachimasu | The form you look up. Also the casual present and future. |
| Plain negative | 勝たない katanai | 勝ちません kachimasen | “doesn’t / won’t”. From here it conjugates like an i-adjective. |
| Plain past | 勝った katta | 勝ちました kachimashita | The casual past — same ending as the te-form, with た/だ. |
| Plain past negative | 勝たなかった katanakatta | 勝ちませんでした kachimasendeshita | “didn’t”. The negative past, still i-adjective-shaped. |
| Te-form | 勝って katte | — | The connector: requests, linking clauses, ~ている. |
| Progressive (~ている) | 勝っている katteiru | 勝っています katteimasu | “is ~ing”, or an ongoing resulting state. |
| Desire (~たい) | 勝ちたい kachitai | 勝ちたいです kachitaidesu | “want to ~”. Behaves as an i-adjective. |
| Volitional | 勝とう katou | 勝ちましょう kachimashou | “let’s ~” / “I think I’ll ~”. |
| Potential | 勝てる kateru | 勝てます katemasu | “can ~”. What you could do; the object often takes が. |
| Passive | 勝たれる katareru | 勝たれます kataremasu | “is ~ed”. Also the honorific and the suffering passive. |
| Causative | 勝たせる kataseru | 勝たせます katasemasu | Make or let someone do it. |
| Causative-passive | 勝たされる katasareru | 勝たされます katasaremasu | Be made to do it — the long one. |
| Imperative | 勝て kate | 勝ってください kattekudasai | Blunt order. Use ~てください in real life. |
| Prohibitive | 勝つな katsuna | — | “don’t!” — dictionary form + な. |
| Conditional (~ば) | 勝てば kateba | — | “if ~”. General rules and hypotheticals. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 勝ったら kattara | — | “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.