待つ (matsu) conjugation
to wait
待つ (まつ, matsu) 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 | 待つ matsu | 待ちます machimasu | The form you look up. Also the casual present and future. |
| Plain negative | 待たない matanai | 待ちません machimasen | “doesn’t / won’t”. From here it conjugates like an i-adjective. |
| Plain past | 待った matta | 待ちました machimashita | The casual past — same ending as the te-form, with た/だ. |
| Plain past negative | 待たなかった matanakatta | 待ちませんでした machimasendeshita | “didn’t”. The negative past, still i-adjective-shaped. |
| Te-form | 待って matte | — | The connector: requests, linking clauses, ~ている. |
| Progressive (~ている) | 待っている matteiru | 待っています matteimasu | “is ~ing”, or an ongoing resulting state. |
| Desire (~たい) | 待ちたい machitai | 待ちたいです machitaidesu | “want to ~”. Behaves as an i-adjective. |
| Volitional | 待とう matou | 待ちましょう machimashou | “let’s ~” / “I think I’ll ~”. |
| Potential | 待てる materu | 待てます matemasu | “can ~”. What you could do; the object often takes が. |
| Passive | 待たれる matareru | 待たれます mataremasu | “is ~ed”. Also the honorific and the suffering passive. |
| Causative | 待たせる mataseru | 待たせます matasemasu | Make or let someone do it. |
| Causative-passive | 待たされる matasareru | 待たされます matasaremasu | Be made to do it — the long one. |
| Imperative | 待て mate | 待ってください mattekudasai | Blunt order. Use ~てください in real life. |
| Prohibitive | 待つな matsuna | — | “don’t!” — dictionary form + な. |
| Conditional (~ば) | 待てば mateba | — | “if ~”. General rules and hypotheticals. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 待ったら mattara | — | “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.