目指す (mezasu) conjugation
to aim at, to have an eye on
目指す (めざす, mezasu) 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 | 目指す mezasu | 目指します mezashimasu | The form you look up. Also the casual present and future. |
| Plain negative | 目指さない mezasanai | 目指しません mezashimasen | “doesn’t / won’t”. From here it conjugates like an i-adjective. |
| Plain past | 目指した mezashita | 目指しました mezashimashita | The casual past — same ending as the te-form, with た/だ. |
| Plain past negative | 目指さなかった mezasanakatta | 目指しませんでした mezashimasendeshita | “didn’t”. The negative past, still i-adjective-shaped. |
| Te-form | 目指して mezashite | — | The connector: requests, linking clauses, ~ている. |
| Progressive (~ている) | 目指している mezashiteiru | 目指しています mezashiteimasu | “is ~ing”, or an ongoing resulting state. |
| Desire (~たい) | 目指したい mezashitai | 目指したいです mezashitaidesu | “want to ~”. Behaves as an i-adjective. |
| Volitional | 目指そう mezasou | 目指しましょう mezashimashou | “let’s ~” / “I think I’ll ~”. |
| Potential | 目指せる mezaseru | 目指せます mezasemasu | “can ~”. What you could do; the object often takes が. |
| Passive | 目指される mezasareru | 目指されます mezasaremasu | “is ~ed”. Also the honorific and the suffering passive. |
| Causative | 目指させる mezasaseru | 目指させます mezasasemasu | Make or let someone do it. |
| Causative-passive | 目指させられる mezasaserareru | 目指させられます mezasaseraremasu | Be made to do it — the long one. |
| Imperative | 目指せ mezase | 目指してください mezashitekudasai | Blunt order. Use ~てください in real life. |
| Prohibitive | 目指すな mezasuna | — | “don’t!” — dictionary form + な. |
| Conditional (~ば) | 目指せば mezaseba | — | “if ~”. General rules and hypotheticals. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 目指したら mezashitara | — | “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.