持つ (motsu) conjugation
to hold, to carry; to possess
持つ (もつ, motsu) 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 | 持つ motsu | 持ちます mochimasu | The form you look up. Also the casual present and future. |
| Plain negative | 持たない motanai | 持ちません mochimasen | “doesn’t / won’t”. From here it conjugates like an i-adjective. |
| Plain past | 持った motta | 持ちました mochimashita | The casual past — same ending as the te-form, with た/だ. |
| Plain past negative | 持たなかった motanakatta | 持ちませんでした mochimasendeshita | “didn’t”. The negative past, still i-adjective-shaped. |
| Te-form | 持って motte | — | The connector: requests, linking clauses, ~ている. |
| Progressive (~ている) | 持っている motteiru | 持っています motteimasu | “is ~ing”, or an ongoing resulting state. |
| Desire (~たい) | 持ちたい mochitai | 持ちたいです mochitaidesu | “want to ~”. Behaves as an i-adjective. |
| Volitional | 持とう motou | 持ちましょう mochimashou | “let’s ~” / “I think I’ll ~”. |
| Potential | 持てる moteru | 持てます motemasu | “can ~”. What you could do; the object often takes が. |
| Passive | 持たれる motareru | 持たれます motaremasu | “is ~ed”. Also the honorific and the suffering passive. |
| Causative | 持たせる motaseru | 持たせます motasemasu | Make or let someone do it. |
| Causative-passive | 持たされる motasareru | 持たされます motasaremasu | Be made to do it — the long one. |
| Imperative | 持て mote | 持ってください mottekudasai | Blunt order. Use ~てください in real life. |
| Prohibitive | 持つな motsuna | — | “don’t!” — dictionary form + な. |
| Conditional (~ば) | 持てば moteba | — | “if ~”. General rules and hypotheticals. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 持ったら mottara | — | “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.