残す (nokosu) conjugation
to leave (behind, over), to save, to reserve
残す (のこす, nokosu) 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 | 残す nokosu | 残します nokoshimasu | The form you look up. Also the casual present and future. |
| Plain negative | 残さない nokosanai | 残しません nokoshimasen | “doesn’t / won’t”. From here it conjugates like an i-adjective. |
| Plain past | 残した nokoshita | 残しました nokoshimashita | The casual past — same ending as the te-form, with た/だ. |
| Plain past negative | 残さなかった nokosanakatta | 残しませんでした nokoshimasendeshita | “didn’t”. The negative past, still i-adjective-shaped. |
| Te-form | 残して nokoshite | — | The connector: requests, linking clauses, ~ている. |
| Progressive (~ている) | 残している nokoshiteiru | 残しています nokoshiteimasu | “is ~ing”, or an ongoing resulting state. |
| Desire (~たい) | 残したい nokoshitai | 残したいです nokoshitaidesu | “want to ~”. Behaves as an i-adjective. |
| Volitional | 残そう nokosou | 残しましょう nokoshimashou | “let’s ~” / “I think I’ll ~”. |
| Potential | 残せる nokoseru | 残せます nokosemasu | “can ~”. What you could do; the object often takes が. |
| Passive | 残される nokosareru | 残されます nokosaremasu | “is ~ed”. Also the honorific and the suffering passive. |
| Causative | 残させる nokosaseru | 残させます nokosasemasu | Make or let someone do it. |
| Causative-passive | 残させられる nokosaserareru | 残させられます nokosaseraremasu | Be made to do it — the long one. |
| Imperative | 残せ nokose | 残してください nokoshitekudasai | Blunt order. Use ~てください in real life. |
| Prohibitive | 残すな nokosuna | — | “don’t!” — dictionary form + な. |
| Conditional (~ば) | 残せば nokoseba | — | “if ~”. General rules and hypotheticals. |
| Conditional (~たら) | 残したら nokoshitara | — | “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.