In any language, the words that express the deed(s) of someone or something are called verbs. Verbs inform about actions being taken, things or beings held and the position taken by a subject.
There are different classes of verbs; among them formal and informal verbs. The sense of formality and informality arises as a result of the nature of the verb in use. Some words are more serious in nature than others; even though they may be used to pass the same message. Normally, informal verbs are those that humans use commonly in normal communication. Majority of them tend to be short words that are less serious. On the other hand formal verbs tend to be neglected in day to day communication as they are more in serious nature and often long.
Needless to say, like any other word, a verb can be broken down to phonemes. This simply means that we can find small bits of sounds in every particular verb of any language. All these bits are necessary in the meaning of the verb. For instance an English verb run compared to bun. The sound of ‘r’ in run and ‘b’ in bun completely changes the meaning of these words in communication. Japanese language has its own unique way of pronunciation. Common vowels of the English alphabet are pronounced differently by the Japanese. Consonant pronunciations vary as well. When these vowels and consonants are put together to form a word, the difference in pronunciation of each word could portray a whole different message away from the intended. Where a Japanese speaker puts stress in speech is different from where an American English speaker will put stress. In this way, the phonemic breakdown of verbs in Japanese becomes a challenge to an American English speaker taking an exercise in Japanese verbs.
Notably, if the verb roots in Japanese language are broken down, they generate a pattern that can enable an individual studying this language to formulate the rule behind roots of formal and informal verbs. One clear observation is that there are three types of verbs in Japanese. These are distinguished by their suffixes. The meaning of any verb in Japanese can be changed by simply altering its suffix sound. In Japanese, the subject of the verb does not matter whether in single or abundance. The first, second or third person do not matter either. Moreover, only two tenses of time are captured in Japanese. Tense can only be either past or not past. In this view, an American English speaker taking a study in Japanese formal and informal verbs is bound to find it challenging.
The dictionary or plain form of a verb in Japanese language exists as the basic reference word. If any verb from the dictionary form is used in its form of existence, then that represents a less formal state of the verb in use. It is therefore true to say that the informality of a verb in Japanese is only when its suffix has not been altered from its basic form.
A more formal form of verbs in Japanese is called the ‘masu’ form. Like the English formal verbs, the use of ‘masu’ form of verbs is not often. Masu verbs when used normally give simple orders, or formally express status of a subject.
In general, the rules behind Japanese formal and informal verb formation are a challenge to America English speakers as has been explained in this paper.