Expressing Intention with the Volitional Form

What is the Volitional Form

The volitional form is a verb conjugation used to express intention, make suggestions, or offer invitations. It is the Japanese equivalent of saying "let's do something" or "I shall do something."

Whenever you want to invite a friend out, propose a plan, or simply declare your own determination to do something, you will use this form. It fundamentally shifts a verb from being a simple statement of fact into an expression of human will or intent.

Polite and Casual Forms

Like most Japanese grammar, the volitional form changes depending on the level of politeness required.

The Polite Volitional Form In polite situations, you use the suffix 〜ましょう (mashou). You simply take the stem of a polite 〜ます verb and replace ます with ましょう.

(go) → (let's go)
(eat) → (let's eat)

The Casual Volitional Form In casual situations, you use the short volitional form, often just called the volitional form (意向形). This requires changing the end of the dictionary form verb to an 〜おう (ou) or 〜よう (you) sound.

The rest of this guide will focus primarily on the casual volitional form, as it involves specific conjugation rules and is used in a wider variety of grammatical patterns.

Conjugating the Casual Volitional Form

To conjugate a verb into the casual volitional form, you first need to identify whether it is an Ichidan (Ru-verb), Godan (U-verb), or Irregular verb.

1. Ru-Verbs (Ichidan)

For verbs ending in that belong to the Ichidan group, simply drop the and add .

Base Form	Volitional Form	Meaning
		Let's eat
		Let's watch
		Let's sleep
		Let's wake up

2. U-Verbs (Godan)

For Godan verbs, you must change the final "u" vowel sound to its corresponding "o" vowel sound, and then add . For example, becomes , and becomes .

Base Form	Change	Volitional Form	Meaning
	う → おう		Let's buy
	く → こう		Let's write
	ぐ → ごう		Let's swim
	す → そう		Let's speak
	つ → とう		Let's wait
	ぬ → のう		Let's die
	む → もう		Let's read
	ぶ → ぼう		Let's play
	る → ろう		Let's ride

3. Irregular Verbs

There are only two main irregular verbs to remember:

Base Form	Volitional Form	Meaning
		Let's do
		Let's come

(Note: Pay attention to the reading of . In the volitional form, it is pronounced as ).

Making Suggestions and Invitations

The most direct way to use the volitional form is to suggest an action to someone else.

If you use the volitional form by itself, it means "Let's [verb]." If you add the question particle at the end, it softens into a question: "Shall we [verb]?" or "Should I [verb]?". For a deeper look at questions, see Forming Questions in Japanese.

Examples

Casual Invitations with 〜ない？

While the volitional form is great for saying "Let's do this," native speakers frequently use the negative plain form as an invitation. By asking "Won't you do this?", it gives the listener an easy way out if they want to decline.

Volitional: (Direct suggestion)
Negative Question: (Softer invitation)

Expressing Intentions and Plans

When talking about your own future plans Japanese relies on a few specific patterns to express degrees of certainty and intent.

Volitional Form + と思っています

By combining the volitional form with , you express an intention or plan that you have been considering for a while.

(Note: You can also use , but this implies a spur-of-the-moment decision, whereas indicates a plan you have been holding onto).

Plain Form + つもりです

If your plan is more solidified and you have a strong intention to follow through, use the dictionary form of the verb plus . This translates more closely to "I plan to" or "I intend to."

Plain Form + かもしれません

If your plans are vague or you are unsure what you will do, you can use (casual: ), which means "might" or "may." This attaches to the plain dictionary form, not the volitional form. For more ways to express doubt, see Expressing Uncertainty in Japanese.

Examples

Comparing Forms

It can be easy to confuse the volitional form with other verb forms that deal with the future or personal desires. Here is a quick breakdown to help you differentiate them:

Volitional Form (Intent/Suggestion): Used when you are proposing an action or declaring your will to do it.
〜たい Form (Desire): Used when you simply want to do something, regardless of whether you actually plan to do it. See Introduction to Japanese Adjectives for how the たい-form acts like an i-adjective.
Non-Past Tense (Fact/Habit): Used to state an objective fact about the future or a habitual action. See Introduction to Japanese Tenses for more details.

Study Tips

The volitional form is incredibly common in everyday Japanese. The core thing to notice is the elongated "ou" sound at the end of verbs. Whether it is , , or , that "ou" sound is the universal signal that someone is suggesting an action or stating an intention.

Don't worry too much about perfectly memorizing the Godan conjugation table right away. As you get more exposure to the language through reading and listening, your brain will naturally learn to expect the "o" vowel shift.

Start by listening for 〜よう and 〜ましょう in the content you consume, and notice whether the speaker is making a suggestion to someone else, or stating their own internal plans using 〜ようと思っています.