Masu forms
Verbs in "masu" form are appropriate for polite speech (teineigo) with strangers, new acquaintances, co-workers you are not close friends with, and your Japanese relatives such as in-laws. This conjugation is very simple to create if you know the verb stem. Take note that the "stem" is not the dictionary form of a verb. You cannot always tell what the stem of a verb is by looking at its dictionary form. You should know the conjugations in the chart below for the Unit Test, Midterm, and Final Exams. I have provided several examples for each conjugation.

Another masu form conjugation is mashou "let's" or "shall I/we":
たべましょう (Let's eat.)
いきましょう か。(Shall we go?)
かいましょう よ。(Let's buy it!)

te form
If you want to use a verb in the middle of a sentence, or list two or more verbs in a row, they cannot be in masu form. You will need to conjugate the verbs into te form. The te form is difficult because the final conjugation depends on the type of verb you are dealing with. Review the Verb Form Forum again if you need to.

Examples:
たべて かえります。 ([I'm going to] eat [first] and go back.)
おび は こう やって むすぶ の。 ([You] do it this way to tie the belt.)
すわって ください。 (Sit please.)

The Japanese system of teaching verbs is a bit different from what you get in many American textbooks. I have given you some rules and even a mnemonic device, but sometimes it's just easier to compare things in a chart. Here is a verb (動詞 - どうし) usage (活用 - かつよう) chart from a Japanese dictionary. The Japanese call the Vowel Verbs 一段 (いちだん - first rank) and Consonant Verbs 五段 (ごだん - fifth rank).

All you do is add the conjugation form (white letters) in the top line of the chart to the stem forms in the rest of the chart. The Irregular Verbs are by themselves.

一段活用動詞

五段活用動詞
(This chart gives you an example of every possible type of "consonant" verb ending:ku, gu, tsu, ru, u, nu, mu, bu, and su. Remember that iku is an exception.)

Dictionary form
Dictionary forms of verbs are what you will find in a dictionary when you go to look the words up in Japanese or English. For example, if you try to look up "oyogimasen" (do not swim) you will NOT find it. The closest word you will see is oyogu (swim). Oyogu is the dictionary form.

TRY THIS FUN QUIZ on dictionary form verbs!

Direct Style
"Direct style" is a term made up by an American linguist. It is a useful term to refer to when discussing grammar. Words (nouns, verbs or adjectives) in direct style are words in dictionary form or any conjugation other than masu forms. You can think of "direct" style as speaking without masu forms, which is rather "direct" (as opposed to vague, flowery, and polite.) One uses direct style words at the "casual" speech level (among friends, children, close family).