irrealis form
A base form of Japanese verbs and adjectives used with auxiliaries to express negation, causation, passive, and volition. Primarily a grammatical term; learners encounter it when studying conjugation patterns.
The irrealis form of 書く is 書か.
Attaching ない to the irrealis form creates the negative form.
The terminal form, used to end sentences in the plain style.
The attributive form, used before nouns.
The hypothetical form, used with ば to express conditionals.
The imperative form, used for commands.
From 未然 (not yet happened) + 形 (form). The term reflects its role in expressing actions or states that have not yet occurred.