あるき vs あるく to say walk


I learnt that walk is あるく in japanese, however <http://jtalkonline.com/the-
basics-of-grammar/> site mentions it as あるき constantly. Is the site wrong or
are those two interchangable?




[歩]{ある}く is the dictionary (or plain affirmative) form of "to walk". The
dictionary form is a more informal form of verbs. The page you link to is
simply displaying several conjugations of this verb. Specifically, it is
showing [丁寧語]{てい・ねい・ご} conjugations which are for polite speech (Note: polite
speech is not the same as "humble" or "respectful" speech. That is a different
topic altogether).

Some of conjugations they list are:

  * ある **き** ます → Present or future affirmative tense; this is equivalent to あるく, just more polite
  * ある **き** ません → Present of future negative tense; "I don't/won't walk"
  * ある **き** ました → Past affirmative tense; "I walked"
  * ある **き** ませんでした → Past negative tense; "I didn't walk"

[歩]{ある}く is one of the "5 level verbs" ([五段動詞]{ご・だん・どう・し}). Without going
_too_ much into it, they are verbs who conjugate along the 5 kana in the
respective columns. Here, 歩く is part of the "k" column: that is, the kana
**か・き・く・け・こ**. The "u" combination (here, **k** + **u** = く) is always the
dictionary form: hence, 歩 **く**. The other combinations mean different things.
The "i" combination is how you form the polite form (here, き).

  * 歩 **か** ない → the **か** combination is the negative plain form (equivalent to 歩きません)
  * 歩 **き** ます → the **き** combination is for forming the polite form
  * 歩 **く** → the **く** as we mentioned is for the dictionary form
  * 歩 **け** ば → the **け** combination is to form the potential form ("If I/you walk")
  * 歩 **こ** う → the **こ** combination is to form the volitional form ("I will walk" or "Let's walk!")

Hopefully this helps clear up why they had different forms on that page. They
were simply using more polite speech instead of informal speech.




[歩]{ある}く is the dictionary (or plain affirmative) form of "to walk". The
dictionary form is a more informal form of verbs. The page you link to is
simply displaying several conjugations of this verb. Specifically, it is
showing [丁寧語]{てい・ねい・ご} conjugations which are for polite speech (Note: polite
speech is not the same as "humble" or "respectful" speech. That is a different
topic altogether).

Some of conjugations they list are:

  * ある **き** ます → Present or future affirmative tense; this is equivalent to あるく, just more polite
  * ある **き** ません → Present of future negative tense; "I don't/won't walk"
  * ある **き** ました → Past affirmative tense; "I walked"
  * ある **き** ませんでした → Past negative tense; "I didn't walk"

[歩]{ある}く is one of the "5 level verbs" ([五段動詞]{ご・だん・どう・し}). Without going
_too_ much into it, they are verbs who conjugate along the 5 kana in the
respective columns. Here, 歩く is part of the "k" column: that is, the kana
**か・き・く・け・こ**. The "u" combination (here, **k** + **u** = く) is always the
dictionary form: hence, 歩 **く**. The other combinations mean different things.
The "i" combination is how you form the polite form (here, き).

  * 歩 **か** ない → the **か** combination is the negative plain form (equivalent to 歩きません)
  * 歩 **き** ます → the **き** combination is for forming the polite form
  * 歩 **く** → the **く** as we mentioned is for the dictionary form
  * 歩 **け** ば → the **け** combination is to form the potential form ("If I/you walk")
  * 歩 **こ** う → the **こ** combination is to form the volitional form ("I will walk" or "Let's walk!")

Hopefully this helps clear up why they had different forms on that page. They
were simply using more polite speech instead of informal speech.

