Negating verb-suffix

[espen180]

私は鮓をたべる。
I am eating sushi.
私は鮓をたべない。
I am not eating sushi.

Here the negative 'to eat' verb is made by replacing the last hiragana sign with ない. Is this the general case for all (Ichidan) verbs?

If not, is there a general rule?

有り難うございます。 :-)

[brunosprak]

As far as I know, all ichidan verbs drops its "ru" and adds "nai" for negative tense.

Check this conjugation table:
www as.ua.edu/nihongo/verb_table_roomaji.htm
(insert a dot after "www")
Many conjugation rules are summarized there.
[]s

[Putrefaction]

Yep, that's it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/Xtremevillan/Japanese/Untitled-39.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_verb_conjugations_and_adjective_declensio ns

[espen180]

Thank you for you help! :note:

[Elizabeth]

私は鮓をたべる。
I am eating sushi.
Note also a difficulty with this translation. The present/non-past form of the verb 食べる does not refer to a continuous, ongoing state such as eating, but to the future or to an action carried out on a regular basis. You can use the てーいる conjugation （食べている = now eating） to describe the English progressive tense of is-ing. :-)　


And just FYI, much more common kanji for sushi are 寿司 (not phonetic equivalent) or 鮨。:gohan: