What does 変える mean?
変える is a Japanese verb meaning “to change, to alter, to vary” in English. It can also be translated as “to reform” depending on context. It is written as 変える in kanji, かえる in hiragana, and kaeru in romaji. This word is part of JLPT N4 vocabulary.
Example sentence
なんで彼は考えを変えたのか。
What made him change his mind?
Conjugation of 変える
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Plain | 変えるかえる | 変えないかえない |
| Plain past | 変えたかえた | 変えなかったかえなかった |
| Polite | 変えますかえます | 変えませんかえません |
| Polite past | 変えましたかえました | 変えませんでしたかえませんでした |
Other forms
Te-form変えてかえて
Potential変えられるかえられる
Passive変えられるかえられる
Volitional変えようかえよう
Causative変えさせるかえさせる
Conditional変えればかえれば
,
Intransitive partner
変える (someone does it)·変わる (it happens by itself)
変える describes someone doing something to a thing. 変わる describes it happening by itself. Japanese keeps these apart where English often uses one verb for both.