ICHI(1)-DAN VERBS

"Ichi-dan" means "one step"
These verbs are called "ichi-dan" verbs because, unlike the go-dan verbs, when the endings change, we just drop one ending and swap it for another, without needing to use all the five different syllables from each row of the hiragana chart.
While all ichi-dan verbs end in an "iru" or "eru" sound, there are some "iru"/"eru" verbs which are go-dan, NOT ichi-dan. e.g. "kaeru/kaerimasu" is go-dan.

Let's look at some examples, using two ichi-dan verbs, たべる (eat) and みる (look/see/watch). To save space, in the examples below we'll translate みる as just "watch".

TE Form

Take off the る and replace with て

たべる → たべて
みる → みて

Verb Stem

Take off the る

たべる → たべ
みる → み

Alternatively, if you already know the -masu form, just drop the -masu and what you have left is the verb stem.
たべます→たべ
みます→み

Plain Form

Non-past, positive (aka dictionary form):

たべる - eats / will eat
みる - watches / will watch

Non-past, negative:

たべない - doesn't eat/ won't eat
みない - doesn't watch / won't watch

Past, positive:

たべた - ate
みた - watched

Past, negative:

たべなかった - didn't eat
みなかった - didn't watch

Present continuous, non-past, positive:

たべている - is/am/are eating
みている - is/am/are watching

Present continuous, non-past, negative:

たべていない - is/am/are not eating
みていない - is/am/are not watching

Potential (can):

たべられる - can eat
みられる - can watch

Year 13

Volitional (let's):

たべよう - let's eat
みよう - let's watch

Not needed for NCEA, but handy to know.

-ます (masu) Form (Polite Form)

Non-past, positive:

たべます - eats / will eat
みます - watches / will watch