Structure
Examples:
[る1]Verb → 見る + よう
[る5]Verb → 座る + ろう
[う]Verb → 歌う + おう
[く]Verb → 歩く + こう
[す]Verb → 話す + そう
[つ]Verb → 打つ + とう
[ぬ]Verb → 死ぬ + のう
[ぶ]Verb → 飛ぶ + ぼう
[む]Verb → 休む + もう
[ぐ]Verb → 泳ぐ + ごう
Exceptions:
する → しよう
くる → こよう
Details
Standard
About Verb[よう]
よう (and う) are grammar constructions that function in a similar way to ましょう, or to be more precise, ましょう is the polite (conjugated) form of these auxiliary verbs. They are used as a casual way of expressing 'let's' when making suggestions, or 'I shall' when making statements.
よう is only one of the potential forms of this grammar point, and can actually be divided into two separate auxiliary verbs, う (used with う-Verbs), and よう (used with る-Verbs, する, and くる).
When attaching う to う-Verbs, simply replace the last kana with the equivalent お sound kana from within the same column (く becomes こ, う becomes お, す becomes そ, etc.), before adding う. For る-Verbs, replace る with よう.
As with many other verb conjugations, する and くる behave in a slightly different way to regular う-Verbs and る-Verbs. する will become しよう, while くる will become こよう.
The type of statements that う, and よう can be used for in Japanese are usually divided into three categories.
推量 - Expresses guesses (has a similar meaning to だろう, which itself is the よう form of だ)
意志 - Expresses intentions (has a similar meaning to ~するつもりだ)
勧誘 - Expresses invitations or encouragement (has a similar meaning to 誘う 'to invite')
Caution
Although よう is used with る-Verbs, する, and くる, it should not be confused with ようだ, another auxiliary verb that is used when describing likeness (in a similar way to そうだ).
Antonyms
Related
Examples
--:--
あなたが好きなケーキを買ってあげよう。
I'll buy you a cake that you like.
毎日スポーツをしよう。
Let's play sports every day.
朝ご飯を食べに行こう。
Let's go out to eat for breakfast.
ここにはあまりいいものがないから帰ろう。
There is not really anything good here, so let's go home.
今日は早く帰ろう。
Let's go home early today.
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All uses of volitional form and よう explained
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The Japanese volitional form
SelfTaughtJapanese
Volitional Form
Tae Kim
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[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Page 13
Genki II 1st Edition
Page 54
Genki II 2nd Edition
Page 78
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 150
みんなの日本語 II
Page 42 [CH 31]
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Verb[よう] – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (9 in total)

marlowe
Okay thanks - I’d figured it was a godan verb, just haven’t seen a number above る2 before!

Jerfy
Hi, I was just wondering will stuff like this be on the JLPT Exam?
推量 - Expresses guesses (has a similar meaning to だろう, which itself is the よう form of だ)
意志 - Expresses intentions (has a similar meaning to ~するつもりだ)
勧誘 - Expresses invitations or encouragement (has a similar meaning to 誘う ‘to invite’)
LIke we gotta know the kanji names of each use of う・よう?

casual
As far as I’ve seen, JLPT is a practice-oriented test, not a theory-oriented test. You are not expected to answer what category/part of speech/etc a word or usage falls under. You just have to understand what words mean and how they are used.
So it’s helpful to understand that the same ~よう form can mean different things, but you don’t have to know these category names.
That said, the words 意志 and 勧誘 themselves are common enough to come up on JLPT.
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