て-Form Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: て-Form
Essential Meaning: ~ing / And… (Connects independent clauses or indicates an imperative)
Construction:
- Group 1 Verbs
- す-Verbs: す becomes して
- E.g. 話す = 話して [X speaks]
- く-Verbs: く becomes いて
- E.g 歩く = 歩いて [X walks]
- Exception: 行く = 行って [X goes]
- ぐ-Verbs: ぐ becomes いで
- E.g. 泳ぐ = 泳いで [X swims]
- む / ぶ / ぬ-Verbs: む / ぶ / ぬ become んで
- E.g 飲む = 飲んで [X drinks]
- E.g. 遊ぶ = 遊んで [X plays]
- E.g. 死ぬ = 死んで [X dies]
- つ / う / る-Verbs: つ / う / る become って
- E.g. 待つ = 待って [X waits]
- E.g. 買う = 買って [X buys]
- E.g. 取る = 取って [X takes]
- す-Verbs: す becomes して
- Group 2 Verbs
- る becomes て
- E.g 食べる = 食べて [X eats]
- る becomes て
- Irregular Verbs
- E.g. 来る = 来て [X goes]
- E.g. する = して [X does]
- い-Adjectives
- (い-Adjective Stem + い) becomes (い-Adjective Stem + くて)
- E.g. 高い = 高くて [X is expensive]
- (い-Adjective Stem + い) becomes (い-Adjective Stem + くて)
- な-Adjectives
- (な-Adjective Stem) becomes (な-Adjective Stem + で)
- E.g. 静か = 静かで [X is quiet]
- (な-Adjective Stem) becomes (な-Adjective Stem + で)
- Noun + Copula
- (Noun + だ) becomes (Noun + で)
- E.g. 先生だ = 先生で [X is a teacher]
- (Noun + だ) becomes (Noun + で)
Notes:
- The て-Form is one of the most commonly used Japanese grammatical structures and serves a variety of functions. Primarily, the て-Form performs the following functions:
- (1) Linking Independent Clauses
- The て-Form can be used to connect two or more independent clauses into one conjoined sentence, just as the conjunction “And” does in English. て-Form clauses can use verbs, adjectives, or a Noun + Copula as predicates, and these parts of speech may intermingle within the same sentence.
- E.g. エミーは美しくて明るくて人に親切だ。[Amy is beautiful, cheerful, and kind to people.] This example conjoins three clauses with adjective predicates.
- E.g. ワインを飲み過ぎて頭が痛い。[I drank too much wine and I have a headache.] This example uses a verb in the first clause and an adjective in the second clause.
- Note that the predicate of the final clause in the sentence indicates the overall tense of the sentence. If the final predicate is in the past tense, the entire sentence becomes past tense
- E.g. 伊藤先生は今週病気で、かわりに村田先生が教えた。[Ito-sensei was sick this week, and Murata sensei taught in his place.]
- The relationship between the conjoined clauses varies according to context, but the following are common:
- (A) Clause 1 occurs sequentially before Clause 2
- E.g. 食べて寝た。[I ate, and then I slept.]
- (B) Clause 1 and Clause 2 represent two qualities or states of some thing
- E.g. ステーキは安くておいしいです。[The steak is cheap and delicious.]
- (C) Clause 1 is the cause or reason for Clause 2. This is a particularly common usage of the て-Form
- E.g. ワインを飲み過ぎて頭が痛い。[I drank too much wine, so I have a headache.]
- (D) Clause 2 is a means or manner by which someone does the action in clause 2
- E.g. ケンは急いでご飯を食べた。[Ken hurriedly ate his meal.]
- E.g. 僕は歩いて帰った。[I went home on foot.]
- (E) Clause 1 is contrasted with Clause 2
- E.g. 男は外で働いて、女子はうちで働く。[Men work outside and women work inside.]
- (F) Clause 2 is unexpected in the context of Clause 1
- E.g. トムはいつも遊んでいてテストができる。[Tom is always goofing off, yet he does well on tests.]
- (A) Clause 1 occurs sequentially before Clause 2
- The て-Form can be used to connect two or more independent clauses into one conjoined sentence, just as the conjunction “And” does in English. て-Form clauses can use verbs, adjectives, or a Noun + Copula as predicates, and these parts of speech may intermingle within the same sentence.
- (2) Indicating The Basic Imperative Voice
- When used with a solitary clause, the bare て-Form is used to give a command. The polite version of the て-Form imperative is てください. Technically, ください is supposed to be used by an inferior when making a request of a superior, but in modern Japanese it is used for all sorts of polite requests regardless of status. Also keep in mind that there are other imperative markers such as なさい and な.
- E.g. 黙って。[Shut up.]
- E.g. 急いで。[Hurry up.]
- E.g. 来て。[Come here.]
- E.g. 来てください。[Come here, please.]
- When used with a solitary clause, the bare て-Form is used to give a command. The polite version of the て-Form imperative is てください. Technically, ください is supposed to be used by an inferior when making a request of a superior, but in modern Japanese it is used for all sorts of polite requests regardless of status. Also keep in mind that there are other imperative markers such as なさい and な.
- (3) Grammatical Building Block
- The て-Form is used to create a variety of grammatical structures and idiomatic expressions. For example, auxiliary verbs such as ている, てみる, and ておく and expressions such as てから and てはいけない (among many others) connect to the て-Form. Therefore, understanding the て-Form is a prerequisite for understanding many useful Japanese expressions.
- (1) Linking Independent Clauses
Example Sentences:
ジムは日本へ行って勉強した。[Jim went to Japan and studied.]
ここのステーキは安くておいしい。[This place’s steak is cheap and delicious.]
このアパートは静かでいいです。[This apartment is quiet and good.]
私の父は先生で高校で英語を教えている。[My father is a teacher, and he teaches English at a high school.]
私はコートを脱いでハンガーにかけた。[I took off my coat and hung it on a hanger.]
ワインを飲み過ぎて頭が痛い。[I drank too much wine and I have a headache.]
私の部屋は狭くて暗い。[My room is narrow and dark.]
このスープは辛くて飲めない。[This soup is so spicy, and I can’t drink it.]
私はテニスが大好きでよく友達とする。[I love to play tennis, and I often play with my friends.]
クリスは今大学三年で専攻は日本文学です。[Right now Chris is a 3rd year university student, and her major is Japanese literature.]
伊藤先生は今週病気で、かわりに村田先生が教えた。[Ito sensei was sick this week, and Murata- sensei taught in his place.]
WILD Examples:
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