て-Form

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 = 話はなして [X speaks]
  • く-Verbs: く becomes いて
    • E.g 歩く = 歩あるいて [X walks]
    • Exception: 行く = 行いって [X goes]
  • ぐ-Verbs: ぐ becomes いで
    • E.g. 泳ぐ = 泳およいで [X swims]
  • む / ぶ / ぬ-Verbs: む / ぶ / ぬ become んで
    • E.g 飲む = 飲のんで [X drinks]
    • E.g. 遊ぶ = 遊あそんで [X plays]
    • E.g. 死ぬ = 死しんで [X dies]
  • つ / う / る-Verbs: つ / う / る become って
    • E.g. 待つ = 待まって [X waits]
    • E.g. 買う = 買かって [X buys]
    • E.g. 取る = 取とって [X takes]

• Group 2 Verbs
  • る becomes て
    • E.g 食べる = 食たべて [X eats]

• Irregular Verbs
  • E.g. 来る = 来きて [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 = 高たかくて [X is expensive]

• な-Adjectives
  • (な-Adjective Stem) becomes (な-Adjective Stem + で)
    • E.g. 静か = 静しずかで [X is quiet]

• Noun + Copula
  • (Noun + だ) becomes (Noun + で)
    • E.g. 先生だ = 先生せんせいで [X is a teacher]

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. エミーは美うつくしくて明あかるくて人ひとに親切しんせつだ。[Amy is beautiful, cheerful, and kind to people.] This example conjoins three clauses with adjective predicates.
      • E.g. ワインを飲のみ過すぎて頭あたまが痛いたい。[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. 伊藤いと先生せんせいは今週こんしゅう病気びょうきで、かわりに村田むらた先生せんせいが教おしえた。[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. 食たべて寝ねた。[I ate, and then I slept.]
      • (B) Clause 1 and Clause 2 represent two qualities or states of some thing
        • E.g. ステーキは安やすくておいしいです。[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. ワインを飲のみ過すぎて頭あたまが痛いたい。[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. ケンは急いそいでご飯はんを食たべた。[Ken hurriedly ate his meal.]
        • E.g. 僕ぼくは歩あるいて帰かえった。[I went home on foot.]
      • (E) Clause 1 is contrasted with Clause 2
        • E.g. 男おとこは外そとで働はたらいて、女子じょしはうちで働はたらく。[Men work outside and women work inside.]
      • (F) Clause 2 is unexpected in the context of Clause 1
        • E.g. トムはいつも遊あそんでいてテストができる。[Tom is always goofing off, yet he does well on tests.]
  • (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. 黙だまって。[Shut up.]
      • E.g. 急いそいで。[Hurry up.]
      • E.g. 来きて。[Come here.]
      • E.g. 来きてください。[Come here, please.]
  • (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.

Example Sentences:

ジムは日本にほんへ行いって勉強べんきょうした。[Jim went to Japan and studied.]

ここのステーキは安やすくておいしい。[This place’s steak is cheap and delicious.]

このアパートは静しずかでいいです。[This apartment is quiet and good.]

私わたしの父ちちは先生せんせいで高校こうこうで英語えいごを教おしえている。[My father is a teacher, and he teaches English at a high school.]

私わたしはコートを脱ぬいでハンガーにかけた。[I took off my coat and hung it on a hanger.]

ワインを飲のみ過すぎて頭あたまが痛いたい。[I drank too much wine and I have a headache.]

私わたしの部屋へやは狭せまくて暗くらい。[My room is narrow and dark.]

このスープは辛からくて飲のめない。[This soup is so spicy, and I can’t drink it.]

私わたしはテニスが大だい好すきでよく友達ともだちとする。[I love to play tennis, and I often play with my friends.]

クリスは今いま大学だいがく三年さんねんで専攻せんこうは日本文学にほんぶんがくです。[Right now Chris is a 3rd year university student, and her major is Japanese literature.]

伊藤いと先生せんせいは今週こんしゅう病気びょうきで、かわりに村田むらた先生せんせいが教おしえた。[Ito sensei was sick this week, and Murata- sensei taught in his place.]

WILD Examples:

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