て形

Te-form

Level 2Sounds Like te

The Te-form (て形) is the 'grammatical hook' of Japanese. It allows you to link multiple verbs, adjectives, or nouns together in a single sentence, often acting like the word 'and' or 'and then.'

How It Works

The Te-form is essential for building complex sentences. Its functions include:

  • Sequence: Linking actions in order (e.g., 'I woke up and ate').
  • Manner: Describing how an action is done (e.g., 'I went by walking').
  • Parallel: Linking multiple qualities or states (e.g., 'This room is clean and quiet'). It can also be used for contrast (e.g., 'My older brother is tall, and/but my younger brother is short').
  • Cause: Explaining a reason (e.g., 'I caught a cold and stayed home'). Note: When expressing a cause, the second clause cannot be a volitional expression, such as a command, request, invitation, or the speaker's own intention/desire; use から or ので for those cases.
  • Casual Request: In casual speech, the Te-form used alone functions as a soft command or request.
  • Auxiliary Base: It is the foundation for many other patterns like ongoing actions, requests, permission, and prohibition.

Conjugation Rules (Affirmative):
1. Group 1 (Godan): Changes based on the last syllable:
- う、つ、る → 〜って (買う（かう） → 買って)
- む、ぶ、ぬ → 〜んで (飲む（のむ） → 飲んで)
- く → 〜いて (書く（かく） → 書いて) [Exception: 行く（いく） → 行って]
- ぐ → 〜いで (泳ぐ（およぐ） → 泳いで)
- す → 〜して (話す（はなす） → 話して)

2. Group 2 (Ichidan): Drop 〜る and add 〜て (食べる（たべる） → 食べて).

3. Irregular: する → して, くる → きて.

4. Adjectives/Nouns:
- い-adjectives: Replace 〜い with 〜くて (安い（やすい） → 安くて). [Exception: いい → よくて]
- な-adjectives & Nouns: Add で (きれい → きれいで).

Conjugation Rules (Negative):
1. Verbs: Change to the ない form and replace 〜ない with either 〜なくて (used for cause/linking) or 〜ないで (used for 'without doing' or negative requests). (e.g., 食べない → 食べなくて / 食べないで)
2. い-adjectives: Change to the negative form (〜くない), then drop the final 〜い and add 〜くて (安くない → 安くなくて).
3. な-adjectives & Nouns: Replace 〜じゃない with 〜じゃなくて (きれいじゃない → きれいじゃなくて).

Examples (4)

  1. 朝起きて、コーヒーを飲みました。

    I woke up and drank coffee.

    Word by Word: Morning wake-up-and, coffee (object) drank.

    Here, the Te-form of 起きる（おきる） connects two sequential actions. The final verb 飲みました determines the past tense.

  2. この店は安くておいしいです。

    This shop is cheap and delicious.

    Word by Word: This shop (topic) cheap-and delicious is.

    The Te-form of the adjective 安い（やすい） is used to link two descriptive qualities.

  3. 歩いて学校に行きます。

    I go to school by walking.

    Word by Word: Walking school to go.

    In this case, the Te-form of 歩く（あるく） describes the 'manner' or means of going to school.

  4. 田中さんは学生で、二十歳です。

    Mr. Tanaka is a student and is twenty years old.

    Word by Word: Tanaka-san (topic) student-and, 20-years-old is.

    For nouns like 学生（がくせい）, we add で to connect them to the next clause.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the regular 「く」 rule for the verb 行く（いく）.

    公園にいいて、遊びました。
    公園に行って、遊びました。

    While most verbs ending in 「く」 become 「いて」, 行く（いく） is a famous exception and must become 行って（いって）.

  • Thinking the Te-form alone means 'is doing' (-ing).

    今、ご飯を食べて。
    今、ご飯を食べています。

    The Te-form only connects. To express an ongoing action, you must pair it with the auxiliary verb いる.

  • Conjugating the adjective いい (good) as 「いいくて」.

    天気がいいくて、うれしいです。
    天気がよくて、うれしいです。

    The adjective いい (good) always changes its stem to よ- before adding any endings like 〜くて.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

て形Level 2Te-form

Learn This First

To learn the te-form, you must first understand the basic concept of Japanese verbs and be able to identify which group a verb belongs to, as the conjugation rules for the te-form are determined by the verb's group and its dictionary-form ending.

Learn Next

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