As you will see, て-form (te-form) of Japanese verbs has many functions. You can use it to form different verb sentences.
One basic function of te-form is to connect verb sentences.
When two or more actions take place in succession, the actions are mentioned in the order of occurrence by using the te-form. It looks similar to the function of the English word "then".
There is no past tense for te-form. The tense of the sentence is determined by the tense form of the last verb in the sentence.
Therefore for those actions taken before the last verb, they are always represented by te-form. For example,
Let's see how to make te-form from dictionary-form.
For group 1 verbs which end up with the words う (u), つ (tsu) or る (ru), replace these words with って (tte). For those verbs which end up with the words む (mu), ぬ (nu) or ぶ (bu), replace the words with んで (nde).
For group 1 verbs which end up with the word く (ku), change the word to いて (ite). For those which end up with the word ぐ (gu), change it to いで (ide). And for those which end up with the word す (su), change it to して (shite).
However, there is one exception. (In Japanese you always come across many exceptions). For the japanese verb いく (iku) which means "to go", the te-form is いって (itte).
Group 2 verbs always end with the word る (ru), you just need to replace る (ru) with て (te).
For group 3 verbs, the te-form of する (suru) is して (shite) and the te-form of くる (kuru) is きて (kite).
The following diagram shows the summary of how to change from dictionary-form to te-form for Japanese verbs.
Let's see some examples of changing Japanese verbs from dictionary-form to te-form.
dict-form | Meaning | te-form | |
1. | ある | Exist (Thing) | あって |
2. | かかる | Hang/Take | かかって |
3. | よむ | Read | よんで |
4. | のむ | Drink | のんで |
5. | きく | Listen/Ask | きいて |
6. | みがく | Brush | みがいて |
7. | あらう | Wash | あらって |
8. | かう | Buy | かって |
9. | いく | Go | いって (Exception) |
10. | かえる | Go Back | かえって (Not Grp 2) |
11. | はいる | Enter | はいって (Not Grp 2) |
12. | はしる | Run | はしって (Not Grp 2) |
13. | のる | Get On/Ride | のって |
14. | わかる | Understand | わかって |
15. | おくる | Send | おくって |
16. | およぐ | Swim | およいで |
17. | あそぶ | Play | あそんで |
18. | かく | Write | かいて |
19. | だす | Take Out/Submit | だして |
20. | とる | Take/Pick Up | とって |
21. | ひく | Pull/Play (Piano) | ひいて |
22. | おろす | Lower/Get Down | おろして |
23. | はなす | Speak/Talk | はなして |
24. | まつ | Wait | まって |
25. | はじまる | Begin/Start | はじまって |
26. | おわる | End/Finish | おわって |
27. | おもう | Think/Feel | おもって |
28. | もらう | Receive/Get | もらって |
dict-form | Meaning | te-form | |
1. | いる | Exist (Human/Animal) | いて |
2. | たべる | Eat | たべて |
3. | みる | See | みて |
4. | あびる | Bathe/Shower | あびて |
5. | でる | Appear/Leave | でて |
6. | おりる | Alight/Get Off | おりて |
7. | みえる | Be Seen/Seem/Appear | みえて |
8. | きこえる | Be Heard/Said to be | きこえて |
9. | むかえる | Welcome/Greet | むかえて |
10. | ねる | Go to Bed | ねて |
11. | おきる | Wake Up/Rise/Happen | おきて |
12. | あげる | Give/Offer/Raise | あげて |
13. | くれる | Be Given/Let One Have | くれて |
dict-form | Meaning | te-form | |
1. | くる | Come/Arrive | きて |
2. | する | Do/Execute/Play | して |
3. | べんきょうする | Study | べんきょうして |
4. | さんぽする | Walk/Stroll | さんぽして |
You can use te-form of Japanese verbs to make long sentences. For example, you can make one long sentence if you want to say all the things you are doing everyday...
You can make a sentence using te-form just like the above example. It is also fine to make a sentence with only two actions with te-from, as long as the order of occurrence is followed as mentioned in the sentence.
Lesson 18: Verbs.
Lesson 19: Verbs Part 2 - Change dictionary-form to masu-form and nai-form.
Lesson 20: Verbs on give and receive.
Lesson 22: Verbs on Progress Action, Habitual Action & Occupation.
Lesson 23: Verbs of Motion & How to Make Request in Japanese.
Lesson 29: Verbs on State Continuation.
Lesson 30: Verbs - Transitive and Intransitive verbs.
Lesson 31: Verbs on State Continuation Transitive/Intransitive.
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