TE – Form

The -te form in Japanese means that a word ends in -て te or -で de. For example, the -te form of かく kaku (write) is かいて kaite, and the -te form of よむ yomu (read) is よんで yonde. When listing actions in the same sentence, you need to use the te form for all verbs except the last verb. That is, the te form means do/did .
For this reason, the te form is also called “continuing form.” So, かいて kaite means write. Accordingly, the te form cannot end a sentence; it must be followed by another verb or by an auxiliary adjective in order for the sentence to be complete.

For example:

書いて読みます。Kaite yomimasu. (I will write and read.)
書いて読みました。Kaite yomimashita. (I wrote and read.)
書いてください。Kaite kudasai. (Please write it.)
書いてほしいです。Kaite hoshii desu. (I want you to write it.)
書いてしまいました。Kaite shimaimashita. (I wrote it up!)

1. To create the te form from a dictionary form, follow these rules:
2. For ru verbs, drop the final るru and add て te.
3. For u verbs that end in すsu, change the final syllable to して shite.
4. For u verbs that end in くku, change the final syllable to いて ite; for u verbs that end in ぐ gu, change the final syllable to いで ide.
5. For u verbs that end in う(w)u, る ru, or つ tsu, change these final syllables to って tte.
6. For u verbs that end in む mu, ぬ nu, or ぶ bu, change these final syllables to んで nde.
7. Keep in mind that the verb いく iku is slightly irregular, and its te form is いって itte.
8. The te forms of the irregular verbs する suru and くる kuru are して shite and きて kite.

The following table shows examples of these rules:

Te-form examples

Uses of the TE – form

1. V- te = and, do and

V – te is used as a conjunction to link two or more actions or events.

EXAMPLES:

1. Kami de hikouki o tsukutte tobasu.
2. 神で飛行機を作って飛ばす。
3. I make airplanes with paper and fly them.

1. Meguro de densha o orite gakko made arukimasu.
2. 目黒で電車を降りて学校まで歩きます。
3. I get off the train at Meguro and walk to school.

2. V- te = do ~, so ~, because

V – te expresses the reason for or the cause of action or event.

EXAMPLES:

1. Amega futte tsuri ni ikemasen deshita.
2. 雨が降って釣りに行きませんでした。
3. It rained, so we couldn’t go fishing.

1. Tomodachi ga kite issho ni biru o nomimashita.
2. 友達が来て一緒にビルをのみました。
3. My friend came, so we drank beer together.

1. Kare wa hatarakisugite byouki ni narimashita.
2. 彼は働きすぎて病気になりました。
3. He became ill, because he worked too hard.

3. V- te = ~ing, ~ed

V – te expresses method for an action.

EXAMPLES:

1. Kesa isoide uchi o demashita.
2. 今朝急いでうちを出ました。
3. I left home in a hurry this morning.

1. Kare wa sofa ni nete hon wo yomu.
2. 彼はソファに寝て本を読む。
3. Lying on the sofa, he reads books.

4. V- te +kudasai ～てください/ V.-te +kure ～てくれ

V – te expresses a request.

EXAMPLES:

1. Kono shigoto o tetsudatte kudasai.
2. この仕事を手伝ってください。
3. Please help me with this work

1. Ashita no gozenchuu ni kanarazu renraku shite kudasai.
2. 明日の下膳中に必ず連絡してください。
3. Please contact me tomorrow morning without fail.

5. V～て

V – te expresses a request.

EXAMPLES:

1. Kono shigoto o tetsudatte kudasai.
2. この仕事を手伝ってください。
3. Please help me with this work

1. Ashita no gozenchuu ni kanarazu renraku shite kudasai.
2. 明日の下膳中に必ず連絡してください。
3. Please contact me tomorrow morning without fail.

6. V～ている

V – te iru expresses an action in progress.

EXAMPLES:

1. Ima terebi wo miteiru.
2. 今テレビを見ている。
3. I’m watching TV now.

1. Boku ha tegami wo kaiteiru.
2. 僕は手紙を書いている。
3. I’m writing a letter.