Japanese grammar
The て-form: how to make it and what it does
The て-form is the connector form of a Japanese verb. On its own it is a casual request, and other pieces attach to it: てください for a polite request, ている for something in progress. It also links actions in sequence. The forming rules are a small table, and the past tense た reuses the same table.
Examples are written in kana. New to it? Start with the hiragana chart.
In short
- る-verbs swap る for て: たべる → たべて.
- う-verbs change their last kana: う・つ・る → って, む・ぶ・ぬ → んで, く → いて, ぐ → いで, す → して.
- Irregulars: する → して, くる → きて, いく → いって.
- て + ください is a polite request; て + いる is an action in progress or a resulting state.
The connector — て
る-verbs form て by swapping る for て: たべる→たべて; alone it's a request, 'eat'.
The て-form is the shape everything else attaches to — requests now, whole chains of actions later. る-verbs make it by swapping る for て: たべる → たべて, みる → みて. On its own it is what you say to a friend: たべて = 'eat', 'go on, eat'.
しゃしんを みて。
Look at the photo.
たべて。
Go on, eat.
Common mistake
しゃしんを みるて。
Why it's wrong: る-verbs drop る before て — みる→みて, never みるて.
う・つ・る → って
う・つ・る verbs take って for て-form: かう→かって, たつ→たって, やる→やって.
う-verbs change their last kana before て. The biggest row takes three endings at once: う・つ・る → って. かう→かって, たつ→たって, やる→やって. The kana before って never changes — only the ending does. Learn this table once and it pays twice: the past form た uses exactly the same rows.
ほんを かって。
Buy the book.
ここに たって。
Stand here.
きょう やって。
Do it today.
Common mistake
ほんを かうて。
Why it's wrong: う・つ・る drop their last kana before って — かう→かって, never かうて.
The rebels — いって, して, きて
する→して, くる→きて, and いく→いって (not いいて) are the three て-form irregulars.
Three verbs ignore the table. する → して and くる → きて are the two irregulars you already know as a pair. The third is いく: it ends in く, so the table promises いいて — but it is いって, borrowing the う・つ・る row. Memorise these three as a set.
いって。
Go on, go.
これを して。
Do this one.
きて。
Come here.
Common mistake
いいて。
Why it's wrong: いく looks like a く-verb but skips the く→いて row — its て-form is いって.
Please — てください
て + ください makes a polite request; drop ください for the casual bare て-form.
て + ください = a polite request: 'please do X'. It is a fixed FORMULA — you attach ください to the て-form and nothing else changes. Drop ください and the bare て-form is the casual version friends use: みて = 'look', みてください = 'please look'.
みてください
Please look.
たべてください
Please eat.
Common mistake
たべるください
Why it's wrong: ください attaches to the て-form, not the dictionary form — たべてください
ている — て plus いる
て + いる is the state an action left you in: ongoing while happening, permanent for a change.
Hang いる on the て-form and you get ている: たべる → たべて → たべている. It does not mean "present tense"; it says you EXIST IN THE STATE that the action left you in. For an action still in motion that reads as ongoing — いま ごはんを たべている = I'm eating right now. For a verb that describes a CHANGE, it reads as the state after the change: しる is the moment you find out, so しっている is "I know". Only いる moves: the negative is ていない (まだ たべていない), and in fast speech people drop the い — たべてる — which you will hear everywhere even though we write the full form.
いま ごはんを たべている。
I'm eating right now.
ミカは いま ほんを みている。
Mika is looking at a book right now.
ともだちは かいしゃで はたらいている。
My friend works at a company.
ミカは いま ちゃを のんでいる。
Mika is drinking tea right now.
トムの なまえを しっている。
I know Tom's name.
いま みずを のんでいない。
I'm not drinking water right now.
Common mistake
いま ごはんを たべるいる。
Why it's wrong: いる hangs on the て-form, not the dictionary form — たべる becomes たべて first: いま ごはんを たべている。
たべて、いく — one thing, then the next
The て-form also chains actions in order; only the last verb in the chain carries tense.
The て-form's other job is a comma. It links one action to the next in the order they happen: あさ ごはんを たべて、だいがくに いく = in the morning I eat, then go to university. Only the LAST verb carries the tense — everything before it stays in て, however long the chain gets. Same table you have used all module, longer sentences.
あさ ごはんを たべて、だいがくに いく。
In the morning I eat and then go to university.
きっさてんに いって、ちゃを のんだ。
I went to the coffee shop and drank tea.
みせに いって、あたらしい ふくを かった。
I went to the store and bought new clothes.
うたを きいて、ごはんを たべた。
I listened to a song and then ate.
きょうは えきに いって、ともだちと あそんだ。
Today I went to the station and hung out with a friend.
Common mistake
あさ ごはんを たべる、だいがくに いく。
Why it's wrong: a plain verb cannot hand over to the next clause — the first verb goes into the て-form: あさ ごはんを たべて、だいがくに いく。
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Keep going
- Polite vs plain JapaneseWhen to speak polite Japanese (ます, です) and when to use the plain form, how each is built, and why the quoted clause always stays plain.
- The particle をHow the Japanese particle を (o) marks the thing a verb acts on, why it is written wo but said o, and how it fits Japanese word order.