JLPT Basic, JLPT Course
Free
- 22 lessons
- 0 quizzes
- 96 week duration
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Important Forms
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Practice
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Other Forms
Te Form
In this lesson，I will teach you how to convert Japanese verbs to Te Form.
What Does Te Form Mean？
Te form means “please xxx”，For example，食べて means “Please eat”
there are other uses of Te form，I will explain it in the future lessons，but for now，you can remember it like that.
How to change Japanese Verbs to Te Form？
u-verb
If the verb is a u-verb, you can change it to Te Form like below.
Check the hiragana in the end of the verb.
①If the verb is like xx-う、xx-つ、xx-る，just change う/つ/る to って.
For example,
会う→会って (Meaning: to meet)
打つ→打って (Meaning: to beat)
やる→やって (Meaning: to do)
②If the verb is like xx-く, xx-ぐ，just change く to いて, change ぐ to いで.
For example,
書く→書いて (Meaning: to write)
嗅ぐ→嗅いで (Meaning: to smell)
③If the verb is like xx-ぬ、xx-ぶ、xx-む，just change ぬ/ぶ/む to んで.
For example,
死ぬ→死んで (Meaning: to die)
呼ぶ→呼んで (Meaning: to call)
読む→読んで (Meaning: to read)
④If the verb is like xx-す just change す to して.
For example,
押す→押して (Meaning: to press)
話す→話して (Meaning: to talk)
壊す→壊して (Meaning: to break)
⑤Exception:
行く→行って (Meaning: to go)
（This is the only exception， no worries！）
ru-verb
If the verb is a ru-verb, you can change it to Te Form like this.
Change る to て.
That’s it!
For example,
食べる→食べて (Meaning: to eat)
降りる→降りて (Meaning: to get down)
起きる→起きて (Meaning: to wake up)
suru-verb
If the verb is suru-verb, you can change it to Te Form like this.
Change する to して.
That’s it!
For example,
勉強する→勉強して (Meaning: to learn)
結婚する→結婚して (Meaning: to marry)
連絡する→連絡して (Meaning: to come through)
special-verb
If the verb is special verb, you can change it to Te Form like this.
Change する to して (Meaning: to do)
Change 来る to 来て (Meaning: to come)
Note:
Question: How is Polite Form different from Te Form? I mean, isn’t Te form quite “polite” too? (“please”)
Answer: Te Form itself often used to ask somebody to do something.
For example:
ドアを開けて。
Please open the door.
And the “please” is just for making requests. Te Form itself is not as polite as you think. It’s often used between friends. If you want to be more polite, you can use:
ドアを開けていただけませんか。
Could you please open the door?
But Polite Form itself doesn’t have this function.(Making requests).
ドアを開けます。
I will open the door.
Is there a way to remember which verbs are which て form, or is it just a memorization thing?
You can classify the pattern by the hiragana in the end of the verb.If the verb is xx-う，like 会う（あう)，買（か）うthen the Te form should be 会って，買って.
ありがとうございます！
You are welcome!
How is Polite Form different from Te Form? I mean, isnt Te form quite “polite” too? (“please”)
I answered your question below the table of this lesson. You can refer it, if you have further questions, just let me know.
Ah it takes time but I think I got the idea. I will take a look at Imperative Form later and refer to this again I guess.
ドアを開けてください。Does this also work?
ドアを開けていただけませんか。And isn’t ません negative form?
ドアを開けてください ✓
ドアを開けていただけませんか。you see か in the end, so it’s a question. question＋negative=positive.
You made a mistake with the number of the parts.
In the section about the u-verbs, there are 5 cases (1st: u-verbs ending with う, つ, る; 2nd: u-verbs ending with く, ぐ; 3rd: u-verbs ending with ぬ, ぶ, む; 4th: u-verbs ending with す; 5th: exception) altogether, including the exception. You marked the second case (u-verbs ending with く, ぐ) as #1 again.
I corrected it already! Thanks for the info! （Because I just copied the similar part to save time）
So, what’s the real difference between the verbal form て and the question with てください??? is one more polite than the other or what?
Thanks in advance!!