Continuative (te-form)
Production Rules:
|
Rule |
Meaning |
Plain Affirmative |
[て-stem] [te-stem] |
[do] and; [doing] |
Polite Affirmative |
[い-stem] + まして [i-stem] + mashite |
Plain Negative* |
(1) [あ-stem] + ない & で [a-stem] + nai & de
(2) [あ-stem] + なくて [a-stem] + nakute |
didn't [do] and; not [doing] |
Polite Negative |
[い-stem] + ません & で [i-stem] + masen & de |
* These two forms are not completely interchangable. In many situations, one
or the other will sound more natural for the particular construction it is being
used in.
Inflection Examples:
|
Plain Affirmative |
Polite Affirmative |
Plain Negative |
Polite Negative |
食べる taberu (to eat) |
食べて tabete | 食べまして tabemashite |
食べないで tabenai de 食べなくて tabenakute |
食べませんで tabemasen de |
話す hanasu (to speak) |
話して hanashite | 話しまして hanashimashite |
話さないで hanasanai de 話さなくて hanasanakute |
話しませんで hanashimasen de |
歩く aruku (to walk) |
歩いて aruite | 歩きまして arukimashite |
歩かないで arukanai de 歩かなくて arukanakute |
歩きませんで arukimasen de |
泳ぐ oyogu (to swim) |
泳いで oyoide | 泳ぎまして oyogimashite |
泳がないで oyoganai de 泳がなくて oyoganakute |
泳ぎませんで oyogimasen de |
呼ぶ yobu (to call) |
呼んで yonde | 呼びまして yobimashite |
呼ばないで yobanai de 呼ばなくて yobanakute |
呼びませんで yobimasen de |
飲む nomu (to drink) |
飲んで nonde | 飲みまして nomimashite |
飲まないで nomanai de 飲まなくて nomanakute |
飲みませんで nomimasen de |
死ぬ shinu (to die) |
死んで shinde | 死にまして shinimashite |
死なないで shinanai de 死ななくて shinanakute |
死にませんで shinimasen de |
作る tsukuru (to make) |
作って tsukutte | 作りまして tsukurimashite |
作らないで tsukuranai de 作らなくて tsukuranakute |
作りませんで tsukurimasen de |
待つ matsu (to wait) |
待って matte | 待ちまして machimashite |
待たないで matanai de 待たなくて matanakute |
待ちませんで machimasen de |
洗う arau (to wash) |
洗って aratte | 洗いまして araimashite |
洗わないで arawanai de 洗わなくて arawanakute |
洗いませんで araimasen de |
Irregulars:
|
Plain Affirmative |
Polite Affirmative |
Plain Negative |
Polite Negative |
する suru (to do) |
して shite |
しまして shimashite |
しないで shinaide しなくて shinakute |
しませんで shimasen de |
来る kuru (to come) |
来て kite |
来まして kimashite |
来ないで konaide 来なくて konakute |
来ませんで kimasen de |
Usage Notes & Examples:
- The -te form has many uses in Japanese. By itself it is not a complete form:
you can't end a gramatically complete sentence with it. It is a
continuative form, forming a subordinate clause that requires a main clause for
completion.
- One function is to list concurrent
or successive actions or events where these events are somehow related. Often, but
not always, there may be an implied causality between the actions. This form
cannot connect two arbitrarily unrelated statements the way "and" can in English.
Often, the topic doesn't change between the linked clauses.
- 三週間前送って、いままでにそこに
届いただろう。
san shuukan mae okutte, ima made ni soko ni
todoita darou.
I sent it three weeks ago and it's probably gotten there by now.
- Because the te-form is incomplete on its own, it can't come at the end of
a grammatically complete sentence, but it frequently does come at the end of
an utterance where the speaker is trailing off and leaving the remainder of the
sentence implied. This is sometimes done to create polite ambiguity, or to be
deliberately vague or indirect. Other times it's just part of colloquial language,
where the speaker knows the rest of the sentence will be understood and leaves
it out.
- Since the sentence-final (main clause) verb is generally the one which shows the
politeness, the above listed polite te-forms are not heard much in ordinary speech.
In very polite contexts, however, where keigo (honorific speech) is being used,
the speaker may be want to leave a sentence trailing off at the end of a te-form
clause, but be uncomfortable not indicating politeness. This one place the polite
forms will be heard.
- The polite forms also make some appearances in polite set expressions such
as 明けましておめでとうございます (akemashite omedetou gozaimasu) — happy new year.
- There are many idiomatic constructions built around combining
a -te form verb with an auxiliary. These are covered in the
Expressions section below.
- One of the most common uses of the -te form is to construct a request,
or in essence a polite imperative. This construction is created by adding
ください (kudasai) to the -te form. Because this expression is so common and
important, and because there are some related forms, it is covered as
the request form. Often the -te form alone,
without ください (kudasai) is used as a shorthand form of this expression
(which also makes it a bit less formal).
- A clause which uses a te-form verb is always an adverbial clause, and it
can be helpful to think of it this way when trying to understand its use.
What this means is, the te-form clause is somehow modifying
a subsequent clause or the main clause of the sentence, and providing some
kind of information as to how, when, or where it is done.
-
シロップをかけて、パンケーキを食べた。
shiroppu wo kakete, pankeeki wo tabeta.
I poured on syrup and ate the pancakes.
In this case, the te-form clause gives us information about how
the pancakes were eaten. Even in most cases where it appears the te-form is linking
a simple chain of events, you can find the adverbial interpretation of the te-form
clause, and doing this may help you understand its logic.
Expressions
-te kudasai
-te agaru
-te kuru
-te morau
-te oku
-te iku / -te kuru
-te miru
-te kara
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