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	[do] and; [doing]
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	didn't [do] and; not [doing]

* 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