て (te) Form

The て form (te-form) is one of the most essential verb conjugations in Japanese which is used for linking contexts together.

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What is て-Form

The て form is a conjugated form of a word that ends in で (or de for certain verbs) and is used in a variety of contexts. You cannot use て by itself and need to use it as part of the character.

The best way to demonstrate this is to use an example in English: “I will eat lunch and then go to the park.”

This sentence connects two actions: eating lunch and then going to the park. In English, we use “and then” to link them together.

If we want to do this in Japanese, we need to use the te form to connect the two verbs “eat” (taberu) and “go” (iku). The sentence structure in Japanese would look something like this:

ランチを食べて、そして公園に行きます。 
(Ranchi o tabete, soshite kōen ni ikimasu.)

Let’s break it down:

食べる (taberu, “to eat”) becomes 食べて (tabete) in the te form, connecting it to the next action.

そして (soshite) is a transitional word that means “and then”.

公園に行きます (Kōen ni ikimasu) where Ikimasu is the polite form of iku (to go). It’s the second action in the sentence.

In Japanese, to connect two actions, we conjugate the first verb into its te form (in this case, tabete), then follow it with the second verb (ikimasu). This creates a natural flow that links the actions in a sequential manner.

There really isn’t a strict form with tabete as it exists in multiple different sentence structures, but you will be using it if you want to connect them together.

て-Form with Verbs

When the て-form is used with another verb, it often expresses a continuous action, sequence, or reason. Here are a few key structures:

Sequential Actions (“and then…”)

The て-form is used to connect multiple actions in a sequence.

Example:

朝ごはんを食べて、学校に行きました。
(Asa gohan o tabete, gakkō ni ikimashita.)
"I ate breakfast and then went to school."

In this sentence:

• 食べる (taberu, “to eat”) becomes 食べて (tabete) to connect it to the next verb.
• 行きました (ikimashita, “went”) is the second action.

Expressing Cause or Reason (“because…”)

The て-form can also indicate a reason for something happening.

Example:

雨が降って、試合が中止になった。
(Ame ga futte, shiai ga chūshi ni natta.)
"Because it rained, the match was canceled."

Here, 降る (furu, “to rain”) becomes 降って (futte) to link the cause and effect.

Describing Two Simultaneous Actions (“while…”)

When using the て-form, you can describe actions happening at the same time.

Example:

音楽を聞いて、勉強します。
(Ongaku o kiite, benkyō shimasu.)
"I study while listening to music."

Here, 聞く (kiku, “to listen”) becomes 聞いて (kiite) to show that the action is happening alongside studying.

て-Form with Adjectives

When you use the て form with adjectives, you can chain adjectives together to describe a topic.

い-Adjectives

For い-adjectives, replace ～い with ～くて.

Adjective	て-Form
楽しい (tanoshii) – fun	楽しくて (tanoshikute)
美しい (utsukushii) – beautiful	美しくて (utsukushikute)

映画は長くて、つまらなかった。
(Eiga wa nagakute, tsumaranakatta.)
The movie was long and boring.

な-Adjectives

For な-adjectives, replace な with で.

Adjective	て-Form
便利な (benri na) – convenient	便利で (benri de)
静かな (shizuka na) – quiet	静かで (shizuka de)

Example:

このホテルは静かで、快適です。
(Kono hoteru wa shizuka de, kaiteki desu.)
This hotel is quiet and comfortable.

て-Form with Nouns

The て-form can also be used with nouns, typically by adding で after the noun. This helps connect ideas smoothly and is often used to describe conditions, characteristics, or roles.

Expressing a Role or Occupation

The て-form is used to describe someone’s position or status, similar to saying “as a…” in English.

Example:

彼は医者で、有名な人です。
(Kare wa isha de, yūmei na hito desu.)
"He is a doctor and a famous person."

医者 (isha, “doctor”) is a noun.

で is used to connect 医者 with the second characteristic 有名な人 (yūmei na hito, “famous person”).

Stating Characteristics or Conditions

The て-form can link descriptions about a subject, much like “and” in English.

Example:

この部屋は広くて、明るいです。
(Kono heya wa hirokute, akarui desu.)
"This room is spacious and bright."

広い (hiroi, “spacious”) becomes 広くて (hirokute) to connect it with 明るい (akarui, “bright”).

Giving Reasons Using Nouns

Just like with verbs, you can explain reasons using nouns + で.

Example:

病気で、学校を休みました。
(Byōki de, gakkō o yasumimashita.)
"I was sick, so I took a day off from school."

病気 (byōki, “sickness”) is a noun. で is used to show the reason for taking the day off.

How to Conjugate the て-Form

Godan Verbs – う-Verbs

Godan verbs are one of the most common verb groups in Japanese.

They include verbs that end with the sounds う, つ, る, ぶ, む, ぬ, く, ぐ, and す. The key to conjugating these verbs into the te form is to look at the final hiragana and change it to a corresponding te or de sound.

For example, verbs ending in う, つ, or る change to って, verbs ending in ぶ, む, or ぬ change to んで, and so on.

Verb Ending	Change to て Form	Example	Meaning
う, つ, る	Drop ending → って	待つ (matsu) → 待って (matte)	“Wait”
ぶ, む, ぬ	Drop ending → んで	飲む (nomu) → 飲んで (nonde)	“Drink”
く	Drop く → いて	書く (kaku) → 書いて (kaite)	“Write”
ぐ	Drop ぐ → いで	泳ぐ (oyogu) → 泳いで (oyoide)	“Swim”
す	Drop す → して	話す (hanasu) → 話して (hanashite)	“Speak”

Ichidan Verbs – る-Verbs

Ichidan verbs, also known as る-verbs, are typically easier to conjugate. They follow a simple rule: drop the ru ending and add te. Most verbs that end in -iru or -eru are Ichidan verbs.

Verb Ending	Change to て Form	Example	Meaning
る	Drop る → て	食べる (taberu) → 食べて (tabete)	“Eat”
る	Drop る → て	見る (miru) → 見て (mite)	“See”
る	Drop る → て	寝る (neru) → 寝て (nete)	“Sleep”

Irregular Verbs

There are two irregular verbs in Japanese that do not follow the typical conjugation rules for the te form: suru (to do) and kuru (to come). These verbs have unique te forms, and their conjugations must be memorized separately.

Verb	Change to て Form	Example	Meaning
する	して	する (suru) → して (shite)	“Do”
来る (kuru)	来て (kite)	来る (kuru) → 来て (kite)	“Come”