The て form
The て form means nothing on its own, but it is the key to half the grammar: it chains actions (起きて、食べて、行きます), requests (見てください), grants permission (見てもいいです), forbids (見てはいけません) and describes what is going on (見ています). It comes from the last syllable in group 1, and the five rules fit on one line: う・つ・る → って, む・ぬ・ぶ → んで, く → いて, ぐ → いで, す → して. Group 2 simply swaps る for て. The irregulars are して and 来て. And one exception must be memorised on its own: 行く gives 行って, not 行いて.
Where this sits
- Comes after
- Verbs: ます, negative and past
Exercises from this rung
Generated by the app, from easiest to hardest
名前を___ください。
- 書いて
- 書きます
- 書きて
- 書って
Why く gives いて and ぐ gives いで: 書く → 書いて, 泳ぐ → 泳いで. The voicing of the consonant is preserved in the て.
easier今テレビを___います。
- 見て
- 見た
- 見り
- 見に
Why ている is the ongoing action, but also the state an action left behind: 結婚しています is not “I'm getting married” but “I'm married”. With change verbs (知る, 住む) it is always a state.
in between明日の会議の資料を用意して___。
- おきます
- みます
- います
- あります
Why ておく is doing something ahead of time and leaving it ready. Against てある, which describes the resulting state, ておく speaks of the act of preparing.
harder