て form

The て form (て形・てけい) is one of many conjugative forms and also one of the most essential and common forms used in various grammar patterns; some of which we have already covered. If you need a reminder on verb bases and verb types, please check out our other lesson covering Verb Bases first.

A common pattern of the て form is how it helps to express on-going actions and may be referred to as the "Gerundive Form" or "Continuative Form"; it is also sometimes compared to the English "present participle" which involves adding "~ing" to the end of a verb. Using です or other verb forms only state a fact or single state, whereas て describes a continuing or resultant state of an action.

The て form can be used in various contexts, just to name a few, some of which we will explore in more depth in separate lessons:

※ These examples are translated slightly more literal and may sound unusual in English.

There are many more but too many to list in this lesson alone so we will be covering those in-depth in separate lessons. The purpose of this lesson is to understand how the て form works in general.

て form Conjugations

Here is a reminder of how to conjugate verbs into the て form described in our other lesson about Verb Bases with the addition to い-adjectives, な-adjectives and nouns:

※ Remember that いい is an irregular adjective that cannot be conjugated so you must use the older word よい instead.

Using the て form

While this form is often referred to as the て form, the actual name given to this is 連用形 (れんようけい) which means "continuative form"; in other words, this just means that there is more to continue after what is said, hence "continuative". Sometimes, this is translated as "and; after; since; but; or; by" and so on in English but these are only interpretations. A more literal translation would just be "and".

— Command form

By itself, the て form attached to a verb is usually interpreted as the command form or a request. This is a casual way to command someone to do something so you may consider using ください to make this more polite. This does not make giving commands overall any politer by the fact you are still ordering other people around which is still quite rude.

• 起きてください

  [okite] [kudasai]

  Please wake up

— Sequential actions

Other than the command form, the て form may be used to connect multiple actions. Just be aware that this use of the て form is less specific about the order of actions in contrast to から; while many learning resources claim that these actions come one after the other, the て form alone does not always indicate whether actions are sequential or simultaneous. Sometimes, actions may overlap, for example:

1. 手を洗って食べなさい

   [te o aratte] [tabenasai]

   Wash your hands and then eat

   Eat after washing your hands

2. 音楽を聴いてリラックスします

   [ongaku o kiite] [rirakkusu shimasu]

   I relax while listening to music

   I relax after listening to music

   I relax by listening to music

3. ジュースを飲んで歩いて帰る

   [ju-su o nonde] [aruite] [kaeru]

   I drink juice and walk and return home.

   I return home while walking and drinking juice.

   I drink juice and then walk home.

Here, Sentence (1) obviously expresses that both actions follow one after the other; after all, eating and washing your hands cannot really be done simultaneously. In sentence (2), while both listen and relax happen at the same time, it could still be interpreted as "I relax after listening to music"; it can also describe the means of which you used to relax.

Sentence (3) in context is clearly expressing that drinking juice, walking and returning home all happen in parallel rather than one happening after the other in a sequence. Though without context, there is still the ambiguity that drinking juice happened before walking home.

Since actions may not necessarily be sequential, context is important. It is more about the relationship between actions and whether they are interpreted as simultaneous or sequential in a given situation. If we want to be more specific about the order, we could use the から particle to emphasise this. If there is no specific order, we could use a pattern such as ～たり～たりする.

Using から ensures that an action is completed before the next action begins while the て form lacks this explicit marker of completion.

— Listing adjectives or nouns

As you have seen already, い-adjectives, な-adjectives and nouns can also be conjugated into the て form and these can also be chained together to add more details about something; In the following example, multiple adjectives are used to say something about someone:

1. 美しくてやさしくてあったかいサクラさんとカフェ巡りした

   [utsukushiku te] [yasashiku te] [attakai] sakura-san to kafe-meguri shita

   I went cafe-hopping with the beautiful, kind and warm Sakura-san

2. とても安らかで静かで美しい曲なのです

   totemo [yasuraka de] [shizuka de] [utsukushii] kyoku na nodesu

   It's a very peaceful, quiet and beautiful piece of music

— Explaining a situation

When connecting sentences, this can be interpreted as a cause-and-effect type of relationship. It is usually used with the explanatory の particle to form the conjunctive ので particle. Here, the Phrase Particle の creates a noun phrase and で is the て form of だ used to connect two sentences; the first marked by の explains the situation and links to the second with で to express the direct result of that situation:

1. 電車が遅れたので遅刻しました

   densha ga okureta no de chikoku shimashita

   The train was delayed so I was late

2. 電車が遅れて遅刻しました

   densha ga okurete chikoku shimashita

   The train was delayed and I was late

From an English perspective, you may interpret this connection with the words "so" or "and" depending on the context of the given situation and sometimes, they are simply interchangeable.

However, it should be noted that a common mistake to make is to associate this use of the て form with "because"; despite what other English speakers may claim, the words "because" and "so" are not actually synonymous which we discussed in the lesson: Cause and Effect: ので (vs から). The conjunction "because" has a nuance of justification while "so" is more of a causal connection.

Also, despite comparing it to the English word "so", the casual connection in Japanese is quite different. In English, you may say "It's raining so I stayed home" but this is not the same in Japanese. While "It's raining" is the reason for "staying home", it is not a natural cause of events but a personal choice; the rain does not necessarily cause someone to stay home. It is more like a reason or justification than a cause.

For that reason, either the て form and ので should be used when the outcome leads naturally to the conclusion or one that is uncontrollable or almost unavoidable like in the train example above. These are objectively logical in their reasoning, focusing on explaining the situation rather than actively justifying why something happened.

Actions that are deliberate, intentional or driven by a specific reason like commands, invitations, requests, permissions, prohibitions or desires are better expressed by using から instead.

— Answering question

[Coming soon...]

— Subjects and Topics in linked sentences

[Coming soon...]

— Cause-and-Effect with adjectives

When using adjectives with a cause-and-effect relationship, the て form does not tend to work too well and may sound awkward or unnatural. This is because the て form is used for linking adjectives, nouns, verbs and sentences but it is less clear when expressing causal connections. For example:

1. 安いから買いました

   yasui kara kaimashita

   I bought it because it was cheap

2. 安くて買いました

   yasukute kaimashita

   it was cheap and I bought it

3. お金がなくて買えません

   okane ga nakute kaemasen

   I don't have any money so I can't buy it

Here, while sentence (1) is appropriate, sentence (2) is less, despite being grammatically correct. This is because 安やすい (cheap) is an adjective and the て form in this context is for linking words or sentences ("and"), not causal relationships. Also, sentence (2) implies a deliberate or intentional action which we noted in the previous section as unnatural.

Since the て form in Sentence (2) does not naturally imply a cause-and-effect relationship, it would be more appropriate to use から to express this as a reason justifying why something was bought or ので for politeness and emphasis, though less common.

Despite the cause-and-effect with an adjective seeming awkward in sentence (2), it is still very common when the result of a cause leans towards negative or limiting outcomes like in sentence (3). Also, notice that there is no volitional act in sentence (3); it is not like you are actively choosing not to buy something but rather you simply cannot buy it. て or ので shows this as a result of the situation, not a reason.

Additional Notes

Related Lessons and References

Here is a list of other pages as a reference of what else you may be interested in reading: