て (Gerund) Form of
Verbs
Why do verbs need to be in te form?
1. You cannot have a verb in ます form in the middle of a
sentence.
2. To list action verbs in the same sentence
3. to have verbs precede predicates (such as please __:てください or you must not
__:てはいけません).
| Action verbs | て form | example sentence |
| eat: たべる | たべて | たべてください。 Please eat. |
| see: みる | みて | テレビをみてもいいですか。 May I watch TV? |
| buy: かう | かって | かってから、かえります。 After I buy it I'll return home. |
| drink: のむ | のんで | のんでもいいですか。 May I drink it? |
| sit: すわる | すわって | すわってください。 Please sit. |
| turn: まがる | まがって | あそこでまがってください。 Please turn there. |
| touch: さわる | さわって | さわってはいけません。 You must not touch it. |
| go out: でる | でて | えきをでて、すぐですよ。 Exit the station, and it's right there. |
| put out: だす | だして | ごみをだしてください。 Please put out the trash. |
| come: くる | きて | あしたきてください。 Please come tomorrow. |
| do: する | して | べんきょうしてください。 Please study |
えき の きたぐち を でて、ひだり へ まがって、まっすぐ いって ください。
(Go out the station's north exit, turn left, and go straight please.)
Changing verbs to て form is difficult because there are three types of verbs: ru-dropping, u-dropping, and irregular. Notice in the three words above that you cannot just drop off ます and add て. You must know what the dictionary form of each verb is before you conjugate to て form. Go to the VERB FORM FORUM now, and review the rules for changing verbs to て form.
Here is a quiz to see if you understood how to change verbs to te form.
Here is an interactive practice to see if you know the te form for 50 words. You must be able to type in Japanese font for this one.