The て-form connects actions and states. It can show sequence, cause, or how an action happens, and it links verbs to helpers such as いる and みる. Context tells you which relationship is intended.
Usage Notes
How a verb forms て depends on its verb group. For godan verbs, replace the final kana of the dictionary form as shown below.
Godan endings group into sound families:
う・つ・る become って
む・ぶ・ぬ become んで
く becomes いて
ぐ becomes いで
す becomes して
For ichidan verbs, replace the final る with て, as in 食べる → 食べて. The irregular verbs are する → して and 来る → 来て. 行く is an exception among く-ending godan verbs: 行って.
Between clauses, the connecting form can mean sequence (“and then”), cause (“and so”), means (“by doing”), or an accompanying state (“while”). It can also place facts side by side. It does not mark past or nonpast tense by itself.
To connect descriptions, replace an い-adjective’s final い with くて, or use で after a noun or な-adjective stem. The common exception is いい → よくて. This で connects predicates; it is distinct from the particle で marking a place or tool.
A bare て-form can also make a casual request or instruction, as in 「待って！」 “wait!” It can sound gentle, insistent, or urgent depending on the situation and delivery. Other sentences ending in て leave a continuation unstated, such as a result after a reason.
The auxiliary patterns 〜ている, 〜てみる, 〜てしまう, 〜ておく all attach here.
Formation
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Godan う・つ・る → って
少し待って、それから入って
"Wait a little, and then go in."
Godan む・ぶ・ぬ → んで
マンガを読んで、寝た
"I read manga and went to sleep."
Godan く → いて／ぐ → いで
名前を書いて、出してください
"Write your name and hand it in."
Note: The usual exception is 行く, which becomes 行って.
Godan す → して
宿題を出して、帰った
"I turned in the homework and went home."
Ichidan る → て
朝ご飯を食べて、学校に行く
"I eat breakfast and go to school."
Negative 〜ない → 〜なくて
道が分からなくて、困った
"I didn't know the way, so I was stuck."
Note: Use 〜なくて for a negative reason or to link negative descriptions. Use 〜ないで for "without doing" and negative requests, as in 行かないで, "don't go".
する → して、来る → 来て
電話して、すぐ来て
"Call me, and come right away."
い-adjective い → くて
この店は安くて、おいしい
"This restaurant is inexpensive and serves delicious food."
Note: いい becomes よくて, not いくて.
Noun / な-adjective ＋ で
彼は元気で、優しい
"He's energetic and kind."
A Sequence of Actions
For a sequence, put the earlier action in the て-form and follow it with the next action. The final predicate gives the tense or request form for the chain; context establishes when the actions happen. て itself does not always mean “then”.
After Cocoa suggests if she were staying at Chiya’s place rather than Chino’s, that she’d be working for Chiya’s family’s tea house, Chiya takes to the idea.
千夜:
「じゃあ部屋を空けておくから早速荷物をまとめて来てね」
“Then I'll clear out a room in advance, so go gather your things and come right away.”
Takeo runs after a mother and her child to give them a shoe they dropped. Due to Takeo’s large size and loud steps, the mother and child get frightened and run from him. After he manages to return the dropped item, Takeo returns to his friends. Rinko remarks that the scene was like “A Bear in the Forest”. Sunakawa recalls the song.
砂川:
「あーイヤリング拾って追いかけるやつね」
“Ah, the one who picked up an earring and chased after.”
Takeo returned a dropped shoe to a mother and child, and Rinko compares it to a song about a bear in the forest. Sunakawa remembers the one where the bear picks up an earring and chases after the girl: イヤリング拾って追いかける. The picking up comes first, then the chase.
Example 3 of 3: Tracking device performance with 性能
Professor Agasa has given Conan a tracking device, and he wants to try it out. 蘭に付けて, “stick it on Ran”, comes first, and then he’ll test it, 試してみっか. 試してみっか is a casual 試してみるか. みる adds “try”, and か frames it as a decision he is considering, “shall I try it?”
Linking Facts and Descriptions
The connecting forms also place facts or descriptions side by side, without requiring a time sequence. Different clauses can have different subjects. Use くて for い-adjectives and で for noun and な-adjective predicates. Verb clauses can also join this way.
In the examples below, the clauses sometimes contrast in context. て or で does not by itself mean “but”; use が or けど when you need to mark a contrast explicitly.
Simon and Nicola stop at a pub for dinner. Their dinner conversation turns to Simon explaining the various temperaments of different tribes in the demon world.
サイモン:
「あのウロコがあって牙が鋭いのがガブール族さ」
“Those ones with scales and sharp fangs are the Gabool tribe.”
Simon is telling Nicola about the tribes of the demon world. The Gabool are 短気で豪快で声がでかい, “short-tempered, boisterous, and loud”. 短気 and 豪快 are な-adjectives, so each takes で to link to the next description.
Example 2 of 4: As if to say try and catch me 〜んばかり
Kei and Chinatsu watch as their cousin, Makoto, chases a pheasant back and forth across the field. During a break in the chase, Makoto explains her fascination with the bird.
真琴:
「常に届きそうで届かない距離をキープしてて」
“Constantly seeming like you can reach and keeping a distance you can't...”
「捕まえてみろよと言わんばかりの目で見てくるんです」
“It's been looking with eyes as if to say, try and catch me!”
届きそうで届かない places opposing descriptions of the distance together. It seems within reach, yet Makoto cannot reach it. Here そうで is the connecting form of appearance そうだ.
Sacchan and her friends come across a torn piece of paper with 「あたり１００」 written on it. Thinking it may be for a 100,000 yen prize, the girls head to the shopping district to redeem it. Along the way, their friend Nonoko says she doesn’t recognize where the ticket is from, but Sacchan’s mother says it looks familiar somehow. Kotoha admits it seemed familiar to her as well, but she thought it was just her imagination until now.
結衣:
「私とさっちゃんとののちゃんは知らなくて」
“Even though Sacchan, Nono-chan, and I don't know it...”
知らなくて uses the connecting negative of 知らない. Yui names the girls who do not recognize the ticket. Sacchan completes the contrast with the people who have seen it. Here なくて links two groups’ knowledge; it does not give a reason.
Makoto explains to Misuzu that he’s been looking into various things since meeting Kanami, such as housing for orphans. However, he realizes what Kanami wishes for is to have her once-kind brother back to the way he used to be.
真:
「俺が引き離してしまったら」
“If I separate her from him...”
「叶実ちゃんを傷つけて…… 裏切ることになる」
“...I'd be hurting Kanami... I'd end up betraying her.”
Makoto has been looking into homes for orphans, but he realizes Kanami wants her kind brother back. Separating them would hurt her, 傷つけて, and amount to betraying her, 裏切ることになる. He links two consequences of the same act, rather than describing a clear first-then sequence.
Cause and Effect
When the first clause gives a cause or reason for what follows, the connection may read as “and so” or “because”. This use often leads to a feeling, an evaluation, or an outcome such as being unable to do something. To give a reason for a request or an intended action, から or ので is usually clearer.
A speaker can also stop after the reason and leave the result understood from context.
Chino recalls her grandfather’s coffee fortunes. 当たりすぎて怖い, “so accurate it’s scary”, gives the cause first. The fortunes came true too often, and that’s what made them frightening.
Example 2 of 8: Difficult to see the text with 〜づらい
Akari, Aika, and Alice find themselves on a treasure hunt through town, as each map they follow leads them to another map. Aika remarks how Akari is in high spirits.
みたいで is the connecting form of みたいだ, which connects like a な-adjective predicate. Akari feels as if she is under a spell that makes her love the town, and that impression explains why she finds the walk fun.
A trip to the vet showed that Alice’s kitten, Maa-kun, is a girl. 語呂が悪くて, “it doesn’t sound good”, explains why まぁちゃん would be 呼びにくい, “hard to call out”. An い-adjective links with くて.
Cocoa’s fortunes didn’t come true for her friends, and she lists her own bad luck. 色々あって大変だった, “a lot happened, so it was rough”. The て-form of ある gives the reason, and the result comes after it.
Cocoa finished the puzzle Chino had been working on a little at a time. 楽しみが取られて, “her fun was taken away”, is the cause, and ショックだろうな, “she must be shocked”, is the result.
Example 7 of 8: Thank you for bringing me to the beach with 連れてきてくれてありがとう
Chinatsu tells Taiki she’d like to go to the beach. A train ride later, they’re wading through the tide. After playing for a while, the two sit and watch the setting sun, and then it’s time to head back home.
Chinatsu wanted to see the ocean, and Taiki took her to the beach. As the sun sets, she thanks him: 連れてきてくれてありがとう. The て-form gives the reason for the thanks: “for bringing me”.
Example 8 of 8: Surroundings filled with rich girls with 〜だらけ
During a library study session with her friends, Syaro wonders what it would be like if she attended Cocoa and Chiya’s school. She does attend the same school as Rize, but they are in different grades.
千夜:
「んー…正直窮屈よね」
“Hmm... Honestly, it feels stifling.”
「私だったら周りがお嬢様だらけで気を遣って疲れちゃう」
“If it were me, I'd get tired of surroundings filled with rich girls and having to act proper.”
Chiya imagines feeling constrained among wealthy schoolmates. 気を遣って疲れちゃう means she would get tired from watching her manners around them. The て-form links that effort to the resulting fatigue; だらけで supplies the surrounding situation.
Means and Accompanying States
て can show a means, “by doing”, or a state that holds during the main action. Using a mouse is a means of operating a computer. Hugging something while sleeping describes an accompanying state. The two verbs usually share a subject in these uses.
Chiyo has never used a computer, and Yomi explains that the object is a mouse. それを使って操作する, “you use that to control it”. The て-form says how the operating is done.
Sakura and Kero are supposed to discuss a Clow Card causing problems at the elementary school. After taking her homemade pancakes to her brother and Yukito, Sakura’s happiness over making something for Yukito overtakes her concern of Clow Cards. Kero tries to get her back on track.
A Clow Card is causing trouble in the school pool, and Kero wants Sakura to act. 安心して describes the state of swimming at ease. Negating the ability to swim in that state gives 安心してプールで泳がれへんで, “nobody can swim in that pool safely”.
Connecting to Helper Verbs
A helper verb after the て-form adds meaning such as an attempt, preparation, or an unintended result. The helper carries tense and mood for the combined predicate.
伝えて connects telling Cocoa to おこう. Chino uses おく to place the action before the shopping trip and おこう to put the combined predicate in the volitional form.
Example 3 of 4: Decision made during the day yesterday with 〜うちに
Yukari and her friends have a miscommunication on whether they’ll change from their summer uniforms to their winter uniforms yet. The decision is finalized just in time, as the following day is even colder.
ユカリ:
「昨日のうちに衣替えしておいて良かった。」
“I'm glad we (took the opportunity and) settled our uniform change (during) yesterday.”
Yukari and her friends finally switched to winter uniforms, and today is even colder. 衣替えしておいて uses the helper おく, “do in advance”, in its own て-form. 良かった, “I’m glad”, follows. The final て links the preparation to her relief that they did it.
Example 4 of 4: Ended up relying on your help with 〜てしまう
Shin’ichi has solved another case for Inspector Megure. 力を借りてしまった adds the helper しまう to 借りる, “borrow”. Megure acknowledges that he has ended up relying on Shin’ichi again. しまった presents the reliance as a completed outcome. The word また supplies “again”.
A Bare て as a Request
A bare て-form can be a casual request or instruction. Compare 待って, “wait”, with 待ってください, “please wait”. The bare form is common among friends or when speaking to someone under one’s direction. Its force depends on context and delivery; it is not always soft.
A sentence ending in て is not necessarily a request. Compare Mie’s unfinished reason in the cause section above.
Ai’s opening 言って is a bare request to speak. She asks Rinko to tell her what is wrong, then promises not to tell Takeo. Adding ください would give it a more polite form.
Example 2 of 6: Save Rei while it's foggy with 〜うちに
Cocoa has just learned about latte art and wants to see what Chino can do. 描いてみて！ means “try drawing one!” The first て links 描く to the helper みる; the final て makes the request.
Example 5 of 6: Lunch duty today of all days with 〜に限って
Komura and Mie have serving duty in the cafeteria. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, except today Mie accidentally stepped on her glasses and broke them, and can barely see without them.
小村:
「そしてそんな日に限って給食当番」
“Thus, on a day such as that (of all days), she has lunch duty.”
「だから今日も俺が三重さんをサポートしようと思ったんだけど…」
“Therefore, I thought I'd support Mie today as well, but...”
Mie can barely see without her glasses and is on lunch duty. A boy cries まま待って待って待って, “w-w-wait, wait, wait!” Repeating the request makes his plea to stop insistent.
Example 6 of 6: You say that, but it's not important with だって
Yui hurries to her clubhouse to tell her friends, Kotoha and Sacchan, about a big case: there’s a cat that looks like a panda. However, Sacchan doesn’t engage in the topic and Kotoha continues playing her video game.
結衣:
「もおマジメに聞いてよ 琴葉もっ」
“Geez, listen seriously. You too, Kotoha.”
さっちゃん:
「だって全然大変じゃないじゃん」
“You say that, but it's not a big deal at all, right?”
Yui has rushed in with news of a panda-patterned cat, and nobody is paying attention. もおマジメに聞いてよ, “come on, listen seriously”, is a bare て request followed by よ. Yui’s wording and the others’ lack of attention make it a complaint here.
