10.1 The て-form and Its Uses

Why the て-form matters

The て-form (te-form) is the connective form of the Japanese verb. It carries no tense of its own; instead it links to whatever grammar follows, which is why almost every practical N5 pattern is built on top of it: polite requests, progressive actions, permission, prohibition, and 'after doing' sequences all start from a correctly formed て-form. Because the grammar section of the JLPT N5 constantly asks you to pick the right verb form in 文法形式の判断 (grammatical form judgement) questions, mastering the sound changes below is worth more points per minute of study than almost anything else.

Formation rules by verb group

Japanese verbs fall into three classes. Group I (五段, godan, or 'u-verbs') includes のむ (nomu, drink), いく (iku, go), かく (kaku, write), and まつ (matsu, wait). Group II (一段, ichidan, or 'ru-verbs') includes たべる (taberu, eat), みる (miru, see), and おきる (okiru, wake up). Group III is just two irregular verbs: する (suru, do) and くる (kuru, come).

For Group I, the ending of the dictionary form decides the sound change. Learn these five buckets cold:

Group II is effortless: drop the final る and add て. So たべる→たべて (tabete), みる→みて (mite), おきる→おきて (okite), ねる→ねて (nete). Group III must simply be memorised: する→して (shite) and くる→きて (kite).

The one exception you must not miss

The verb 行く (いく, iku, to go) ends in く, so by the rule above you would expect いいて — but it is irregular and becomes いって (itte), exactly like an う/つ/る verb. Test writers love this trap because いく is so common. Compare かく→かいて (regular く) with いく→いって (exception). Keep them separate in your memory.

Use 1 — 〜てください (polite request)

Attach ください to the て-form to ask someone politely to do something: すわる→すわってください (suwatte kudasai, please sit), まがる→みぎにまがってください (please turn right). In the N5 question bank, 'どうぞ、すわって（　）' is completed by ください. To ask someone not to do something, use the ない-form plus でください: すわらないでください (please do not sit).

Use 2 — 〜ています (progressive / state)

The て-form plus います expresses an action in progress or a resulting state. あめがふる→あめがふっています (ame ga futte imasu, it is raining, ongoing); ともだちがまつ→ともだちがまっています (a friend is waiting). With change-of-state verbs it describes a lasting state: しる→しっています (I know). A frequent N5 pattern is まだ〜ていません — 'まだしていません' means 'I have not done it yet.'

Use 3 — 〜てもいいです (permission) and 〜てはいけません (prohibition)

〜てもいいです grants permission: たばこをすってもいいですか (may I smoke?). A natural yes is いいですよ; a soft no is すみません, ちょっと…. Its opposite, 〜てはいけません (or the contracted 〜てはだめです), states prohibition: ここでたばこをすってはいけません (you must not smoke here). Notice both patterns begin from the plain て-form.

Use 4 — 〜てから (sequence) and clause linking

〜てから means 'after doing X': ごはんをたべてから、テレビをみます (after eating, I watch TV). Plain clause linking simply chains actions with て and lets the final verb set the tense: あさおきて、かおをあらって、がっこうへいきます (I get up, wash my face, and go to school). Because the last verb is present, the whole chain is present; make it いきました and the whole chain becomes past. This tense-neutrality is exactly why the て-form is so powerful — and why exam items test whether you can supply たべて rather than たべる or たべた in a linking slot.

て-form vs ます-form when linking

A very common beginner error is to link clauses with the polite ます-form, as in たべます、そして のみます. While understandable, natural Japanese chains the non-final verbs in the て-form and leaves only the last verb polite: パンをたべて、コーヒーをのみます (I eat bread and drink coffee). Only the final verb carries tense and politeness; every verb before it is a bare て-form. On the exam a linking blank almost always wants the て-form (たべて), and the distractors たべる, たべた, and たべます exist to catch learners who forget this.

Worked scenario — a morning routine

Read this chain and watch how one past-tense verb at the very end colours the whole sentence: けさ、６じに おきて、シャワーを あびて、あさごはんを たべて、がっこうへ いきました. Word by word this is 'This morning I got up at six, took a shower, ate breakfast, and went to school.' Every action except the last (いきました) sits in the て-form; because the final verb is past, all the linked actions are understood as past as well. Swap いきました for いきます and the whole routine instantly becomes a present or habitual description instead. This single-tense-at-the-end principle is a favourite target of reading-passage questions.

More on 〜ています — action versus state

With motion or activity verbs, 〜ています is a progressive, 'is …-ing': いま ほんを よんでいます (I am reading a book right now). But with verbs that mark a change of state, the very same form describes the resulting state: しる→しっています (I know), すむ→とうきょうに すんでいます (I live in Tokyo), けっこんする→けっこんしています (I am married). Beginners often mistranslate けっこんしています as 'am getting married', but it actually means the ongoing state of being married. Recognising this state reading is essential for both grammar and listening items.

Common formation traps

Three mistakes cost the most points: (1) applying the regular く→いて rule to いく instead of the exception いって; (2) forgetting that む, ぶ, and ぬ all share the んで ending (のむ→のんで, not のみて); and (3) trying to conjugate a Group II verb with the Group I sound rules — たべる is simply たべて, never たべって.

The six core uses at a glance

Master the formation first, then lock in these six uses, and you can decode the great majority of N5 grammar and reading sentences that turn on a verb's connective form.

〜てから versus 〜まえに

Students sometimes reach for the て-form to say 'before doing', but 'before' works the opposite way. 〜てから ('after doing') takes the て-form, while 〜まえに ('before doing') takes the dictionary form: ねるまえに、はを みがきます (before sleeping, I brush my teeth). Contrast the pair directly — ごはんを たべてから、テレビを みます (after eating, I watch TV) versus ごはんを たべるまえに、てを あらいます (before eating, I wash my hands). Choosing the て-form for 'after' but the dictionary form for 'before' is a classic two-option grammar trap, so read the English cue ('after' versus 'before') carefully before you commit to an answer.