て form

The て form of a word is a form that connects it to another word, sort of like “and”.
Different parts of speech connect to different words, so be careful. See the Summary Chart at the bottom. 

As verbs are the last part of every sentence, the て form of a verb essentially connects 2 sentences.  It functions somewhat like the sentence conjunction “and“.

Verb て Form

Verb て form “and verb”
Ichidan, Godan, and Irregular: Change past tense た→て or だ→で

The て form of a verb connects a verb to another verb. Since verbs are required in every sentence, the て form can be used to connect two sentences, like the sentence conjunction “and”.

Formation

Ichidan verbs -> stem + て

• たべる→たべ→たべて

Godan verbs -> Change あ to え in simple past. ie: た→て　だ→で

• かえる→かえった→かえって
• よむ→よんだ→よんで

Irregular verbs:

• する→して
• くる→きて

Usage and Examples

When you use て form, sequential order is usually implied. Tense is decided by the last verb in the sequence.

• ご飯はんを食たべて、寝ねた。　- Ate food and slept. (Ate then slept)
• 寝ねて、 ご飯はんを食べた。 – Slept and ate food. (Slept then ate)
• 本ほんを読よんで、晩ばんご飯はんをつくる。 – I will read a book and make dinner.

Adjective て form

Adjective て form (“and adjective”)
い Adjectives: drop い, add くて
な Adjectives: Use で instead of な

You can use the て form with adjectives to connect them to other adjectives. To make the て form of an adjective:

い Adjectives: Drop い、add くて (basically adverb + て）

• 大きくて、赤い – Big and Red.

な Adjectives: Use で instead of な. This is a state.

• 静かで涼しいよる – (is a) quiet and cool night.
• 静かでよる ✖ – Quiet and night →静かなよる – Quiet night. 

If you want to link an adjective to a noun, leave it as is (い adjectives) or use な (な Adjectives)
If you want to link an adjective to a verb (adverb), use く form (い adjectives) or に (な adjectives)

Noun て Form

Noun て form (Noun and Noun/Adjective)
NounでNoun/Adjective (is ___ and ___)

The て form of a noun is noun+で. It must link to a noun, adjective, or verb. 

• 男でつよい。 “(is a) man and strong”
• えいゆうでゆうめいな人 -(They) are a hero and a famous person. 
• おとこでがいこくじんだ – A man and a foreigner. 
• ちいさいからだでがんばる – Tries hard with a small body. 

Adverbs

Adverbs have no て form, because they already connect to other adverbs and verbs as they are. If you try to make the て form it becomes くて which is the adjective て form. 

Summary Chart