て

て Form (Basic ㊦ 464)

The て form ending of verbs and い-type adjectives (The て form ending of な-type adjectives and the て form of the copula is で.)

Equivalent: And; -ing

ジムは日本へ行って勉強した・勉強しました。: Jim went to Japan and studied (there).
ここのステーキは安くて美味しい・美味しいです。: Steaks here are inexpensive and delicious.
このアパートは静かでいい・いいです。: This apartment is quiet and good.
私の父は先生で高校で英語を教えている・います。: My father is a teacher and teaches English at senior high school.
私はコートを脱いでハンガーにかけた。: Taking off my coat, I hung it on a hanger.
ワインを飲み過ぎて頭が痛い。: I've drunk too much wine and have a headache.
私の部屋は狭くて暗い。: My room is small and dark.
このスープは辛くて飲めない。: This soup is salty (or (spicy) hot) and I can't drink it.
私はテニスが大好きでよく友達とする。: I love tennis and often play with my friends.
ゆみ子は今大学三年で専攻は日本文学です。: Yumiko is a junior at college now and her major is Japanese literature.
伊藤先生は今週病気で、かわりに村田先生が教えた。: Professor Itou was ill this week and Professor Murata taught for him.

Formation

(i) Group 1 verbs
すverbs	話す→話して	Someone talks and
くverbs	歩く→歩いて	Someone walks and
Exception	行く→行って	Someone goes and
ぐverbs	泳ぐ→泳いで	Someone swims and
む/ぶ/ぬverbs	飲む→飲んで	Someone drinks something and
	遊ぶ→遊んで	Someone plays and
	死ぬ→死んで	Someone dies and
つ/う/るverbs	待つ→待って	Someone waits and
	買う→買って	Someone buys something and
	取る→取って	Someone takes something and
(ii) Group 2 verbs	Vstemて
	食べて	Someone eats something and
(iii) Irregular verbs	来る→来て	Someone comes and
	する→して	Someone does something and
(iv) Adjective い	Adjective い stem くて
	高くて	Something is expensive and
(v) Adjective な	Adjective な stem で
	静かで	Something is quiet and
(vi) Noun+copula	Nで
	先生で	Someone is a teacher and

Notes

1. The て form functions, in part, to link sentences. That is, if the last element of the predicate of a clause is the て form, it means that that clause is not the end of the sentence and that another predicate or clause follows it. For example, in Example (b) the last element of the predicate of the first clause is 過ぎて, the て form of 過ぎる 'do something too much'，and 過ぎて is followed by another clause 頭が痛い 'literally:(my) head aches'.

2. The meaning of the て form varies according to context, but generally, it corresponds to 'and' or '-ing' in participial constructions.

3. When the て form links two predicates, the relationship between the two is often one of the following:

[A1: the action or state expressed by the first predicate; A2: the action or state expressed by the second predicate]

(A) A1 and A2 occur sequentially, as in Key Sentence (1) and Example (a).

(B) A1 and A2 are two states of someone or something, as in Key Sentence (2), Key Sentence (4), Examples (c) and (f).

て

(D) A1 is the means by which someone does A2 or the manner in which someone does A2. Examples:

僕は歩いて帰った。
Literally: I walked and went home. (= I went home on foot.)

健ニは急いでご飯を食べた。
Literally: Kenji hurried and ate his meal.(= Kenji ate his meal in a hurry.)

(E) A1 is contrasted with A2. Example:

男は外で働いて、女はうちで働く。
Literally: Men work outside and women work inside.

(F) A2 is unexpected in terms of A1. Example:

トムはいつも遊んでいてテストが出来る。
Tom plays around, yet he always does well on tests.

4. The て form can be repeated more than once in a clause. Just like the particle と1 makes an exhaustive listing of nouns, the て form can list verbs and adjectives exhaustively. (Related: たり~たりする; や) Example:

エミーは美しくて明るくて人に親切だ。
Amy is pretty, cheerful and kind to people.

5. て form verbs are also used with such expressions as いる1 'be doing ~', から 'after' and はいけない 'must not do ~'.