Once you’ve mastered the basic Polite Present and Polite Past tenses of Japanese verbs, you’re ready to expand your knowledge of Japanese verbs by studying the “-te” form and the most basic uses of it. The “-te” form is sometimes called the gerund form of Japanese verbs.
“Gerund” refers to verbs that are non-finite; in other words, actions that are not yet finished or verbs not tied to a subject in a sentence. For example, gerund verbs in English end in “-ing”: “I am jogging” or “Jogging is a healthy activity.” The verb “to jog” in the first sentence is still in the process of being completed and in the latter sentence, it is not tied to a specific person jogging. This is similar to how gerund verbs work in Japanese, but “-ing” is not always the correct translation.
Conjugation
For most Japanese verbs, getting the “-te” form is fairly simple. You remove the verb ending and add some form of “-te.” However, there are multiple forms of “-te” and you should memorize when to use them accordingly.
The easiest verbs to conjugate are Group 2 Verbs, which you will remember must end in either “-eru” or “-iru.” You simply remove the “-ru” at the end of the verb and add “-te.”
Group 1 Verbs can be a little trickier because there are so many different verb endings:
Some irregular verbs do not follow this pattern. They include:
Also, when speaking in the Polite form instead of the Plain form, you may come across the following “-te” form:
However, using the Plain form of the “-te” verb is generally still considered polite, especially if coupled with words like “please.”