～て

RuleVerb te-form: the connecting form ("and / so"). It is the gateway to countless patterns.

Curiosity

You want to join "eat" and "sleep" in one sentence. How do you connect the verbs?

Intuition

The te-form is the link that ties a verb with "and/so." Master it once and te-iru, te-kudasai, te-mo-ii all open up.

Visualization

taberu (dictionary) → tabete (te-form). The sound-change rules match the ta-form.

書くdictionary form

Essence

Ichidan: ~ru → ~te (taberu → tabete). Godan sound-change: kaku → kaite, oyogu → oyoide, nomu → nonde, matsu → matte, shinu → shinde, kaeru → kaette, hanasu → hanashite. Irregular: suru → shite, kuru → kite, iku → itte.

Examples

朝ご飯を食べて、学校へ行く。

I eat breakfast and go to school.

手を洗って、食事します。

I wash my hands and then eat.

本を読んで、寝た。

I read a book and went to sleep.

Mini-quiz

What is the te-form of "matsu" (to wait)?