Japanese Te Form: Every Use and How to Say It

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Here is the short version: the te form is the connector form of the Japanese verb. It carries no tense and no politeness of its own, and that emptiness is the point — whatever you attach to it decides whether you are making a request, asking permission, forbidding something, describing an ongoing action or chaining three events together. One conjugation, roughly ten patterns. Nothing else you learn in your first year pays back this well when you are actually talking.

In this guide: what it is · how to form it · linking actions · requests · permission and prohibition · te iru · kara miru oku shimau · giving and receiving · the use table · contractions · seven mistakes · the drill · bottom line

What the te form actually is

Say 食べて (tabete) out loud on its own and you have said something incomplete. It is not "I eat", not "I ate", not "eat!" — it is a hinge, waiting for the rest of the sentence to give it a job.

That is unusual and it is why the te form is worth more than any single piece of vocabulary. Compare:

• 食べてください (tabete kudasai) — "Please eat."
• 食べてもいいですか (tabete mo ii desu ka) — "May I eat?"
• 食べています (tabete imasu) — "I'm eating."
• 食べてから (tabete kara) — "after eating…"
• 食べてみます (tabete mimasu) — "I'll try eating it."
• 食べちゃった (tabechatta) — "I went and ate it all."

Six completely different sentences, one conjugation. Learn the conjugation badly and all six break; learn it until it is automatic and you have bought a whole shelf of grammar at once.

There is a second dividend most beginners are not told about. The plain past form — the た form — uses exactly the same sound changes, just with た and だ instead of て and で. 食べて becomes 食べた, 飲んで becomes 飲んだ, 書いて becomes 書いた, 話して becomes 話した. Drill the te form once and the past tense arrives free, which also means the conditional たら in our Japanese conditionals guide costs you nothing extra.

How to make the te form from every verb group

Japanese verbs come in three groups. Two of them are trivial. One has five sound-change rules, and those five rules are the entire difficulty.

Group 2 ichidan verbs the easy ones

Drop る, add て. That is the whole rule, with no exceptions.

• 食べる → 食べて (taberu → tabete) — eat
• 見る → 見て (miru → mite) — look
• 起きる → 起きて (okiru → okite) — get up
• 教える → 教えて (oshieru → oshiete) — teach, tell
• 寝る → 寝て (neru → nete) — sleep

Ichidan verbs always end in いる or える in kana. The trap is that the reverse is not true — plenty of godan verbs also end in いる or える, and they are covered below.

Group 1 godan verbs the sound changes

Look at the last kana of the dictionary form and apply one of five rules. The standard grouping, the one nearly every classroom uses, is worth chanting:

• う・つ・る → って — 買う → 買って (kau → katte), 待つ → 待って (matsu → matte), 帰る → 帰って (kaeru → kaette)
• む・ぶ・ぬ → んで — 飲む → 飲んで (nomu → nonde), 遊ぶ → 遊んで (asobu → asonde), 死ぬ → 死んで (shinu → shinde)
• く → いて — 書く → 書いて (kaku → kaite), 聞く → 聞いて (kiku → kiite)
• ぐ → いで — 泳ぐ → 泳いで (oyogu → oyoide), 急ぐ → 急いで (isogu → isoide)
• す → して — 話す → 話して (hanasu → hanashite), 貸す → 貸して (kasu → kashite)

One godan verb breaks its own rule. 行く (iku) becomes 行って (itte), not 行いて. It is the single most common verb in the language after する, so the exception gets drilled out of you quickly.

The two irregular verbs

• する → して (suru → shite) — do. This carries every compound: 勉強する → 勉強して, 電話する → 電話して.
• 来る → 来て (kuru → kite) — come. Note the reading changes from ku to ki.

The full te form conjugation table

Te forms of adjectives and nouns

Verbs are not the only things with a te form, and you need the others the moment you want to say more than one thing about something.

• い-adjectives: drop い, add くて. 高い → 高くて (takai → takakute), 安い → 安くて (yasui → yasukute). Irregular: いい → よくて (ii → yokute).
• な-adjectives and nouns: add で. 静か → 静かで (shizuka de), 学生 → 学生で (gakusei de).
• Negatives: 〜ない becomes 〜なくて for linking and reasons (食べなくて), and 〜ないで for "without doing" and negative requests (食べないで).

So: 安くておいしいです (yasukute oishii desu) — "It's cheap and tasty." 静かできれいな部屋です (shizuka de kirei na heya desu) — "It's a quiet, clean room."

Linking actions the backbone use

This is the use you will produce a hundred times a day. The te form chains clauses, and only the final verb carries the tense and the politeness level.

• 朝起きて、シャワーを浴びて、会社に行きます (asa okite, shawā o abite, kaisha ni ikimasu) — "I get up, take a shower, and go to work."
• バスに乗って、駅まで行きました (basu ni notte, eki made ikimashita) — "I took the bus and went to the station."

Notice what did not happen: you did not say 起きました, 浴びました, 行きました. Marking tense on every verb is the most audible beginner tell there is, and the te form is the cure.

The same construction quietly does two more jobs:

Cause and reason — when the first clause explains the second:

• 遅れてすみません (okurete sumimasen) — "Sorry I'm late."
• 頭が痛くて、寝られませんでした (atama ga itakute, neraremasen deshita) — "My head hurt, so I couldn't sleep."

Manner — how the second action is carried out:

• 歩いて行きます (aruite ikimasu) — "I'll go on foot."
• 急いで食べました (isoide tabemashita) — "I ate in a hurry."

One caution for speakers: the reason use cannot take a command or a request in the second clause. "Because it's cold, please close the window" is 寒いから窓を閉めてください, using から — not ×寒くて窓を閉めてください. If you need a reason plus a request, reach for から.

Requests from casual to very polite

Every request in Japanese is built on the te form. What changes is the tail, and the tail is a social decision, not a grammar one.

The logic under the ladder is worth internalising, because it generalises. くれる frames the action as something the other person gives you; もらう frames it as something you receive from them; いただく is the humble version of もらう. Framing the request as a favour you receive is softer than issuing an instruction, and the negative question at the bottom (〜ませんか) is softer still because it leaves the door open to no.

Negative requests use 〜ないで, not the te form:

• 写真を撮らないでください (shashin o toranaide kudasai) — "Please don't take photos."
• 心配しないで (shinpai shinaide) — "Don't worry." (casual, warm)

Permission and prohibition

Permission is 〜てもいい, literally "even if you do X, it's fine".

• ここに座ってもいいですか (koko ni suwatte mo ii desu ka) — "May I sit here?"
• 写真を撮ってもいいですか (shashin o totte mo ii desu ka) — "Is it OK to take a photo?"
• Casual: 帰ってもいい (kaette mo ii) — "Can I go home?"
• Slightly stiffer alternative: 〜てもかまいません (te mo kamaimasen) — "I don't mind if you…"

The natural answers are はい、どうぞ (hai, dōzo) for yes, and for no, Japanese usually declines by trailing off: すみません、ちょっと… (sumimasen, chotto…). Learn the trail-off — a flat いいえ where a ちょっと was expected lands harder than you intend.

Prohibition is 〜てはいけません, and it is strong. It is the language of rules and signs, not of friends.

• ここでタバコを吸ってはいけません (koko de tabako o sutte wa ikemasen) — "You must not smoke here."
• ここに入ってはいけません (koko ni haitte wa ikemasen) — "Entry prohibited."

Between friends, that register is far too heavy. Use the contracted 〜ちゃだめ or simply 〜ないで:

• 触っちゃだめ (sawaccha dame) — "Don't touch that."
• 見ないで (minaide) — "Don't look."

Te iru the progressive that is often not progressive

〜ている is where the te form stops being mechanical and starts being genuinely tricky, because it does two different jobs and English hides the difference.

Job one: action in progress. This matches English cleanly.

• 今、ご飯を食べています (ima, gohan o tabete imasu) — "I'm eating right now."
• 雨が降っています (ame ga futte imasu) — "It's raining."

Job two: habitual action. Also unsurprising.

• 毎日日本語を勉強しています (mainichi nihongo o benkyō shite imasu) — "I study Japanese every day."
• 東京に住んでいます (Tōkyō ni sunde imasu) — "I live in Tokyo."

Job three: the resultant state. This is the one that gets mistranslated in real conversations. With verbs that describe an instantaneous change — marrying, dying, arriving, knowing, opening — 〜ている describes the state you are in afterwards, not an action unfolding.

• 結婚しています (kekkon shite imasu) — "I'm married." Not "I'm getting married." (That is 結婚します.)
• 田中さんを知っています (Tanaka-san o shitte imasu) — "I know Tanaka."
• 木村さんはもう来ています (Kimura-san wa mō kite imasu) — "Kimura is already here." Not "is coming."
• 窓が開いています (mado ga aite imasu) — "The window is open."
• 眼鏡をかけています (megane o kakete imasu) — "He wears glasses."

And the asymmetry that catches everybody: the negative of 知っています is 知りません (shirimasen), not ×知っていません. "I know" is a state; "I don't know" is a plain negative. Learn the pair together or you will build the wrong one at speed.

Te kara te miru te oku and te shimau

Four attachments that turn beginner sentences into ones that sound like a person.

〜てから — after doing. Stronger sequencing than a plain te chain: it insists the first action finished.

• 手を洗ってから、食べます (te o aratte kara, tabemasu) — "I'll eat after washing my hands."
• 日本に来てから、3年になります (Nihon ni kite kara, san-nen ni narimasu) — "It's been three years since I came to Japan."

〜てみる — try doing, to see how it goes.

• この店のラーメンを食べてみます (kono mise no rāmen o tabete mimasu) — "I'll give this place's ramen a go."
• 着てみてもいいですか (kite mite mo ii desu ka) — "Can I try this on?" (te form stacked on te form — completely normal)

Careful: 〜てみる is "try and see", not "attempt with effort". "I tried to open the door but it was locked" needs 開けようとしました, not 開けてみました.

〜ておく — do in advance, or leave as is.

• ホテルを予約しておきます (hoteru o yoyaku shite okimasu) — "I'll book the hotel in advance."
• 覚えておいてください (oboete oite kudasai) — "Please keep that in mind."

〜てしまう — completion, or regret. Same form, two flavours, and the tone of voice usually tells you which.

• 全部食べてしまいました (zenbu tabete shimaimashita) — "I ate the whole thing." (finished it off)
• 財布をなくしてしまいました (saifu o nakushite shimaimashita) — "I've gone and lost my wallet." (regret)

Giving and receiving te ageru te kureru te morau

A quick pointer, because this trio deserves its own guide. Attached to the te form, they mark who the action benefits — a direction Japanese states out loud where English leaves it implied.

• 妹に日本語を教えてあげました (imōto ni nihongo o oshiete agemashita) — "I taught my sister Japanese." (I did it for her)
• 友達が空港まで迎えに来てくれました (tomodachi ga kūkō made mukae ni kite kuremashita) — "My friend came to pick me up at the airport." (for my benefit — and the くれた is what makes it sound grateful)
• 先生に発音を直してもらいました (sensei ni hatsuon o naoshite moraimashita) — "I had my teacher correct my pronunciation."

Omitting くれる when someone did you a favour is not a grammar error, but it sounds oddly cold. It is one of the fastest upgrades available to an intermediate speaker.

Every te form use in one table

Casual contractions that make you sound natural

Textbook Japanese and spoken Japanese diverge here more than anywhere else. These four contractions are not slang — they are what ordinary people say.

• 〜ている → 〜てる — 何してるの (nani shiteru no) — "What are you doing?" Also 待ってる, 見てる, 知ってる.
• 〜ておく → 〜とく — 買っとくよ (kattoku yo) — "I'll grab it beforehand." Also やっとく.
• 〜てしまう → 〜ちゃう (and 〜でしまう → 〜じゃう) — 忘れちゃった (wasurechatta) — "I totally forgot." 飲んじゃった (nonjatta) — "I drank it all."
• 〜ては → 〜ちゃ — 行っちゃだめ (iccha dame) — "Don't go."

Where they are too casual: a job interview, a first meeting with a client, anything with a customer, or speaking to someone clearly senior to you. In those rooms, use the full forms with ます.

There is a useful middle gear that learners often miss. 〜てます — contraction plus polite ending — is extremely common in relaxed but polite conversation: 見てます, 待ってます, 知ってます. It is friendlier than 見ています and safer than 見てる, which makes it a good default once you are past your first few months. If choosing a register in real time is what freezes you, that hesitation is a solvable problem — we wrote about it in how to stop freezing when speaking Japanese.

Seven te form mistakes people make at speaking speed

1. Treating る-ending godan verbs as ichidan. ×帰て → ○帰って (kaette). The usual suspects all end in いる or える but are godan: 帰る, 走る, 入る, 切る, 知る, 要る, しゃべる. There is no rule that predicts them — memorise this handful and you have covered most of the damage.

2. Regularising 行く. ×行いて → ○行って (itte). Highest-frequency exception in the language.

3. 知っていません. → ○知りません (shirimasen). The positive is a state, the negative is not.

4. 〜てください aimed upwards. Grammatically perfect, socially bumpy with a boss or a customer. Move up the ladder to 〜ていただけますか.

5. 〜てはいけません aimed at a friend. It is the register of a public sign. Say 〜ないで or 〜ちゃだめ instead.

6. Marking tense on every verb in a chain. ×朝起きました、シャワーを浴びました、会社に行きました is not wrong, but it is three separate sentences pretending to be one. Chain them with て and let the last verb carry the tense.

7. Conjugating mid-sentence. The real-time cost of computing 手伝う → 手伝って is what produces the two-second pause. The fix is not more rules, it is chunking: store 待って, 教えて, 見せて, 言って, 書いて, 手伝って as whole words you never assemble. Ten pre-built te forms will carry most of a conversation. Related sentence-level fixes live in our particles guide, since particle hesitation and conjugation hesitation feed each other.

A five minute out loud te form drill

Reading this page taught you the rules. It did nothing for the two-second pause. Here is the exercise that does, and it needs no app:

The te form ladder. Pick a verb. Say the whole ladder aloud, without stopping, before moving to the next verb:

1. Dictionary form — 手伝う (tetsudau)
2. Te form — 手伝って (tetsudatte)
3. Request — 手伝ってください (tetsudatte kudasai)
4. Polite request — 手伝ってもらえますか (tetsudatte moraemasu ka)
5. Permission — 手伝ってもいいですか (tetsudatte mo ii desu ka)
6. Progressive — 手伝っています (tetsudatte imasu)
7. Casual contraction — 手伝ってる (tetsudatteru)

Sixty seconds per verb, five verbs, five minutes. Do it with 待つ, 書く, 飲む, 話す and 来る and you have touched every sound-change rule in one sitting.

Then push it into real speech, because the ladder is scales and conversation is music. The moment that actually rewires you is the one where you reach for 帰て mid-sentence, get told it is 帰って, and feel why. That is the job SoraSpeak does: you speak out loud in the browser, an AI Japanese teacher replies in natural Japanese with subtitles, and every conjugation, particle and politeness correction comes back in simple English while you still remember the choice you made. Being honest: it is a new product, it complements human conversation rather than replacing it, and no software fully substitutes for a good teacher. For the narrow job of producing a hundred te forms and being told which ones broke, it is lower-friction than anything else.

For input alongside the output, NHK News Web Easy is free and short, and its articles are dense with 〜ている and te-chains in natural contexts. The Japan Foundation publishes learner materials organised around what you can do with the language rather than grammar order, which suits te-form practice well. If you are aiming at a certificate, the official JLPT site lists level coverage — though note it tests reading and listening only, so a te form you can recognise on paper is not the same as one your mouth produces on time.

The bottom line

う・つ・る → って. む・ぶ・ぬ → んで. く → いて. ぐ → いで. す → して. する → して, 来る → 来て, and 行く → 行って. That is the entire conjugation, and everything above is what you can hang on it.

The uses ranked by how often you will need them out loud: 〜ている for what is happening or what state something is in, 〜てください / 〜てもらえますか for asking, 〜てもいいですか for permission, plain 〜て for chaining, then 〜てから, 〜てみる, 〜ておく and 〜てしまう as flavour. Add 〜てくれる when someone does you a kindness and you will sound noticeably warmer.

When you are ready to hang these on whole conversations, our beginner Japanese conversation guide gives you patterns to slot them into, the daily Japanese conversation phrases list gives you ready-made expressions where the te form is already baked in, and the conditionals guide picks up where this one stops — because たら is built on the same sound changes you just learned.

🗣️ Ten te forms, said out loud, corrected the same minute you get them wrong. Practise speaking Japanese free →

SoraSpeak is an independent Japanese speaking-practice app. Example sentences are written for learners; natural usage can vary by context and region.

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