The Japanese て-form explained, with an easy way to remember it

If one verb form unlocks the most Japanese for a beginner, it's the て-form (te-form). On its own it doesn't mean much, but add a word after it and you can ask for things, link actions together, describe what's happening right now, and ask permission.

What you can do with it

• 〜て ください: please do… (polite requests)
• 〜て います: doing… right now, or an ongoing state
• 〜て, 〜て: do this, and then that (linking actions)
• 〜ても いいですか: may I…?

How to make it

How you make the て-form depends on the verb's group.

Group 2 (る-verbs): easy

Drop る and add て:

• 食たべる → 食たべて (eat)
• 見みる → 見みて (see)
• 起おきる → 起おきて (get up)

Group 1 (う-verbs): it depends on the last sound

This is the part to learn. Look at the last hiragana of the dictionary form:

The irregulars (and one exception)

• する → して (do)
• 来くる → 来きて (come)
• 行いく → 行いって (go). It ends in く, but it's an exception: not いいて.

How to tell Group 1 from Group 2

Verbs ending in 〜える or 〜いる (like たべる, みる) are usually Group 2. Everything else is Group 1. Some verbs that look like Group 2 are actually Group 1, such as 帰かえる (go home), 入はいる (enter), 走はしる (run) and 知しる (know), so learn those as you meet them.

The bonus: the た-form is the same

Learn the て-form and you get the past tense (casual) for free: just swap て for た and で for だ. 飲のんで → 飲のんだ (drank), 書かいて → 書かいた (wrote).