Japanese Grammar – Using て- Form as “and”

Japanese Grammar – Using て- Form as “and” – Review Notes

Last grammar lesson, we learned how to make the て- form (te-form) of Japanese verbs! Today we learned how to connect verb phrases like the word “and” using the て- form!

In these video review notes we will go over today’s Japanese grammar in greater detail and see some more examples.

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Last Grammar Lesson:

★　Last time we learned how to make the て-form (te-form) of Japanese verbs.

★　て-form (te-form) by itself does not have a tense (past, present, etc.)

★　There are many, many ways to use て-form (te-form).

★　If you missed our last grammar lesson, please see it first! Click Here!

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Today’s Lesson: Connect verbs w/ て-form

★　Today we will learn how to connect verb phrases using て-form.

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Review: The Particle と (to) as “and”

★　As you may recall from a past lesson the particle と (to) can be used to connect two nouns, similar to the English word “and.”

★　However, the particle と (to) cannot be used to connect verbs (for example: eat and drink).

★　To do this, we must use the て-form instead.

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How Use て-form to Connect Verb Phrases:

★　First we have two sentences (verb phrases) in past tense.

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朝ご飯を食べました。

Asagohan o tabemashita.

I ate breakfast.

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学校に行きました。

Gakkō ni ikimashita.

I went to school.

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★　In order to connect these with “and” we must change the verb of the first sentence into て-form.

★　If you don’t remember how to change verbs into て-form click here!

★　As one sentence, it becomes:

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朝ご飯を食べて、学校に行きました。

Asagohan o tabete, gakkō ni ikimashita.

I ate breakfast and went to school.

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Indicating a Chronological Relationship:

★　In the example above, a chronological relationship between the two sentences has been established.

★　It is obvious by reading the sentence that the speaker first ate breakfast and then went to school.

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Another Example: The Tense of て-form

★　In the last example, we used two past-tense sentences to form one past tense sentence.

★　In this example, we are using non-past tense. If you don’t know what non-past tense is, click here.

本を読んで、寝ます.

Hon o yonde, nemasu.

I will read a book and then sleep.

★　The て-form by itself does not have a tense. Rather, the tense of the whole sentence is determined by the final verb in the sentence.

★　In this example, it is obvious that the speaker will do these actions in the (near) future.

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て-form Can also Indicate Cause-Effect:

★　て-form can also indicate a cause-effect relationship.

★　For Example:

宿題がたくさんあって、忙しかったです。

Shukudai ga takusan atte, isogashikatta desu.

I had a lot of homework, so I was busy.

★　The first part of the sentence is explaining the cause of the second part of the sentence.

★　In this case, rather than translating as “and,” it is more accurate to translate as “so.”

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Additional Information:

★　て-form can be used multiple times in a sentence to connect a series of actions. For example:

朝ご飯を食べて、シャワーを浴びて、学校に行きました。

Asagohan o tabete, shawā o abite, gakkō ni ikimashita.

I ate breakfast, took a shower, and went to school.

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Additional Examples:

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秋葉原に行って、アニメグッズを買います。

Akihabara ni itte, anime guzzu o kaimasu.

I will go to Akihabara and buy anime goods.

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食べ過ぎて、おなかが痛くなりました。

Tabesugite, onaka ga itakunarimashita.

I ate too much, so I got a stomachache.

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Conclusion:

That’s it for today’s Japanese grammar lesson! If you have any questions, please leave a comment below!

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