てて FormForm

Verb Groups in JapaneseVerb Groups in Japanese• In Japanese there are three verb

groups.

– Group 1 (Strong)– Group 2 (Weak)– Group 3 (Irregular)

Group 1 (Strong)• These are the biggest group of verbs. To

identify these verbs look at the verb stem (without the ます ) and if it ends in an いsound it is a Group 1 verb.

E.g. あいます、あるきます、およぎます、 はなします、たちます、あそびます、

のみます、しにます .

Group 2 (Weak)• Group 2 (Weak) verbs differ from Group 1

verbs in the following ways.– The last syllable of the verb stem ends in an え

sound. E.g. あけます、たべますOR

– They are verbs with a one syllable stem. E.g. ねます、でます

OR– They are the potential form of the verb

Group 3 (Irregular)

• These are the verbs that you must remember by heart, as there is no rules to help you remember them.

E.g. します　 and きます (come)

Introduction to て Form• All the verbs that we have learnt so far

have ます on the end. This is called the polite form

• Today we are going to learn to form the て form

Uses of the て Form• The て form is a very useful structure

that is used to form a lot of grammar structures.

• We have already seen it used to form a few grammatical structures:

Formation• As we have just learnt there are

different ways of forming the て form depending on what verb group they are. The formation of て form also has rules depending on what verb group they belong to.

Formation of Group 1 (Strong) Verbs• When you change Group 1 verbs into the て

form, we use the following songい ち り ってび み に んでき いてぎ いでします してきます きていきます いって

What does this mean?• If the stem of the verb ends in a い、ち

or り we take that final sound off and add って

• E.g. あいます -　あって たちます -　たって

はしります - はしって

What does this mean?• If the stem of the verb ends in a び、み

or に we take that final sound off and add んで

• E.g. あそびます -　あそんで よみます -　よんで しにます - 　しんで

What does this mean?• If the stem of the verb ends in a き we

take that final sound off and add いてE.g. ききます -　きいて

• If the stem of the verb ends in a ぎ we take that final sound off and add いでE.g. およぎます - およいで

What does this mean?• The irregular verb します changes to して

• The irregular verb きます changes to きて

• いきます changes to いって

Formation of Group 2 (Weak) Verbs

• It is much easier to change Group 2 verbs into the て form. You simply drop the ます and add て . As you continue your study of Japanese you will realise that Group 2 verbs are much easier to conjugate.

Examplesあけます　　　　　 あけて

みます みて

でかけます でかけて　

ねます ねて

ExercisesLook at the following polite forms and put them in their て form

ききます

います

たべます

みえます みえて

たべて

いて

きいて

Important Note• It is important to remember that there

are a few exceptions to the rule. The following verbs look like Group 1 verbs however they are Group 2:

おきます and あびます . Therefore their plain forms are おきて and あび

て respectively.

Formation of Group 3 (Irregular) Verbs

• The only way to remember these verbs is by heart. The two irregular verbs are:

します して

きます (come) きて

Conclusion

• Group 1 - Remember the song

• Group 2 - Add て to the verb stem

• Group 3 - Remember by heart