How to conjugate te form. Visual Guide to Japanese Verbs 2021

Click Here to join our 30 day challenge to learn Hiragana

Japanese “Te” form Conjugation – Group 2

We will begin by introducing the  Second group: Ru-verbs

Words that end in ru, such as taberu (食たべる), or miru (見みる) for example – belong to the group 2 verb class.  We can also call them “droppers.”

As an example: Let’s look at the Japanese verb for eating – Taberu.

The second group is very easy to conjugate.  You simply drop る(ru) off the end of it and add て(te).

Miru becomes mite – and taberu becomes tabete.

Japanese “Te” form Conjugation – Group 3

The next Japanese verb group we will cover is 3rd group or “irregular verbs.” This group is the smallest as there are only two irregular verbs in Japanese.  These are both “ru” verbs – however they conjugate differently – which is why we call them irregular.

The two irregular verbs in Japanese are:

する→ to do.

くる→ to come.

Irregular verbs are verbs that have exceptions to the て form rules. Instead of simply dropping the ru and adding a te – they each have their own method.

Suru becomes shi te.  and kuru becomes ki te.

する→ して

くる→ きて

For example:

勉強する→  勉強して

電話する →  電話 して

連れてくる →  連れてきて

持ってくる →  持ってきて

This becomes easy to remember and use, just like the group 2, or dropper verbs.

Finally, Let’s talk about our group 1 verbs or U-verbs.

This group is also easy to remember – the only troublesome part to it is that there are quite a few of them.

Japanese “Te” form Conjugation – Group 1

Group 1 verbs are usually referred to as U verbs, and they make up the largest group of Japanese verbs

Group one verbs – U-verbs with final  う,つ and る. U, Tsu, and Ru

For example:

To buy かう→かって   Kau > Katte

To wait まつ→まって     Matsu  > Matte

To take (photo)とる→とって    Toru  > Totte

The above verbs are in dictionary form. The ひらがな of dictionary form  う  つ  る abide by the same rules, erase the  う,つ and る, add って.

– – – – – – – –

Group 1 Te-form: 飲のむ、遊あそぶ、死しぬ

Next, we have U-verbs that end in む,ぶ and ぬ. Mu, Bu, and Nu

For example:

To drink のむ – Nomu

To play あそぶ – Asobu

To die しぬ – Shinu

Verbs with む,ぶ and ぬ endings have the same rules.

↓

のむ → のんで — Nomu>Nonde

あそぶ →  あそんで  Asobu>Asonde

しぬ → しんで Shinu>Shinde

Except  あそぶ Asobu , there’s are only two other verbs that ends in ぶ which is とぶ Tobu (to fly.) ころぶ Korobu (to fall.)

しぬ → しんで  is the only verb that ends in ぬ.

– – – – – – – –

Group I Te-form: 書かく、泳およぐ、話はなす

U-verbs that end in く – Ku

For example:

To write かく → かいて

U-verbs that end in ぐ – Gu

To swim およぐ → およいで

U-verbs that end in す – Su

To speak はなす → はなして

– – – – –

There is only one exception.

*To go いく →  いって

Because   いく →  いいて is hard to pounce.

For the Te-form first group, we have 10 U-verbs. 1 in 2nd group. 2 in 3rd group. In total – there are 13 rules associated with te form.

If you are interested in learning how to conjugate Japanese verbs – check out our available Japanese Courses in Tokyo below.

Japanese Courses in Tokyo

Start taking Japanese lessons and master the use of te-form with us!