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Japanese verbs have several conjugated forms and the main topic of this session is a conjugation called the "te-form".
 
Te-forms are very important part of Japanese grammar.  Among their various uses we will learn to use them in:

  • making requests (". . . , please.")
  • giving and asking for permission ("You may . . . / May I . . .")
  • stating that something is forbidden ("You must not . . .")
  • forming a sentence that describes two or more events or activities. ("I did this and did that and so on.")

However, you need to conjugate verbs to the te-form from other forms.
 
Please don't worry.
 
First, you should know that Japanese verbs are divided into three classes according to their conjugations as below:


OMG! I know you may be so nervous that you'd have to memorize all of these complicated rules and apply it to all verbs.
 
Don't worry, I can show you an easy way starting with taking a look of this anime clip.
 
 
 
These are the translations of each phrase as below;

むすんで/musunde : tighten palms
ひらいて/hiraite : open palms
てをうって/te o utte : clap hands (て means hands)
むすんで/musunde : tighten palms

また ひらいて/mata hiraite : open palms again (また/mata means "once again")
てをうって/te o utte : clap hands
その てを うえに/sono te o ue ni : raise those hands up

むすんで/musunde : tighten palms
ひらいて/hiraite : open palms
てをうって/te o utte : clap hands
むすんで/musunde : tighten palms

また ひらいて/mata hiraite : open palms again
てをうって/te o utte : clap hands
その てを したに/sono te o shita ni : hold those hands down
 
 
Okay, once you become familier with the melody,
change the underlined lyric part to below;
 
 
い、、り、って/i, chi, ri, tte
み、、にんで/mi, bi, ni, nde
いてkiite
ぎ、いで/gi, ide
し、して/shi, shite
 
 
Alright, I'll explain more details of how to use this song to master the conjugation of regular 1 verbs to the "te-form".
 
The first verb "むすんで/musunde",
 
It's the te-form of むすびます/musubi-masu, means to tighten.

Ok, let's focus the syllable immediate before the ます/masu in the masu-form.
 
むすます/musubi-masu
 
We have /bi as I highlighted in red.
Then in the chart we have んで/-nde with /bi.
So /bi will be replaced to んで/-nde.
As the result, the te-from of むすます/musubi-masu will be むすんで/musunde
 
In the same way based on the chart, other verbs' masu-forms and te-forms in the song will be;
 
ひらます/ hiraki-masu → ひらいて/ hiraite
ます/ uchi-masu → って/ utte
 
Just follow the same highlighted colors in above verbs.
 
い、、り、って/i, chi, ri, tte

み、、に、んで/mi, bi, ni, nde

いてkiite

ぎ、いで/gi, ide

し、して/shi, shite
 
Got it? 
 
 
Now, let's talk about Regular 2 verbs.
 
It's much easier than regular 1 verbs.
You just replace "ます/masu" part of masu-form to "て/te".
 
For example, the verb "たべます/tabe-masu" which means to eat.
Again, you remove "ます/masu" part first, then replace it to  "て/te".
 
たべます/tabe-masu →  たべます/tabe-masu →  たべ/ tabete
 
Here, we have "たべて/ tabete" as the te-form of "たべます/tabe-masu".
 
 
Okay, let's talk about Irregular verbs at the end.
 
There are only 2 irregular verbs.
 
きます/ ki-masu, which means to come.
します/ shi-masu, which means to do.
 
And their conjugations are;
 
きます/ ki-masu → きて/ kite
します/ shi-masu → して/ shite
 
They're simple, aren't they?
 
 
Alright, I hope you feel much better about the te-form now.
 
See you soon ^^/

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