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、ち、り、って/i, chi, ri, tte
み、び、に、んで/mi, bi, ni, nde
き、いて/ki, ite
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.
むすびます/musubi-masu
We have び/bi as I highlighted in red.
Then in the chart we have んで/-nde with び/bi.
So び/bi will be replaced to んで/-nde.
As the result, the te-from of むすびます/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;
ひらきます/ hiraki-masu → ひらいて/ hiraite
うちます/ uchi-masu → うって/ utte
Just follow the same highlighted colors in above verbs.
い、ち、り、って/i, chi, ri, tte
み、び、に、んで/mi, bi, ni, nde
き、いて/ki, ite
ぎ、いで/gi, ide
し、して/shi, shite
Got it?
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 → たべて/ tabete
Here, we have "たべて/ tabete" as the te-form of "たべます/tabe-masu".
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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