This is the first and largest of the godan te-form groups. Any godan verb whose dictionary form ends in う, つ, or る builds its て-form the same way: the final kana collapses into a small っ, giving って. Linguists call this the 促音便 (sokuon-bin), the "doubling" change — the っ is literally a doubled consonant. Three different endings, one identical outcome, so you learn it once and get all three.
The mechanism: the final syllable doubles
Historically, て attached to the verb stem: ka-i + te, ma-chi + te, to-ri + te. Those clusters were awkward at speaking speed, so the language smoothed each one into a doubled consonant before て. In romaji the picture is vivid:
- 買う ka-u → ka-*t-te* → 買って
- 待つ ma-tsu → ma-*t-te* → 待って
- 取る to-ru → to-*t-te* → 取って
In every case the last syllable's consonant "sticks," doubling into っ, and then て follows. Say them out loud — katte, matte, totte — and you can hear that the っ is just a beat of held breath where the う/つ/る used to be.
The full derivation table
| Ending | Dictionary | て-form | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| う | 買う (to buy) | 買って | kau → katte |
| 会う (to meet) | 会って | au → atte | |
| 言う (to say) | 言って | iu → itte | |
| 使う (to use) | 使って | tsukau → tsukatte | |
| つ | 待つ (to wait) | 待って | matsu → matte |
| 持つ (to hold) | 持って | motsu → motte | |
| 立つ (to stand) | 立って | tatsu → tatte | |
| る | 取る (to take) | 取って | toru → totte |
| 帰る (to go home) | 帰って | kaeru → kaette | |
| 作る (to make) | 作って | tsukuru → tsukutte | |
| 走る (to run) | 走って | hashiru → hashitte | |
| 終わる (to end) | 終わって | owaru → owatte |
Note that 言う → 言って is read itte — the same sound as 行って (from 行く). The kanji keeps them apart; context does the rest.
In natural sentences
ちょっと待って、今すぐ行くから。
chotto matte, ima sugu iku kara
Hold on, I'm coming right now.
帰りにコンビニでお茶を買ってきた。
kaeri ni konbini de ocha o katte kita
I bought some tea at the convenience store on the way home.
また明日、駅で会って話そうよ。
mata ashita, eki de atte hanasō yo
Let's meet at the station tomorrow and talk.
この荷物、ちょっと持ってくれる？
kono nimotsu, chotto motte kureru?
Can you hold this bag for a second?
みんなの前に立って、自己紹介をした。
minna no mae ni tatte, jiko-shōkai o shita
I stood up in front of everyone and introduced myself.
毎朝、公園を走って体を鍛えている。
maiasa, kōen o hashitte karada o kitaete iru
I run in the park every morning to stay in shape.
分からないことがあったら、遠慮なく言ってください。
wakaranai koto ga attara, enryo naku itte kudasai
If there's anything you don't understand, don't hesitate to say so.
The real trap: る-final godan verbs
Here is the mistake that will bite you again and again. Many verbs ending in -る are godan, not ichidan — and godan る-verbs take って, not the ichidan "drop る add て." The two classes look identical from the outside:
| Verb | Class | て-form |
|---|---|---|
| 帰る (to go home) | godan | 帰って |
| 食べる (to eat) | ichidan | 食べて |
| 走る (to run) | godan | 走って |
| 見る (to see) | ichidan | 見て |
帰る and 食べる both end in る, yet one gives 帰って and the other 食べて. You cannot decide the て-form from the last kana alone — you must know the verb's class first. The classic godan る-verbs that fool learners are 帰る (kaeru, "go home"), 走る (hashiru, "run"), 要る (iru, "need"), 切る (kiru, "cut"), 知る (shiru, "know"), 入る (hairu, "enter"). Every one of them takes って. For the reliable diagnostic that tells godan and ichidan apart, see telling ichidan from godan.
今日は早く帰って、ゆっくり休みたい。
kyō wa hayaku kaette, yukkuri yasumitai
I want to go home early today and rest up.
はさみを取って、この紙を切ってくれる？
hasami o totte, kono kami o kitte kureru?
Can you grab the scissors and cut this paper?
How this differs from English
English never reshapes a verb's stem just to connect it — "buy and…," "wait and…," "take and…" keep the verb intact. Japanese fuses the ending into the connector itself, so the boundary between verb and grammar blurs. That fusion is why you can't "sound out" the て-form the way you'd sound out an English form: 買って isn't 買う plus a suffix bolted on cleanly; it's the two melted together into a doubled consonant. Getting comfortable with that melt is most of the battle.
Common mistakes
❌ 仕事が終わったから、もう帰て。
shigoto ga owatta kara, mō kaete
Incorrect — 帰る is godan, not ichidan; it can't just drop る.
✅ 仕事が終わったから、もう帰って。
shigoto ga owatta kara, mō kaette
Work's done, so I'm heading home now.
❌ ここで少し待てください。
koko de sukoshi mate kudasai
Incorrect — 待て is the command 'wait!'; the te-form of 待つ is 待って.
✅ ここで少し待ってください。
koko de sukoshi matte kudasai
Please wait here a moment.
❌ すみません、もう一度言てください。
sumimasen, mō ichido ite kudasai
Incorrect — 言う is a う-verb, so the te-form doubles: 言って.
✅ すみません、もう一度言ってください。
sumimasen, mō ichido itte kudasai
Sorry, could you say that once more?
❌ 毎朝、公園を走て通勤している。
maiasa, kōen o hashite tsūkin shite iru
Incorrect — 走る is a godan る-verb → 走って, not 走て.
✅ 毎朝、公園を走って通勤している。
maiasa, kōen o hashitte tsūkin shite iru
Every morning I run through the park to commute.
Key takeaways
- う, つ, る → って — the doubling change (促音便), one outcome for three endings.
- The っ is a full beat: 待って is ma-(t)-te, not "mate" (which is the command 待て).
- る-final godan verbs are the trap: 帰る, 走る, 要る, 切る, 知る, 入る all take って — you must know the class before you can build the form.
- 言って and 行って are both read itte; the kanji distinguishes them.
- Next: む・ぶ・ぬ → んで and く → いて.
Now practice Japanese
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Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- Godan む・ぶ・ぬ → んでN4 — The second godan te-form group: verbs ending in む, ぶ, or ぬ take the nasal change (撥音便) to form んで — and crucially the connector voices from て to で: 読む→読んで, 遊ぶ→遊んで, 死ぬ→死んで.
- Godan く → いて (and 行く → 行って)N4 — The く te-form group: godan verbs ending in く soften to いて via the i-vowel change (イ音便) — 書く→書いて, 聞く→聞いて — with the one high-frequency exception you must memorize, 行く→行って.
- The te-form Song: All Rules on One PageN4 — The complete te-form system on a single page, built around the classic learner mnemonic — う・つ・る→って, む・ぬ・ぶ→んで, く→いて, ぐ→いで, す→して, plus ichidan and the two irregulars.
- Ichidan (ru-verbs): drop る, add てN4 — How ichidan verbs form the te-form by simply dropping る and adding て — the easy class with no euphonic changes, plus how to tell them from look-alike godan verbs.
- The て-form: Japanese's Universal ConnectorN4 — Why the tenseless, politeness-free て-form is the single most productive conjugation in Japanese — the hinge that feeds requests, progressives, sequence, permission, and dozens more constructions.
- Telling Ichidan from GodanN4 — A reliable diagnostic for the one tricky classification problem in Japanese: verbs ending in -る.