The -て form and the imperative part 1

As you have already learned, there are three verb groups: Group 1, or 五ご段だん; Group 2, or 一いち段だん; and Group 3. In this lesson you will learn how to obtain the て-form for verbs from Group 2 and Group 3, and how the て-form can be used to make requests in Japanese. First, we will take a closer look at how we can determine what group a verb belongs to.

Classifying verbs

You can classify most Japanese verb by asking the following questions in order.

Obtaining the て-form for verbs of Group 2 and Group 3

The て-form is a verb conjugation that can be used in many different situations. For example, it can be used for making requests, connecting sentences together, and it's used in the present progressive tense.

The て-form for Group 2, or 一いち段だん, verbs is obtained by replacing the final る with て.

The て-form for Group 3 verbs is also obtained by replacing the final る with て, but in addition, the u sound changes into an i sound.

Making requests with the て-form

There's a variety of ways for asking for something or making a request in Japanese, which vary in terms of the level of politeness or appropriateness for specific situations. In this lesson we will introduce the pattern て-form + ください (please). This is a very versatile way to ask for something used among both friends and in more formal situations. Check out the example sentences below to see this grammar point used in context.