As you have already learned, there are three verb groups: Group 1, or 五go段dan; Group 2, or 一iti段dan; 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.

Question	Verb group	Examples
Is the verb する or 来kuる? (Include noun + verb compounds like 失situ礼reiする)	Group 3	する来kuる
Does the verb not end in an iru or eru sound?	Group 1	ある飲noむ
The verb ends in an eru or iru sound.	Probably Group 2	食taべる見miる
The verb ends in an eru or iru sound.	Maybe group 1	入haiる

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iti段dan, 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.

Dictionary form	Verb group	て-form
食taべる	Group 2	食taべて
見miる	Group 2	見miて
する	Group 3	して
来kuる	Group 3	来kiて

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.

English	Japanese

Breakdown of kite kudasai. kiite kudasai. kitte kudasai.