GRAMMAR DETAIL
～て
Uses the connecting form of a verb to indicate that one action is followed by another.
Examples
朝ご飯を食べて、学校へ行きます。
I eat breakfast and then go to school.
Words used
窓を開けて、部屋を換気します。
I open the window and air out the room.
Words used
駅で切符を買って、電車に乗りました。
I bought a ticket at the station and boarded the train.
Words used
Study notes
1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning
- Structure: Change the first verb to its
てform to connect the following action. - Basic usage:
朝ご飯を食べて、学校へ行きます。presents eating breakfast followed by going to school.
2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions
- Tense of the final predicate
- In
切符を買って、電車に乗りました, the final乗りましたmarks the past. The earlier買ってdoes not independently establish tense.
- In
- Making completion order explicit
食べてから行くmakes it clearer that going follows eating. Theてform also links manner, reason, and other relationships, so it does not express the same sequence in every sentence.