Talk:て

Grammatical notes added recently
, pinging you two as native speakers. The grammatical notes seem problematic to me, claiming certain hard-and-fast rules of usage that don't seem quite so clear-cut to me. Do either of you have any insights you could share? ‑‑ Eiríkr Útlendi │Tala við mig 03:16, 7 September 2021 (UTC)
 * I’ve deleted clearly interchangeable examples. — T AKASUGI Shinji (talk) 05:40, 8 September 2021 (UTC)

The difference between 連用形 (continuative form) and テ形 (te-form or conjunctive form)
I have noticed that a lot of people say that 連用形 is formal or written language, whereas テ形 is informal or spoken language. However, it turns out that the difference between the two forms is more complex than that. I am going to present what I have found.

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Basically, in “Verb1 in テ形 ~ Verb2” there is a close relationship between the action in Verb1 and that in Verb2. No such relationship exists between Verb1 and Verb2 in “Verb1 in 連用形 ~ Verb2.” Usage restrictions differ depending on the subjects of Verb1 and Verb2.

1. When the subjects of Verb1 and Verb2 are the same: 1. Verb in テ形 "In general, “Verb1 in テ形 ~ Verb2” is used when the two actions are closely related and the sequence is important. More specifically, Verb in テ形 is used in situations like those in [1] – [3]." 1. When one action (Verb2) cannot take place until another action (Verb1) takes place, as in (a) and (b): 1. (行き cannot be used in place of 行って here.)

2. (見 cannot be used in place of 見て here.)

2. When Verb1 represents the cause of Verb2 (a special case of [1]), as in (a) and (b): 1. (働きすぎ cannot be used in place of 働きすぎて here.)

2. (見 cannot be used in place of 見て here.)

3. When Verb1 represents a means or manner of doing Verb2, as in (a) and (b): 1. (乗り cannot be used in place of 乗って here.)

2. (はめ cannot be used in place of はめて here.)

2. Verb in 連用形 "In general, “Verb1 in 連用形…Verb2” is used when two actions or states are not directly related. More specifically, Verb in 連用形 is used when the times of two independent actions or states overlap, as in [1] and [2]." 1. Overlapping actions 1. (働いて cannot be used in place of 働き here.)

2. (驚いて cannot be used in place of 驚き here.)

2. Overlapping states 1. (好んで cannot be used in place of 好み here.)

2. (愛して cannot be used in place of 愛し here.)

3. Additional information before Verb2 and acceptability of Verb1 in 連用形 "When the action of Verb1 precedes that of Verb2, Verb in テ形 is preferred. However, when additional information precedes Verb2, Verb in 連用形 is acceptable even when the action of Verb1 occurs before that of Verb2, as in (a) – (d):" 1.

2.

3. "Compare (a) and (b) in [1] and [2]." 1. 1. (むき cannot be used in place of むいて here.)

2. (むき can be used in place of むいて here.)

2. 1. (焼き cannot be used in place of 焼いて here.)

2. (Here, 焼き can be used in place of 焼いて, but 付け cannot be used in place of 付けて.) "The acceptability of Verb1 in 連用形 in this situation may be due to the fact that when additional information occurs before Verb2, the focus shifts from the relationship between the two verbs to the additional information before Verb2."

4. Stylistic use of Verb in 連用形 "In sentences involving a series of verbs, Verb in 連用形 is often used in situations where either form can occur. This choice is stylistic and avoids the overuse of the Verb in テ形. For example, in [1], Verb1–Verb5 can be テ形 verbs. However, because Verb1, Verb3 and Verb5 must be テ形 (Due to the fact that one cannot do some shopping before going to the department store, that one cannot open a new bank account before stopping by the bank, and that one cannot return a friend’s book before meeting them), the Verb in 連用形 would be more commonly used for Verb2 and Verb4." 1. (行き, 寄り and 会い cannot be used in place of 行って, 寄って and 会って respectively in this sentence. し and 開き are preferred, but して and 開いて can be used in place of them respectively in this sentence.) "In conversation, however, such stylistic control is difficult, and, therefore, テ形 often occurs for every verb. This is the reason why in some situations the use of Verb in テ形 sounds colloquial and the use of Verb in 連用形 sounds formal."

5. Verb in テ形/Verb in 連用形 and controllability "In “Verb1 in テ形 ~ Verb2,” because the action in Verb1 is closely related to the action of Verb2, both verbs must be either controllable or non-controllable, as in [1] and [2]. This is not the case with Verb in 連用形." 1. 1. (The two verbs are both controllable, hence 会って is used.)

2. (The first verb is non-controllable and the second verb is controllable, hence 会い is used.)

2. 1. (The two verbs are both non-controllable, hence 見つかって is used.)

2. (The first verb is non-controllable and the second verb is controllable, hence 見つかり is used.)

2. When the subjects of Verb1 and Verb2 are different: "When two different subjects are involved in “Verb1 in テ形 ~ Verb2,” the action of Verb1 has not necessarily been completed before that of Verb2, as in [1]."

Makino, Seiichi, and Michio Tsutsui. A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar. Tokyo, The Japan Times, Ltd., 1995, pp. 556-560.

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I hope this helps people to understand the differences between the two forms!

Wise Bridges Fool Walls (talk) 18:57, 31 May 2022 (UTC)