Lesson 9: The て particle, the て form, and the imperative
Don't worry if this lesson seems hard. We're just covering fundamentals, you're not expected to internalize the ideas here yet.
There's a verb form that ends in て. This verb form is used in three main ways: to connect statements to eachother, to connect verbs to eachother, and as a simple command. We split this in two: the "て particle" and the "て form".
The て "form" is made by replacing the past tense's た with て. Keep in mind that this isn't some kind of secondary past tense.
殺して 切って 買って 死んで 食べて
The main use of the て form is the pattern XてY. This pattern uses Y to modify the meaning of X, and Y usually isn't literal.
The following two examples use てあげる and てもらう. We learn these for real near the end of this guide. They're kind of advanced, and you shouldn't try to understand them yet, just the XてY construction.
殺してあげる I'm going to kill you.
In this example, the verb あげる attaches to the て "form" of 殺す. Normally, あげる means "raise something", but because it's used in this pattern, it means "give". The speaker is "giving" the action 殺す to someone else, probably you.
助けてもらう roughly "is gratefully saved" or "receives help"
save (te form) + receive
Here, the "receive" word, もらう, modifies 助ける's て form. This doesn't just emphasize how grateful they are for being saved. 助ける normally takes the savior as the subject, but the phrase 助けてもらう takes the survivor as the subject. The XてY pattern isn't just attaching the verb Y to an earlier statement, it makes a whole new verb phrase, with different grammar.
The て "form" of い-adjectives is Xい -> Xいで, so ない -> ないで. い-adjectives don't like the て "form" that much. You usually only see the て form of い-adjectives if the adjective is part of a verb conjugation, like ない.
食べないでください
Please don't eat.
Here, 食べないで is the て "form" of 食べない, and ください is a "please" word that's attached to it.
The て "form" can make a simple command by using it alone. You can think of this like an implied ください for now.
食べて、少年 Eat, boy.
見て！ Look!
食べないで Please don't eat.
Now, the "て particle". For verbs, the て "particle" and "form" are identical. For い-adjectives, you replace the い with くて.
食べなくて 赤くて
The main use of the て "particle" is to string statements together in a single sentence.
物分りがよくて助かる It'd help a lot to have a good understanding.
彼女の目を見て、僕は告げる。 Looking her in the eyes, I say it.
In the first example, the statement 物分りがよくて is followed by the statement 助かる. 助かる is not modifying よくて. Instead, the first statement is setting up the context for the second statement.
The second example just strings the statements together the same way the translation does.
Sometimes the て "particle" lets a verb act as a topic. In this way, the て "particle" can look like a noun. It's not really a noun, it just looks like one in situations like this. (To students of grammar: this is not a gerund, it just translates to a gerund here.)
食べてはいい It's good to eat.
起きなくては いけない It's no good not to get up. ("Not getting up is no good.")
The て particle of ない, なくて, usually carries a "didn't X, so Y" nuance. But this is just a nuance. There's no literal indication of cause and effect here. It's just one of the possible nuances of なくて and some other uses of the て particle.
早く起きなくて 仕事に遅れた I didn't get up early, and I was late for work. (reason)
This brings us to the fourth common verb stem, the imperative (commanding) form. This is a "true" imperative form, rather than the "simple command" made by using the て "form" alone. Basically, the imperative form usually sounds rude.
The imperative of one-form verbs is ろ, and the imperative of five-form verbs replaces the u with an e.
死にながら見ろ
Look as I die
殺せ Kill them!
切れ
買え
There's an alternative imperative for one-form verbs, but you can ignore it until you're adept. Just remember that it exists.
食べよ Eat!