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Lesson 14 — て形けい· てください · ています · ましょうか

BOOK I · 初級 I みんなの日本語 · Mini no Nihongo

Lesson 14

Name Date

REFて形けい· てください · ています · ましょうか

Making the て-form

The sound changes below apply to Group I only, so the group has to be settled first. If you cannot yet tell Group I from Group II on sight, read 詳説 · Step one is the group further down this page before this table — it decides the group from the -form you already have.

GroupEndingRuleExample
1
godan		→ って
→ んで
→ いて
→ いで
→ して
2 ichidan—drop る + て
3 irreg.——

Exception:行いく→行いって, not 行いいて.

Memory aid

う·つ·る collapse to っ · む·ぶ·ぬ are nasal → ん · く/ぐ drop to い (ぐ voices the ending) · す keeps し.

1. 〜てください — request / instruction

/ Softer: 〜ていただけませんか (L26). This form is fine for instructions but can sound directive to a superior.

2. 〜ましょうか — offering to do something

— ええ、お願ねがいします。/ いいえ、けっこうです。

ましょうかましょうませんか
offering helplet's (L6)inviting (L6)

3. 〜ています — action in progress

4. Directions (taxi / on foot)

InstructionMeaning
go straight
turn right at that light
turn left at the next corner
stop here

Fuller direction vocabulary comes in L23.

Set expressions会話かいわ

— to a taxi driver

Key vocabulary

つけます消けします開あけます閉しめます急いそぎます待まちます止とめます曲まがります持もちます取とります手伝てつだいます呼よびます話はなします見みせます教おしえます始はじめます降おります使つかいます案内あんないします塩しお砂糖さとう信号しんごう角かど橋はしゆっくりすぐまたあとでまっすぐ

詳説 In depth — grammar notes

The て-form is the hub, not one more ending

Almost everything ahead of you attaches to the て-form: and here, in L15, in L16, in L24, , , as a habit in L28. The plain past is the same shape with て→た (L19), so making the て-form is also how you make 買かった, 飲のんだ and 書かいた.

This is why L14 is the lesson people stall on: it is not a new pattern, it is the gate to twenty of them. Spend the time here.

Step one is the group, and you can decide it from the ます-form

The sound change below applies to Group I only. Group II never changes sound, so getting the group wrong is what produces ✕ and ✕. At this point in the book you have the verb as , so decide from the kana immediately before ます.

StepAskThen
1Is it or ?III — there are only these two.
2Is the kana before ます an e-sound? (え·け·せ·て·ね·へ·め·れ·げ·ぜ·で·べ·ぺ)II, with no exceptions.
3It is an i-sound. Is the verb one of the i-row Group II verbs?II — see the list below.
4OtherwiseI — the default, and where most verbs land.
Group II because the stem is e-row
Group II although the stem is i-row
Group I — every other i-row stem

Step 3 is a list you build, not one you finish. These are the i-row Group II verbs in the two books, but you will meet more, and nothing about the kana tells you — and both end in き. Learn each new verb with its group the day you meet it, exactly as BASE says.

The pair that catches everyone: is Group I (), is Group II (). Same sound, different group, opposite て-form.

and look like the middle row and are not — they are Group I, so . That trap list is in BASE; the seven you meet first are 帰かえる · 入はいる · 走はしる · 切きる · 知しる · 要いる · 減へる.

The whole difficulty of this lesson is in the middle row. Learn those verbs with their group the day you meet them and the rest of L14 is mechanical.

Making the て-form

Work from the ます-form: drop ます, then change what is left according to the group.

Groupます-stem ends inChangeExample
I
I
I
I
I
IIanything
III——

One exception in the whole system: , not . It is a Group I verb ending in き that behaves as if it ended in り. Everything else on the き row is regular.

Memory aid

SoundWhy it groupsResult
all collapse into a glottal stop
all nasal
both drop to い
already a し

The voicing is not arbitrary: ん and ぎ carry voice into the ending, which is why you get んで and いで rather than んて and いて. Say them out loud once and you will not mix them up again.

The group is doing the work — same stem, different answer

ます-formGroupて-formWhy
IIdrop ます, add て — no sound change
Iり → って
IIdrop ます, add て
Iき → いて

These four are the whole lesson in miniature. If you can produce them without looking, you have it.

1. 〜てください — request and instruction

て-form + ください. It is the everyday way to ask for an action, and it is also how instructions are given, which is exactly the problem with it.

JapaneseEnglish
Please wait a moment.
Please write your address here.
Please say that once more.
Please speak slowly.

is a soft instruction, not the polite ceiling. To a teacher, a client or anyone above you it can land as an order — use (L26) there. The negative, "please don't", is not built from this form at all: it is (L17).

2. 〜ましょうか — offering to do it yourself

Not the て-form: this one is ます-stem + ましょうか. It offers your action for someone else's benefit.

JapaneseEnglish
Shall I carry your bag?
Shall I help?
Shall I open the window?
Yes please. / No, thank you.
FormWho actsReads as
the listenerdo this — a request or an instruction
youshall I? — an offer
both of youlet's
both of youwon't you? — an invitation, leaves room to decline

Offering to do something for someone with is the commonest register slip of this lesson. hands the person a job; offers to take one off them.

3. 〜ています — the action is under way

て-form + います. Right now, at the moment of speaking, the action is in progress.

JapaneseEnglish
Mr Miller is on the phone right now.
It's raining.
The children are playing in the park.
What are you doing?
SentenceWhat it says
it is raining as we speak
it will rain tomorrow
I get up at six every day — a habit, and plain ます is right

Non-past ます already covers the future and habits, so do not reach for ています just because a sentence is about a routine. is correct Japanese. ています is for the action being under way now; from L28 it also frames a habit as a practice you are currently keeping up, which is a different job again.

ています has two more uses ahead: a resulting state in L15 ( — for the state *now*, ています is the only option), and long-running habit in L28.

4. Directions — the て-form's first real workout

JapaneseEnglish
Go straight on.
Turn right at that traffic light.
Turn left at the next corner.
Stop here, please.

東京とうきょうホテルまでお願ねがいします。

はい、わかりました。

あの信号しんごうを右みぎへ曲まがってください。

ここで止とめてください。

takes two particles at once — : を for the landmark you turn at, へ for the direction. The fuller direction vocabulary is L23.

Error table

✕○Why
the one exception in the whole table
ち → って before ください
ください takes the て-form, never the dictionary
てください gives an instruction; ましょうか offers
an action under way takes ています

Try translating

EnglishJapanese
Please wait a moment.
Please write your address here.
Shall I call a taxi?
Mr Miller is on the phone right now.
The children are playing in the park.
Please turn right at that traffic light.

Then drill it: the [conjugation trainer, set to て-forms only](/forms?forms=te). This is the one lesson where drilling to automaticity pays for itself twenty lessons later.

練習 Practice — 9 questions

  1. Q1 directions

    Taxi: 'Please turn right at that traffic light.'

    曲 ま
    が
    る
    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D
    B 信号しんごうを右みぎへ曲まがります
  2. Q2 G1 · う

    て-form of 買かいます

    買 か
    う
    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D
    B う/つ/る → って
  3. Q3 G1 · む

    て-form of 飲のみます

    飲 の
    む
    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D
    A む/ぶ/ぬ → んで
  4. Q4 G1 · く

    て-form of 書かきます

    書 か
    く
    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D
    B く → いて
  5. Q5 exception

    て-form of行いきます— the exception

    行 い
    く
    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D
    B 行いく→行いって, NOT 行いいて
  6. Q6 G3

    て-form of来きます

    来 く
    る
    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D
    A 来くる→来きて(きて)
  7. Q7 request

    'Please wait a moment.'

    て
    く
    だ
    さ
    い
    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D
    B て-form + ください
  8. Q8 offering help

    'Shall I carry your luggage?' (offering)

    ま
    し
    ょ
    う
    か
    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D
    B ましょうか = offering to do something for someone
  9. Q9 progressive

    'Mr. Miller is making a phone call right now.'

    て
    い
    ま
    す
    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D
    B て-form + います = action in progress

解答 Answer key

  1. Q1 B 信号しんごうを右みぎへ曲まがります
  2. Q2 B う/つ/る → って
  3. Q3 A む/ぶ/ぬ → んで
  4. Q4 B く → いて
  5. Q5 B 行いく→行いって, NOT 行いいて
  6. Q6 A 来くる→来きて(きて)
  7. Q7 B て-form + ください
  8. Q8 B ましょうか = offering to do something for someone
  9. Q9 B て-form + います = action in progress