Te form in Japanese

To create the te form from a dictionary form, follow these rules:

• For ru verbs, drop the final るru and add て te.
• For u verbs that end in すsu, change the final syllable to して shite.
• For u verbs that end in くku, change the final syllable to いて ite; for u verbs that end in
• ぐ gu, change the final syllable to いで ide.
• For u verbs that end in う(w)u, る ru, or つ tsu, change these final syllables to って tte.
• For u verbs that end in む mu, ぬ nu, or ぶ bu, change these final syllables to んで nde.
• Keep in mind that the verb いく iku is slightly irregular, and its te form is いって itte.
• The te forms of the irregular verbs する suru and くる kuru are して shite and きて kite.

The following table shows examples of these rules:

	Ending	Dictionary Form	Te Form
Ru verbs	-eる -eru	かえる kaeru (change)	かえて kaete
	-iる -iru	きるkiru (wear)	きて kite
U verbs	-す -su	はなす hanasu (speak)	はなして hanashite
	-く -ku	かく kaku (write)	かいて kaite
	-く -ku (exception)	いく iku (go)	いって itte
	-ぐ -gu	およぐ oyogu (swim)	およいで oyoide
	-む -mu	よむ yomu (read)	よんで yonde
	-ぬ -nu	しぬ shinu (die)	しんで shinde
	-ぶ -bu	とぶ tobu (jump)	とんで tonde
	う -(w)u	かう kau (buy)	かって katte
	-る -ru	きる kiru (cut)	きって kitte
	-つ -tsu	まつ matsu (wait)	まって matte
Irregular verbs		くる kuru (come)	きて kite
		する suru (do)	して shite

How to deduce the verb class in Japanese language

How to distinguish between ichidan (ru-verb) and godan (u-verb).

Here's a simple rule: if a verb’s dictionary form does not end in eru or iru, it is definitely an u verb. If it ends in eru or iru, it can be either a ru verb or an u verb.
Examples of u-verbs (godan) :

• 書く kaku (write) 
• 読む yomu (read) 
• 売る uru (sell) 
• とる toru (take) 
• なる naru (become) 

It is helpful to know that most eru/iru-ending verbs are ru verbs. So, you can just memorize

a handful of frequently used eru/iru-ending u verbs, such as the following:

U verbs that end with eru:

• 帰る kaeru (return)
• しゃべる shaberu (chat)
• 減る heru (decrease)
• 蹴る keru (kick)
• 滑る suberu (slide)
• 練る neru (knead)
• 照る teru (shine)

U verbs that end with iru:

• いる iru (need)
• 入る hairu (enter)
• 知る shiru (get to know)
• 切る kiru (cut)
• 走る hashiru (run)
• 参る mairu (go, honorific)
• 煎る iru (roast)
• 散る chiru (scatter)
• 混じる majiru (mix)
• 限る kagiru (limit)
• ねじる nejiru (twist)

It is also helpful to know that you can deduce the verb class if you compare the most frequently used two forms—the dictionary form and the masu form. Just remove る ru and ます masu. If what remains is exactly the same, you can conclude that it is a ru verb. Otherwise, it is an u verb. See the following example:

	Dictionary Form	masu Form
Ru verb	きる (wear)	きます
U verb	きる (cut)	きります