Conjugating te-form (て-form) verbs

Ah, the te-form of verbs. They're not that difficult to learn, if you remember the rules.
First, you should familiarize yourself with the dictionary, or short-form of verbs.

For instance, the dictionary form of かいます (kaimasu) is かう (kau).

Once you are familiar with the dictionary forms, all you need to do is determine if it is an u-verb, ru-verb, or irregular verb.

1. First, if it is a ru-verb, you simply drop the -ru ending, and add te. So, 食べる　(taberu) becomes　食べて (tabete).
2. There are two irregular verbs: する (suru)　and くる (kuru). You will simply have to memorize their conjugations, which are して　(shite) and 　きて　(kite), respectively.
3. Now the fun part. U-verbs conjugate differently, based on their last syllable.

Last syllable of verb	Example
う、つ、る	かう -> かって まつ ->　まって かえる ->　かえって
ぬ、む、ぶ	しぬ ->　しんで よむ ->　よんで あそぶ　-> あそんで
く**	かく　-> かいて
ぐ	およぐ　-> およいで
す	はなす ->　はなして

** Exception for 行く:
行く ->　いって

Wow! I realize that's a lot to digest, but once you memorize this, it gets a lot easier. At least that's what I was told. :)

So take your time, and memorize a few rules at a time. It's best to repeat the dictionary form, the present, polite form, and the te-form together.

Next time, we'll go over the uses of the te-form.