Resources: How to Use the Japanese Te-Form: Simple Guide with Japanese Te-Form Chart (fluentin3months.com)

What is Te form (てform) and how to conjugate it? - YouTube

Japanese present progressive. It’s called て-form because you change the verbs to end with the Japanese “te” (て) or “nde” (んで).

て-form is used to turn a verb from infinite (or dictionary) form to “-ing” form, like this:

食べる　→　食べて (taberu → tabete) “I eat” / “I will eat” → “I’m eating”

Also for imperative form we use the て-form even though it is more polite to use the て-form + ください.

Godan: る-verbs い-る or え-る

Remove る and add て

食べる → 食べて

Ichidan: う-verbs

う、つ、る → っ + て

Buy: 買う (かう) → 買って

Wait: また → まって

Take: 取る (とる) → 取って

Begin: 始める (はじめて) → 始めて

む、ぶ、ぬ → ん + で

Drink: 飲む (のむ) → 飲んで (のんで)

Play: 遊ぶ (あそぶ) → 遊んで

死ぬ (しぬ) → 死んで

く → い + て

Listen: 聞く (きく) → 聞いて

Write: ka ku (write) → ka i te

Exception:

Go: 行く (いく) → 行って

ぐ → い + で

Swim: 泳ぐ (およぐ) → 泳いで

す → し + て

Speak, talk: 話す (はなす) → 話して

Group 3: Irregular

する → して