Structure
Verb［て］+ Phrase
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About Verb[て] + B
One of the common functions that the conjunction particle て has, is that it can contrast things that share some sort of relationship. This is similar to the contrastive use of は. In order to identify this nuance of て, we will need to think about whether the things being described are happening one after the other, or are simply describing '(A), and then (B)'. Let's look at some examples.
- お姉ちゃんは毎晩勉強をして弟は毎晩ゲームをしている。My older sister studies every night, and my younger brother plays games.
- 妻は買い物に行って、私はごみを捨てに行った。My wife went shopping, while I went to throw away the trash.
- タケルはご飯を食べてナオミはパンを食べる。Takeru eats rice, and Naomi eats bread.
- 朝は雨が降って夕方は晴れた。It rained this morning, and then it cleared up in the afternoon. (There is no particular emphasis on either event)
- 朝は雨が降ったけど夕方は晴れた。It rained this morning, but then it cleared up in the afternoon. (There is emphasis on that it stopped raining)
Examples
おばあさんはいつもラジオを聴いておじいさんはいつもテレビを観る。
My grandma always listens to the radio, and my grandfather always watches tv.
When parts of the sentence (clauses) that are connected with the て-form have different topics, it often implies that they are contrasted with one another. In those cases, when the contrast is strong, て can be also translated as 'but' and can be rephrased to が or けど, etc. instead.
彼女はピアノを弾けてドラムも上手に叩ける。
She can play the piano, and also she can play drums well.
雨が降って雷が鳴る。
It rains and thunders.
うちの猫はちょっと太っていて、小さくてとーってもかわいいよ。
Our cat is a bit plump and small, it's super cute!
とーっても or とっても is a colloquial form of とても. Used to give a stronger emphasis on what you are describing.
妹はカナダに行って、弟はイギリスに行った。
My younger sister went to Canada, and my younger brother went to the United Kingdom.
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The particle て
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Verb[て] + B – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (3 in total)
Lamster
No issue with the grammar point, but the hint for this example threw me off completely.
Pushindawood
@Lamster Hey! The Japanese sentence uses 弾ける, the potential form of 弾く, “to play.” The “can” in the sentence is referring to the subject’s ability to play the piano and is indicated by the verb hint at the end of the sentence ("[弾ける]").
It looks like you were trying to conjugate with the causative form (“made to play”), which would be 弾かせて and would not use the potential form and would not fit well within the context of the sentence.
Let me know if I am misunderstanding your comment. Cheers!
Lamster
Thanks, you’re right, I got is now! I was somehow under the impression that there are only plain forms of verbs in the hint parentheses, so I assumed that 引ける is the plain form of the verb.
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