て-Form of i-Adjectives
We have not, however, covered i-adjectives in て-form... until NOW. *ominous music plays*
Among its many uses, the て-form can be used to connect descriptive words. Specifically, we can place multiple adjectives beside one another using the て-form.
For example, let's say that we want to say "Spider-Man is strong and cool."
"Strong" is 強い (つよい).
"Cool" (as in, "not lame") is かっこいい.
So we could say...
スパイダーマンは強くてかっこいい。
スパイダーマン は つよくて かっこいい。
Spider-Man is strong and cool.
Literally: "Spider-Man + は + strong (and) + cool."
Here, we are translating 強くて as "strong and." Depending on the situation, though, we could even translate this as "Spider-Man is cool because he's strong." More on that in this N4 lesson.
There's no need to worry about nuances and whatnot just yet, though. We'll get to them.
Instead, let's focus on the conjugation of て-form words, while recognizing that (with adjectives) the て-form is only used to connect different words, concepts, and phrases.
So, we had the word 強い (つよい). And its て-form was... 強くて (つよくて).
We removed the final い, then added くて.
This is all you need to do to change i-adjectives into て-form.
You may recall that this is very similar to how we made negative conjugations of i-adjectives.
Some i-adjectives:
うるさい（noisy; loud; annoying）
広い（ひろい // wide; spacious; big）
甘い（あまい // sweet）
美味しい（おいしい // tasty; delicious; good [tasting]）
古い（ふるい // old）
安い（やすい // cheap; affordable）
To put them in て-form, we just drop the い and add くて, giving us...
うるさくて（noisy [and]; loud [and]; annoying [and]）
広くて（ひろくて // wide [and]; spacious [and]; big [and]）
甘くて（あまくて // sweet [and]）
美味しくて（おいしくて // tasty [and]; delicious [and]; good [and]）
古くて（ふるくて // old [and]）
安くて（やすくて // cheap [and]; affordable [and]）
Not too tricky, yeah?
Let's look at these words in some sentences...
子供はうるさくて嫌い。
こども は うるさくて きらい。
I don’t like kids. They’re so loud.
Literally: “children + は + noisy (and) + disliked.”
Note: Though it ends in い, 嫌い is actually a na-adjective. We'll be seeing lots of this word in the future. Also, just for the record, I don't hate kids or anything. ^^
このキッチン広くて最高！
この キッチン ひろくて さいこう！
This kitchen is so big. It’s the best!
Literally: “this + kitchen + spacious (and) + the best!”
少し甘くて美味しい。
すこし あまくて おいしい。
It’s a little sweet. It’s good.
Literally: “a little + sweet (and) + tasty.”
ちょっと古くて安いパソコンを買った。
ちょっと ふるくて やすい パソコン を かった。
I bought a cheap, somewhat old computer.
Literally: “a little bit + old (and) + cheap + PC + を + bought.”
Note: You should know that 買った is the plain past tense of 買う (かう // to buy) because we saw this conjugation already.
That's it for this one.
I'd say that it was one of our least intimidating conjugation lessons so far. Nice and short. ^^
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