Which verb form should I learn?
 

I'm a bit worried, I've been taught loads of verbs in the polite form, I went out of my way to learn a few in the dictionary form. But now I'm wanting to use -te conjugations more and I'm having problems figuring them out as I don't know all the dictionary forms.

I know the eimasu to ete trick, but that doesn't cover the i-verbs.

Is it better to learn the -masu form and the -te form? or should I only really only be learning the dictionary or root form and then figuring out all the others from there?

I've googled, but it seems to differ. some places say stick to learning the dictionary forms. Others say just learn the forms as you use them (so masu, then -te) etc.

Thanks!

It seems you haven't googled enough.

Using the te form is really simple to use.

Te form

So basically

u,tsu,ru- tte
mu, bu, nu -nde
ku-ite
gu-ide
su-shite

and iku become itte

other rules

Group 2 verbs

just drop the ru and add te

group 3 - suru - shite kuru - kite

the masu form is important

You will need to learn the dictionary form before being able to use the ～て forms comfortably. Your teacher should have explained that to you.

I assume (like many of us) that you aren't fortunate enough to have a Japanese teacher to help you out atm. I, myself, only used books and the internet to get through learning the majority of what I learned.

I would recommend you get yourself a good book/guide that will act as a good study and reference. (I liked Japanese Step-by-Step by Gene Nishi when I began). I do recommend branching out like you are doing, if just to familiarize yourself with conjugations and such. But, you need to build your basics first.

First off, the -masu and -te have different functions in a sentence all together (they can even be used together). The -masu (-mashita, -masen, -masen-deshita) adds politeness to your verbs while the -te has a variety of purposes which actually change the meaning of the sentence.

In any case, definitely learn the -masu conjugation inside and out. Learn to conjugate to it and find the base verb from it. It will be used all the time. The -te you will probably learn first is the imperative conjugation. It is more advanced and should be learned a little later.

I completely agree. I learned the ~masu form first, then the ~te form, then the ~ru (well, dictionary) form last.

Yuusuke put learning the ~te form in such a complicated way...to me, anyways; that's not what I learned at all even after I learned the dict form. After dropping the ~masu part, you get the stem of the verb:

Weak verbs: Verb stem+ te

Strong verbs, if it ends in:

i/chi/ri, drop and add tte
mi/bi/ni, drop and add nde
ki, drop and add ite
gi, drop and add ide
shi, simply add te

Irregular:

shite (to do)
kite (to come)
itte (to go)
atte (to have/exist (inanimate object))

That's why you should learn ~masu first. It's very useful when you want the stem of a verb to convert it to the dict form eventually, as well as other forms.

Thanks Scelestus,

That's what I was looking for, couldn't find a set of rules anywhere to get the stem from a masu conjugated word ready to be used for te conjugations.

ありがとう！

How did i put it in a complicated way. lol u drop the ru and add those.

it's not hard at all XD. And thats from "plain" form. Which I think you should qkno.

Masu form just flows with me. But I'm just saying. They should also qkno from plain form to ~te form, instead of just ~masu to ~te

I learned ~masu form first in my japanese class, then learned plain then ~te form So it's natural for me to hear a verb in ~masu form change it to plain and put it in ~ te form

I agree. It's always better to go with the polite form first, e.g sushi wo tabemashita instead of tabeta. When you become more familiar with the person, you can start using nonda instead of nomimashita, for example. All in good time.

You only really need to know one way. I just take the stem of the verbs for everything. I can do it fairly quickly now, so I don't actually realize that that's what I'm doing.