「て」 form confusion/clearing up

barabaraboop · 13 Jan 2018

In Genki 1 (2nd Edition) Lesson 6. It introduces the 「て」 form and a couple of its uses. One of its uses was 'Describing Two Activities'

The example given is:
教科書を忘れて、すみません。

So with an exercise below, the task was to use the 「て」 form, specifically 「～てもいいですか」in certain scenarios.

The question was "You have forgotten your homework. You are sure you can bring it in tomorrow."
So my attempt at it was:
宿題を忘れて、明日持ってきてもいいですか？

But, my problem is, I've heard people using 「忘れた」
So I don't understand what would be the difference if you replaced 「忘れて」with「忘れた」. Do they provide the same meaning or are the two totally different?

Toritoribe · 13 Jan 2018

It's impossible to say it just only with the -te form. Notice that you also learned other forms/expressions in the lesson. You need to explain the reason why you can't turn in your homework today first (and you need to use 忘れた, not 忘れて, in that expression), and then ask if it's OK to bring it tomorrow (you did correctly this part). Try again.

barabaraboop · 13 Jan 2018

Toritoribe said:
It's impossible to say it just only with the -te form. Notice that you also learned other forms/expressions in the lesson. You need to explain the reason why you can't turn in your homework today first (and you need to use 忘れた, not 忘れて, in that expression), and then ask if it's OK to bring it tomorrow (you did correctly this part). Try again.

Thank you very much for your response and clearing up my attempt. I appreciate the help.
So from what I understand, the example given at the beginning with 「教科書を忘れて、すみません。」
the 「忘れて」 can be used in this case because its describing a sequence of events.

And because in my attempt, as you mentioned, since I had to explain the reason I can't turn in my homework, 忘れて would not make sense because it is not a sequencing of events but an explanation.

(I apologize if I'm just repeating your explanation. I just wanted to reassure and clear up any misunderstanding that I may be concerned about)

Is this a correct analogy?

Toritoribe · 13 Jan 2018

The basic function of the -te form is to connect two clauses in the temporal order. However, it can have many functions, for instance, cause/reason of the main clause, the means of the main clause or adversative conjunction. The meaning differs depending on the relation between the two clauses. The key is that the relation must be clear to use the -te form in any cases. The reason why 忘れて can't express the cause/reason of the following clause 明日持ってきてもいいですか is because the relation is unclear. (Incidentally, 宿題を忘れて、明日持ってきてもいいですか sounds like as if you are asking if it's OK tomorrow you will forget your homework and bring it, i.e., the construction of the sentence is [宿題を忘れて、明日持ってきて]もいいですか.)

As for the function of the -te form 忘れて, read more carefully the textbook. It explains In the second example (= 教科書を忘れて、すみません。), the te-form describes the situation for which the apology is made.

Again, you need to use another expression you learned in the lesson to explain the reason.

Mike Cash · 13 Jan 2018

Think of it as roughly analogous to an audible comma.

The て form is sometimes referred to as "contintuitive tense (or form)" as there is always something following afterwards which is connected. Japanese being what it is, though, the following part isn't always necessarily explicitly stated if it may be inferred by context.

barabaraboop · 13 Jan 2018

Thank you both for clearing up the confusion. I actually understand it now a lot better. Thank you again.

Toritoribe · 13 Jan 2018

Can you show us your final answer to the question "You have forgotten your homework. You are sure you can bring it in tomorrow."?

barabaraboop · 13 Jan 2018

Oh, I thought this was already solved. Pardon my misunderstanding.
Wouldn't "You have forgotten your homework. You are sure you can bring it in tomorrow." with the use of 「～てもいいですか」be as followed

宿題を忘れた。明日持ってきてもいいですか？

As for a scenario where I am free to use any expression, I think I would use this to describe the scenario.

明日宿題を持ってきます。今日忘れたから。

Please feel free to correct me over and over until I get this right.

Mike Cash · 13 Jan 2018

You are sure? Or you aren't sure?

Asking a question seems a silly thing to do when one is sure.

barabaraboop · 13 Jan 2018

Mike Cash said:
You are sure? Or you aren't sure?

Asking a question seems a silly thing to do when one is sure.

I do apologize if its rather odd, but I'm quoting it from the book. I can confirm it says 'You are sure you can bring it in tomorrow'

Toritoribe · 13 Jan 2018

barabaraboop said:
Oh, I thought this was already solved. Pardon my misunderstanding.
Wouldn't "You have forgotten your homework. You are sure you can bring it in tomorrow." with the use of 「～てもいいですか」be as followed

宿題を忘れた。明日持ってきてもいいですか？

As for a scenario where I am free to use any expression, I think I would use this to describe the scenario.

明日宿題を持ってきます。今日忘れたから。

Please feel free to correct me over and over until I get this right.

Yes, you got it. The only mistake I have to point out is that 忘れた is not polite.

barabaraboop · 13 Jan 2018

Toritoribe said:
Yes, you got it. The only mistake I have to point out is that 忘れた is not polite.

Thank you very much
I have corrected it in my notes/workbook as 「忘れました」

Toritoribe · 13 Jan 2018

Incidentally, non-polite form(= short form) is acceptable for the construction 宿題を忘れたから、明日持ってきてもいいですか. You will learn this in the lesson 9.

Mike Cash · 13 Jan 2018

barabaraboop said:
I do apologize if its rather odd, but I'm quoting it from the book. I can confirm it says 'You are sure you can bring it in tomorrow'

Come to think of it, asking if you may bring it in is a perfectly fine way of indicating you can bring it in.

barabaraboop · 13 Jan 2018

Toritoribe said:
Incidentally, non-polite form(= short form) is acceptable for the construction 宿題を忘れたから、明日持ってきてもいいですか. You will learn this in the lesson 9.

I understand. Looking forward to learning more. Thanks again for your help.

barabaraboop · 13 Jan 2018

Mike Cash said:
Come to think of it, asking if you may bring it in is a perfectly fine way of indicating you can bring it in.

Thanks for the reassurance. I appreciate your thoughts on it.

「て」 form confusion/clearing up

barabaraboop

後輩

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

barabaraboop

後輩

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

barabaraboop

後輩

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

barabaraboop

後輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

barabaraboop

後輩

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

barabaraboop

後輩

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

barabaraboop

後輩

barabaraboop

後輩

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