What's new

Usage of -て form connecting statements

CatDad

後輩
8 Nov 2010
12
2
13
I've been reading "Basic Connections" lately (I'm sure many have read it or plan to) and I've read something interesting about the ーて form that conflicts with what I've learned before (or it may not, I just can't see the difference)...

In the book, the author says to link to statements with one being 'stative' and the other containing 'action, or motion' is incorrect (unless the second statement is a direct result of the first).

One example he gives of being incorrect is:
-安くて買いたい。 X
-It's cheap and I want to buy it.

This seems strange to me because I've heard statements like this being correct:
-暑くて持ってない。 O
-It's so hot that I cannot hold it.

Is it that "持ってない" is also stative (and therefore not clashing with the rule), while "買いたい" is an action?
 
Your examples are one of the usages of the -te form, "cause/reason". In this structure, the main verb should be a non-volitional verb.


安くて買いたい
買いたい is a volitional, so this is incorrect.


It's so hot that I cannot hold it.
くて持てない

The potentinal verb is a stative, so this is correct.


As you can see above, 安くて買える is correct since the potential 買える is a stative. 安いから買える might be more natural for cause/reason, though.
 
Your examples are one of the usages of the -te form, "cause/reason". In this structure, the main verb should be a non-volitional verb.
安くて買いたい
買いたい is a volitional, so this is incorrect.
It's so hot that I cannot hold it.
熱くて持てない

The potentinal verb is a stative, so this is correct.
As you can see above, 安くて買える is correct since the potential 買える is a stative. 安いから買える might be more natural for cause/reason, though.
First off, thanks for your educated response and kanji corrections! :)

So you can never use a "volitional" verb in this construction even if it shows cause and effect? I ask this because the author of this book says:
Kakuko Shoji said:
Nor can you use the te form to link two statements when one of the statements is stative and the other indicates action, motion, etc. except when the first sentence explains the direct cause for the second."
Is it that 安くて is not "perceived" as the direct cause of 買いたい? Or is it that volitional verbs in general just cannot be used for this construction?
 
Is it that 安くて is not "perceived" as the direct cause of 買いたい? Or is it that volitional verbs in general just cannot be used for this construction?

Another explanation is that the subject of 安い (>安くて) and that of 買いたい do not match.

To explain the cause, you can use ので instead of ~て in this case.
 
a "cause/reason" example for different subject clauses ;)

風が強くて歩けない。


So you can never use a "volitional" verb in this construction even if it shows cause and effect?
Yes. The writer just said that the -te form can't link stative and action/motion except when the first clause explains the direct cause for the second, i.e. "cause and effect" is just one of the necessary conditions to link stative and action. For instance, when AてB structure expresses cause and effect, it's also needed that B is naturally happened because of A, or at least, the speaker thinks so. That's why 高くて買えない is quite natural but 安くて買える sounds a bit awkward than 安いから/安いので買えない.

Is it that 安くて is not "perceived" as the direct cause of 買いたい? Or is it that volitional verbs in general just cannot be used for this construction?
It's the former. See the example below. 見つけて is never interpreted as the cause of 買いたい in this sentence.

彼女に似合う服を見つけて買いたい。
I want to find and buy matching clothes for her.


The -te form itself doesn't have any meaning, therefore the meaning of AてB completely depends on the relation between A and B. Also, there are some restrictions depending on the meaning, just like "non-volitional in cause and effect".
 
Back
Top Bottom