Mnemonic Device
(sung to the tune of “Oh Christmas Tree”) Oh MI NI BI Oh MI NI BI MI NI BI to NDE! Oh I CHI RI Oh I CHI RI I CHI RI to TTE! SHI toSH*TE KI to ITE GI to IDE And SH*TE, KITE Oh MI NI BI Oh MI NI BI Now I know my TE forms!
Explanation
for Japanese verbs
- Converting Group 1 Japanese verbs to their TE form (plus the irregular SURU and KURU).
- Take your polite form verb (the MASU form) and remove the MASU.
- Then, look at the last hiragana and replace it with what the song tells you to.