# 部屋を掃いてきれいにする。



## kachibi

*部屋を掃いてきれいにする。*

For this sentence, I'd like to ask:

*1) *The て, as I can see in other examples, usually appear between two actions, I think the て should be the so-called 中止形 that functions like a conjunction that bridge two meanings or introducing a reason. Am I correct?

*2) *I know the meaning of きれいにする, which should be "tidily", an adverb. But as an adverb, usually it is followed by a verb, for example:

静かに暮らしたい。

but why this time it is followed by する? I know する sometimes is preceded with a noun to act as a verb, e.g.,  旅行+_する, _but why this sentence doesn't have any? Or it is actually the adverb きれいに combines the する to function like a verb?


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## Flaminius

きれいに is not an adverb (which means an indeclinable morpheme that modifies a verb in Japanese grammar), but an adjective in the adverbial form (きれいだ > きれいに, きれいな).  Anyway, する can combine with an adjective (in the adverbial form, that is) to make a new verb.  E.g.,
ゲームをする (play a game)
ゲームを簡単にする (simplify a game)
The latter might be understood as "to play a game effortlessly" but this is a very rare interpretation.  Here we can clearly see that 簡単にする is a different verb from する.

The new verb is a transitive one, ditto your きれいにする.  Now, what unmentioned object do you think it takes to make a meaningful sentence?


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## kachibi

Thank you!

I think I got what you say about 2).

How about 1)? Am I correct?


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## Flaminius

I am not sure what you want to know in (1).  Technically, 掃いて is a テ形.  The verb would look like 掃き in what is called 連用中止形.  But this probably won't help you understand the sentence.  The form introduces a means by which the result denoted by the main verb is brought about.  Is it what you wanted to know?


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## kachibi

So if it is of て形, does that mean  掃いて and きれいにする are two separate actions and are "sticken" by the て in between? So the whole sentence simply means "wipe AND make the room tidy"?

Kindly explain it in a more simple way.


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## Flaminius

kachibi said:


> So the whole sentence simply means "wipe AND make the room tidy"?


Yes.  

Edit:
Ah, but don't use _wipe_ to translate 掃く, which means using the bloomstick on the floor.


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## graysesame

て - Wiktionary
"Particle" section might help you understand the usage/meaning of て.


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## SoLaTiDoberman

I think it means:
掃いてきれいにする
＝掃くことによってきれいにする
＝make the room clean *by means of *sweeping
= make a sweep *in order to *clean the room
= make a sweep *and* clean the room

The two actions are dependent each other.
The two actions have cause-and-effect link.
"Sweeping" is the method to make the room clean.


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## graysesame

_Te _has several meaning, including:
1. expressing cause and effect, e.g., 転んでけがをした（跌倒受傷）
2. expressing chronological order, e.g., スーパーに行って買い物する（去超市買東西）
3. connecting multiple actions, e.g., パソコンで字を打って、インターネットして、プリントアウトする（用電腦(計算機)打字、上網、列印(打印)）
I write the Chinese translation to let native Mandarin speaker understand better.


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## kachibi

Hi @graysesame ,

Why the て in your first example is a で？ Under what circumstances do we have to turn the て into で?


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## graysesame

When the dictionary form of the verb ends with ぶ, ぬ, or む. You had better go through some fundamental grammar of Japanese language.
Edit: have a look on the website whose link is provided by Flaminius. It contains more details.


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## Flaminius

Cf. How to Make Japanese Verbs て-form (te-form)? in this article.
Edit: I cannot agree more with *graysesame*'s second sentence in their last post.


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