Te form standing alone

Question

If て form is used alone what can it mean? from what I've found on my own it can be a request similar to てください as well as a direct command, but are there other ways to use it alone besides to link two verbs together? The reason I ask this is I saw the phrase "おそくなってすみません". I know It says sorry I'm late due to the fact that おそくなって is the て form of to be late but I'm confused as to why the て form was used here.

Sorry if the answer is obvious here and thank you for any assistance

Adding on this comment, how does the て form work with ばかりin a sentence like 彼女は一日中泣いてばかりだ? — Joe, Apr 22 '15 at 19:38

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 22 '15 at 17:55

2

In this case, the 〜て form is just acting as "and" to connect separate clauses.

昨日、買い物にいって、たこ焼きを食べて、[阪神]{はん・しん}タイガースの試合をみました。　→　Yesterday I went shopping, (and) ate takoyaki, and watched the Tigers game.

おそくなってすみません。　→　I was late (and) I'm sorry.

answered Apr 22 '15 at 17:55

istrasci

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So then て form can be used as another type of and? similar to the と particle but used with verbs and it can connect other things besides just two verbs together? – Nate Apr 22 '15 at 18:41
Refer to this post: The many ways to say “and” in Japanese. – istrasci Apr 22 '15 at 18:56

Te form standing alone

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