Sentences ending in て


While in Japan I came across the Kinokuniya mega bookshop, which I fell in
love with. I went to one of the top floors, started browsing the Japanese
learning books, and found a couple focused on listening and speaking, two of
my weakest points, and completely in Japanese, which is another plus. In
general they're not too difficult, as I got the ones most suited to my level,
but now and then I come across certain things I haven't seen before. One of
them is sentences ending in て

An example, from a listening exercise (dialogue between two international
students and their host, before going back to their country.)

  * 山川：本当？うれしい、ありがとう。
  * リー：来るとき、 **連絡してね**

Another example:

  * リー：ねえ、覚えてる？去年の４月、私が初めて日本へ来た時、山川さんに空港までむかえにきてもらったね。
  * 山川：もちろん覚えてるよ。リーさん、こんなに大きなかばんを２つも **持って** 。 
  * リー：そうそう。一人で運べないから、山川さんに手伝って **もらって** 。本当に助かった。

I have also found examples of it on a Shin Chan volume I'm reading, for
example:

  * おやつ食べたら体温計 **持ってきて**

So, what's the purpose of finishing verbs in て at the end of the sentence?

EDIT: I understand the て (order) from the first conversation and the Shin Chan
extract. Only the second one is left, which from context I understand is not
an order.




In your examples, the 〜て form of the verb is to make it a command.

I'm not sure if you've already come across this grammar point before, but to
turn a verb into its command form, you convert the verb into the 〜て form and
add ください after it.

For example, 持つ (to hold) → 持って下さい (please hold ~)

In casual conversation, it's common to remove the ください, and simply leave the
verb in the 〜て form.

Your first example would translate to something like:

山川: Really? I'm glad, thanks!

りー: When you come, contact me!

EDIT: I should probably note that while I call this the command form, this is
a polite way of making requests (Removing ください will make the request less
polite). There is a verb form known as 命令形 which is a much more direct (more
impolite) way of commanding someone compared to the 〜て form.

ーーーーーーー

EDIT 2: (EXPLAINING THE SECOND CONVERSATION)

I'm not entirely sure if this is correct, but I would assume that the 〜て form
for 持って is a shortened version of 持ってる。

So the conversation goes something along the lines of...

リー: Heey, do you remember? Last April when I first came to Japan, Yamakawa-san
came to pick me up from the airport, right?

山川: Of course I remember! Rii-san, you're holding two bags THIS big!?

リー: Yeah, yeah. I can't carry it all by myself, so could you help me? You've
been very helpful!

