The tense of the て form of verbs


Just a quick question on the て form, as what I am about to say isn't really
made clear by textbooks. Is the tense of a verb in て form dependent on what
follows? for example if someone was to say 教えてあげた, would the 教えて become past
tense (or completed, as at doesn't have to take place in the past)?

Thanks is advance.




In this case the tense of the verb will be taken from あげた.

あげた also tells you who did for whom. In a conversation where someone uses
教えてあげた with an implied 私は, the speaker "I told/taught" someone.

Additionally, the common counter part for あげた would be もらった. In a conversation
where someone said 教えてもらった with an implied 私は, the speaker was saying "I was
taught/told ...".

