42871
I saw this sentence in a TV show

> 取り立てて話題がない

The sentence should mean there is nothing to talk about. But why are there two
てs in this sentence?

Why can't they just say:

> 取り立つ話題がない
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-25T10:47:42.643
42867
2017-01-25T13:13:32.377
2017-01-25T12:53:26.477
1628
18940
question
grammar て-form
取り立てて話題がない why are there two てs in this sentence?
取り立てて is an expression that means "in particular" or "worth mentioning".

It come from

  * 取る 
  * 立てる
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-25T10:57:22.790
42868
2017-01-25T11:05:10.660
2017-01-25T11:05:10.660
11192
11192
42867
answer
First, [立つ](http://jisho.org/word/%E7%AB%8B%E3%81%A4) is intransitive and
[立てる](http://jisho.org/word/%E7%AB%8B%E3%81%A6%E3%82%8B) is transitive,
although they are both "to stand" in English. The te-form of 立つ is 立って, and
the te-form of 立てる is 立てて. The first て of 立てて is part of the verb stem, and
the second て is for making the te-form. Two て's can appear in succession in
the te-forms of タ行 vowel-stem verbs such as 捨てる, 当てる, もてる.

As a [compound verb](http://vvlexicon.ninjal.ac.jp/en/), there is no such word
as 取り立つ at least in modern Japanese. But there is a transitive compound verb
[取り立てる](http://jisho.org/word/%E5%8F%96%E3%82%8A%E7%AB%8B%E3%81%A6%E3%82%8B),
which roughly means "to pick up something/someone as a special one." 取り立てて is
the te-form of 取り立てる. (取り立てる also means "to collect tax/debts," but this
meaning is not relevant for now.)

One of the functions of te-form is to make certain verbs adverb-like. See:
[What is the role of あるいて?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/38564/5010)

So a rather literal translation of 取り立てて would be "in a manner of picking up /
focusing on something". Practically, you should remember this as an
established word that just means "especially", "in particular", etc.

取り立つ話題がない is wrong because 取り立つ does not exist in the first place.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-25T12:46:42.117
42871
2017-01-25T13:13:32.377
2017-04-13T12:43:44.207
-1
5010
42867
answer