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I understand that the phrase ごめん、待たせてしまって! means "I am sorry (and regret) that
I made you wait". This statement does not look like a request. Why is a て form
and not past form た used here?
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2017-05-06T20:19:39.187
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2017-05-07T18:17:50.417
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question
syntax て-form
What is て form at the end of sentences when it is not a request
This seems to be simply a colloquial rearranging of the usual "grammatical"
order

> 待たせてしまってごめん（ね・なさい）

(see [How do you say thank you for or sorry
for?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/12529/1628))

This happens all the time. Parts of the sentence are left out and put in after
the more relevant parts have been said. For illustrative purposes one might
take a very simple sentence りんご（を）食べたよ and rearrange it to 食べたよ、りんご.

> りんご食べたよ  
>  食べたよ、りんご
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2017-05-06T20:30:42.137
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2017-05-06T20:30:42.137
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answer
First, the て form here is the conjunctive form. As in "I made you wait so...".
This is sort of an inverted sentence. Like if you said "This is really
good...this pizza," instead of "this pizza's really good.

The 待た is not actually past tense, its 待つ in causative form. The つ becomes た
and せる is added, so the word is actually 待たせる. Then, in this example, しまう in て
form is also added on so you get 待たせしまって .

The causative form of verbs makes the verb mean "to make" or "to let" someone
do that verb. You can read more about them at the link below.

<http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/causepass>
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2017-05-07T06:31:06.270
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answer