から (Reason / Cause)

から (Reason / Cause) Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Conjunction

Essential Meaning: Because / Since

Construction: 

• Sentence 1 informal + から, Sentence 2
  • E.g. 眠ねむいから、寝ねる。[Because I’m sleepy, I will sleep.]

• Sentence + から + だ
  • E.g. 眠ねむいからだ。[It’s because I’m sleepy.]

Notes:

• から (Reason / Cause) works similarly to the English subordinating conjunction “Because“. It is used to construct sentences such as “Because of X, Y” or “A: Why Y? B: Because X“. In other words, Sentence 1 indicates a reason or cause for the situation in Sentence 2. Note that the から clause always precedes the main clause.

• Because the から clause is a subordinate clause, its verb generally takes an informal form. But in very formal speech, it is acceptable to use a formal form.
  • E.g. 今日きょうは忙いそがしいですから明日あした来きてください。[Because I’m busy today, please come tomorrow.]

• The main clause (i.e. Sentence 2) may be omitted and replaced with the copula だ if its content is obvious or known to the hearer through context. One common situation when Sentence 2 may be dropped is when answering a “Why?” question, because it would be unnecessary and redundant to repeat the question back to the asker. The copula must match the formality level of Sentence 1.
  • E.g. 来年らいねん日本にほんへ行いきますからだ。[It’s because I’m going to Japan next year.] This sentence is ungrammatical, because the verb 行いきます is in a formal form, and the copula だ is in an informal form.
  • E.g. 来年らいねん日本にほんへ行いくからだ。[It’s because I’m going to Japan next year.] This sentence is OK because 行いく is informal and だ is informal.

• In question-answer situations, the expression may be further abbreviated by dropping the copula altogether.
  • E.g. 来年らいねん日本にほんへ行いきますから。[Because I’m going to Japan next year.]
  • E.g. 頭あたまが痛いたかったから。[Because my head hurt.]

• In very formal situations or when formally explaining matters of fact, you can say からです instead of ですから. But in regular conversation, ですから can come across as overly proper or even condescending. It’s kind of like saying “Duh” or “You might not know, but let me tell you…“; it basically assumes that the hearer is ignorant of the topic.
  • E.g. *日本にほんが大だい好すきだからです。[I quite enjoy Japan.] This example is not ungrammatical, but it sounds overly prim and proper due to からです.
  • E.g. この人ひとは暗殺あんさつされました。嫌きらわれていたからです。[This person was assassinated. It’s because he was disliked.] It is acceptable to use からです in this case because the speaker is merely relaying a fact. Facts don’t necessarily require a soft, conversational tone.
  • E.g. 休日きゅうじつですから。[Because it’s a holiday.] This example sounds normal and conversational.
  • E.g. *休日きゅうじつだからです。[You may not know this, but it’s because it’s a holiday.] This example is a bit offensive because the speaker is assuming that the hearer doesn’t know it’s a holiday and is condescendingly explaining this fact to the hearer.
  • E.g. 田中たなかくんはモテるですね。かっこいですから。[Tanaka-kun is popular, isn’t he? It’s because he’s cool.] This example sounds natural.
  • E.g. *田中たなかくんはモテるですね。かっこいからです。[Tanaka-kun is popular, isn’t he? You may not know this, but it’s because he’s cool.] This comes across as condescending due to からです.

Example Sentences:

来年らいねん日本にほんへ行いくから日本語にほんごを勉強べんきょうしている。[Because I’m going to Japan next year, I’m studying Japanese.]

A: どうして日本語にほんごを勉強べんきょうしているんですか。B: 来年らいねん日本にほんへ行いくからだ。[A: Why are you studying Japanese? B: Because I’m going to Japan next year.]

春子はるこは１７だからまだお酒さけを飲のめない。[Because Haruko is 17, she can’t drink yet.]

今日きょうは忙いそがしいですから明日あした来きてください。[Because I’m busy today, please come tomorrow.]

A: どうして昨日きのう学校がっこうを休やすんだんですか。B: 頭あたまが痛いたかったからです。[A: Why were you absent from school yesterday? B: Because my head hurt.]

WILD Examples:

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