Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
Wild Nihongo!
それから

それから

それから Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Conjunction

Essential Meaning: After that / And then / In addition to that

Construction: 

  • Verb て-Form + それから
    • E.g. 話はなしてそれから。。。 [X speaks, and then…]
    • E.g. 食たべてそれから。。。[X eats, and then…]
  • Verb ます-Form + それから
    • E.g. 話はなしそれから。。。[X speaks, and then…]
    • E.g. 食たべそれから。。。[X eats, and then…]
  • い-Adjective stem + く(て) + それから
    • E.g. 高たかく(て)それから。。。[X is expensive, and in addition to that…]
  • な-Adjective Stem + で + それから
    • E.g. 静しずかでそれから。。。[X is quiet, and in addition to that…]
  • Sentence 1. それかれ Sentence 2.
    • E.g. 食たべる。それから, 寝ねる。[X eats. And then, X sleeps.]
  • Noun 1 (と) Noun 2 (と) + それから Noun 3
    • E.g. 英語えいご (と)日本語にほんご (と)それから中国語ちゅうごくご [English and Japanese, and in addition to that Chinese]

Notes:

  • それから is used to enumerate actions, objects, and states that occur in a temporal or physical sequence. Keep in mind that それから is a conjunction, so the verb or adjective that precedes それから does not take a conjugated tense (that job is done by the final verb).
  • それから is often used to append some item to a list (e.g. something the speaker has almost forgotten to include).
    • E.g. レストランではステーキとサラダとそれからチーズケーキを食たべました。[At the restaurant I ate steak, salad…..Oh, and then I ate cheesecake.] Because of それから, it is understood that the cheesecake was eaten later in the temporal sequence than the steak and salad.
  • それから is also used to enumerate actions in a temporal order.
    • E.g. 昨日きのうは銀座ぎんざに行いって、それから映画えいがを見みに行いった。[Yesterday I went to Ginza, and then I went to see a movie.]
  • それから can also be used to urge or elicit further information from someone.
    • E.g. A: 今日きょうはどこへ行いきましたか。B: まず東京とうきょうタワーに登のぼりました。A:それから? B: 美術館びじゅつかんに行いきました。A: それから？B: デパートに行いって食堂しょくどうで昼ひるごはんを食たべました。[A: Where did you go today? B: First, I went to the top of Tokyo Tower. A: And then? B: I went to the art museum. A: And then? B: I went to the department store and ate lunch at a cafeteria.]
  • There is a slight difference between てから and て-Form + それから in that てから is used to convey a sequence of events in which the latter event is emphasized (i.e. After X happens, Y happens). In other words, with てから the first event merely sets the stage for the more relevant second action. Verb て-Form + それから, on the other hand, is used to enumerate a list of actions and emphasizes the sequence itself.
    • E.g. 山中やまなかさんは三時間さんじかんゴルフをしてから、一時間いちじかん泳およいだ。 [After golfing for three hours, Mr. Yamanaka swam for 1 hour.] In this example, the emphasis is clearly placed on the act of swimming, and golfing merely sets the stage.
    • E.g. 山中やまなかさんは三時間さんじかんゴルフをして、それから一時間いちじかん泳およいだ。[Mr Yamanaka went golfing for three hours. And on top of that, he went swimming for 1 hour.] In this example, the emphasis is placed on the fact that golfing and swimming occur sequentially.
  • When それから is used to enumerate actions (i.e. with verbs), it is very similar in meaning to し. One subtle difference is that し implies that there are further unstated actions in addition to the stated actions (i.e. the listing is in-exhaustive). それから does not have such an implication.
    • E.g. 今日きょうはテニスをして、それから映画えいがも見みた。[Today I played tennis, and then I saw a movie.]
    • E.g. 今日きょうはテニスもしたし、映画えいがも見みた。[Today I played tennis (among other things), and on top of that I saw a movie.] し implies that the speaker’s list of action is in-exhaustive, and that the speaker did other things today besides playing tennis and seeing a movie.
  • When two actions are sequential (i.e. they do not occur simultaneously), それから and そして are interchangeable. However unlike それから, そして CAN be used to express simultaneous actions.
    • E.g. 音楽おんがくを聴きいて、そして勉強べんきょうするのが好すきだ。[I like listening to music and then studying. / I like listening to music while studying.] With そして, whether this sentence describes simultaneous or sequential action depends on context.
    • E.g. 音楽おんがくを聴きいて、それから勉強べんきょうするのが好すきだ。[I like listening to music and then studying.] With それから, this sentence can only be interpreted as a set of sequential action.

Example Sentences:

昨日きょうは二時間にじかんぐらい友達ともだちと飲のんでそれからうちに帰かえった。[Yesterday I drank with my friends for about 2 hours, and then I went home.]

昨日きのうは二時間にじかんぐらい友達ともだちと飲のんだ。それから本屋ほんやに寄よってうちに帰かえった。[Yesterday I drank with my friends for about 2 hours. After that I took a pitstop at a bookstore, and then I went home.]

十時じゅうじまで宿題しゅくだいをしました。それから映画えいがに行いきました。[I did homework until 10. After that, I went to the movies.]

昨日きのうは銀座ぎんざに行いって、それから映画えいがを見みに行いった。[Yesterday I went to Ginza, and then I went to see a movie.]

レストランではステーキとサラダとそれからチーズケーキを食たべました。[At the restaurant I ate steak, salad…..Oh, and then I ate cheesecake.]

湖みずうみの色いろは初はじめは青あおく、それから緑みどりになりました。[The lake’s color was blue at first. After that, it turned green.]

月曜げつよう、火曜かよう、それから木曜もくようもとても忙いそがしいです。[On Monday, Tuesday, as well as Thursday, I’m very busy.]

WILD Examples:

At around 1:38, listen for this line: 昼間ひるまはパズルにダーツにおやつ、いたずらバレエそしてチェス、焼やき物ものそれからキャンドル作づくり [In the living room, I eat snacks while I build puzzles and play darts. Then I goof around, do ballet, and then play chess. Then I do pottery, and on top of all that I make candles.] In this example, Rapunzel is reciting a long list of activities she does to occupy herself in her tower. And then she appends an item to the end of the list using それから.

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