Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
Wild Nihongo!
そして

そして

そして Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Conjunction

Essential Meaning: And / And then

Construction: 

  • Sentence 1. そして Sentence 2.
    • E.g. 食たべる。そして寝ねる。[X eats. And then X sleeps.]
  • Verb て-Form + そして + Sentence 2.
    • E.g. 食たべて、そして寝ねる。[X eats. And then X sleeps.]

Notes:

  • そして is a conjunction that is used to connect two sentences. It translates to “And” or “And then“. It is often used to enumerate actions and qualities. そして originated from そうして, but there is an important difference between the そして and そうして in modern Japanese. Namely, そして can ONLY be used as a conjunction, but そうして can be used conjunctively (i.e. “And“) OR adverbially (i.e. “In that way“).
    • E.g. そうして直なおすんですか。[Do you fix it in that way?] In this example, そうして is used adverbially. そして would be unacceptable here.
    • E.g. この道具どうぐはそうして使つかいます。[This tool is used in that way.] In this example, そうして is used adverbially again. そして would be unacceptable here.
  • そして can be replaced by or used in conjunction with the verb て-Form. However, it can sound awkward to combine そして with the て-Form because it feels redundant to have two words that both mean “And” in the same sentence.
    • E.g. 今日きょうは東京とうきょうに行いって、そして友達ともだちに会あいました。[Today I went to Tokyo, and then I met my friend.] In this example, it is redundant to have both the て-Form AND そして, but it is grammatical.

Example Sentences:

今日きょうは東京とうきょうに行いった。そして友達ともだちに会あった。[Today I went to Tokyo. And then I met my friend.]

昨日きのうは朝あさゴルフをしました。そして午後ごごはテニスをしました。[Yesterday morning I played golf. And then I played tennis in the afternoon.]

この映画えいがはつまらない。そして長ながすぎる。[This movie is boring. And it’s too long.]

この花はなはきれいです。そして安やすいです。[This flower is beautiful. And it’s inexpensive.]

WILD Examples:

At around 1:40, listen for this line: いたずら、バレエ、そしてチェス [I goof around, I do ballet, and then I play chess.] Notice that the verbs in this example have been omitted for the sake of brevity and style. This is very common in Japanese and particularly so in Japanese music. It’s clear from context what actions Rapunzel is referring to.
Listen for this line at 2:12: おしゃれな夜よるの街まち写うつしておけ、光ひかりも適当てきとうにボカしておけ、意味深いみしんに果物くだもの持もっとけ、そしてケーキを画面がめんに打ぶつけとけ [Photograph a fashionable evening street, make sure the light has proper bokeh, hold a piece of fruit that has a profound meaning, and on top of that throw a cake at your face.]

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