Japanese Sentence Connector

Cheat Sheet

と そして
and and; used for listing things; used for sequential
connects nouns (and only nouns) actions

ケンジと私は友達です。 そして has more uses than また

Kenji and I are friends. The following use is the same as また.
お金と自由が欲しい。
ラーメンが好きです。そしてすしも好きです。
I want money and freedom.
I like ramen. And I also like sushi.
It’s a very common mistake to try to connect
You can describe a series of actions.
sentences with と. You can only connect nouns with と.
You can’t use it like “and” in English as in “I went 家に帰った。そして寝た。
shopping. And I bought food.” I went home. And then I went to bed.

そして is quite formal. It’s not very common in spoken

～て、で Japanese. When you describe a series of actions, it
sounds more natural to use the te-form or で.
connects a series of verbs and adjectives
家に帰って寝た。
This is the most common way of connecting verbs and
I went home and went to bed.
adjectives.
家に帰った。で、寝た。
家に帰って寝た。
I went home. And then I went to bed.
I went home and went to sleep.
家に帰った。で、寝た。
I went home. And I went to sleep.
それから
スズキさんは若くてかわいいです。 and then; used for a series of immediate actions
Suzuki-san is young and cute. 家に帰った。それから寝た。
スズキさんは若いです。で、かわいいです。 I went home. And then I went to bed.
Suzuki-san is young. And she’s cute.
One of the differences between そして and それから is
that with you don’t usually use それから for actions
また、 あと where the second action is part of the first action.
and; used for listing things The following sentence uses そして because コーヒを飲ん
あと is more colloquial than また だ is part of the action of going to a cafe.

ラーメンが好きです。あと、すしも好きです。 カフェに行った。そしてコーヒを飲んだ。
I like ramen. And, I like sushi. I went to a cafe. Then I drank coffee.
スズキさんは若いです。あと、かわいいです。
Suzuki-san is young. And, she’s cute.
It’s more common to use それから for something that is
not part of the first action and also happens
しかし
immediately after the first action. but
カフェに行った。それからレストランに行った しかし is similar to でも. しかし is more formal and less
I went to a cafe. And then I went to a used in daily coversation.
restaurant.
お金がない。しかし日本に行きたい。
I don’t have money. But I want to go to
か Japan.

or; whether or not しかし can be used as an exclamation.

お金か自由が欲しい。 しかし高いビルだなぁ。
I want money or freedom. It’s such a tall building..
山かビーチに行きたい。
I want to go to a beach or mountain けれど、けど
行くかいかないか決めてください。
Please decide whether you go or not. but
行きたいか行きたくないか分からない。 (unlike でも, you can use けれど to connect two
I don’t know whether I want to go or not. sentences.)
けど is more colloquial than けれど
や お金がないけど日本に行きたい。
and; or; things like; used for listing things I don’t have money but I want to go to Japan.

山や海に行きたいです。 You can also use けど at the beginning of a sentence.

I want to go to places like a mountain or the 日本に行きたいの？けどお金ないんじゃない？
sea.
Do you want to go to Japan? But you don’t
If you say 山か海, it means you want to go to either of have money, right?
them.
山か海に行きたいです。 から
I want to go to a mountain or the sea.
because

でも Unlike the English word “because,” the reason always

comes first before the conclusion.
but 日本に行きたいからお金を貯めます。
(used at the beginning of a sentence.) I will save money because I want to go to
Japan.
お金ないです。でも日本に行きたいです。
I don’t have money. But I want to go to With nouns and na-adjective, use だから
Japan. 雨だから遅刻しました。
日本に行きたいの？でもお金ないんじゃない。 I was late because of the rain.
Do you want to go to Japan? But you don’t
have money, right?
 With nouns and na-adjective, use だったら
ので、んで 雨だったら行きません。
because If it’s raining, I won’t go.

んで is more colloquial than ので

なら、ならば、んだったら
日本に行きたいんでお金を貯めます。
I will save money because I want to go to if; with なら, you can take an action based on the
Japan. assumption that something will happen

With nouns and na-adjectives, use なので んだったら is more colloquial than なら
雨なんで遅刻しました。 雨が降るなら行きません。
I was late because of the rain. If it's going to rain, I won’t go. (If the weather
forecast says it will rain, I won’t go.)
The difference between から and ので is a huge topic
ならば emphasises なら
and there’s a lot of debate about this. The standard
explanation is から emphasise subjective experiences 雨が降るならば行きません。

and ので emphasises objective experience. Also から If it's going to rain, I won’t go.
is a colloquial expression while ので can be both be
used in spoken and written contexts. However, a lot Difference between なら（んだった
of Japanese people use them interchangeably. ら）and たら
With “A たら B,” A has to happen first in order for B to
それで happen.

then; that’s why; so With the following sentence with から, you need to
check if it’s raining first before deciding whether you
雨だった。それで遅刻した。
will go or not.
It was raining. So I was late.
雨が降ったら行きません。
日本に行きたかったんですよ。それでお金を貯めました。でも足り
ませんでした。 If it rains, I won’t go.
I wanted to go to Japan. So I saved money. But But with “A なら/だったら B,” B can happen before A
it wasn’t enough. actually happens. In the following sentence, maybe
お金貯めたの？それで？ you check the weather forecast and if it says it’s going
You saved money? And then? (What to rain, you won’t go.
happened? What did you do?)
雨が降るなら行きません。
If it’s going to rain, I won’t go.
たら、だったら
if ば
たら is often used to describe sequential events: if if
something happens, then something else will happen.
ば is similar to たら: if A happens, then B happens. ば is
雨が降ったら行きません。 commonly used for general rules or something that
If it rains, I won’t go. happens repeatedly.
寒かったら行きません。 先生が来れば授業が始まります。
If it’s cold, I won’t go. When the teacher comes, the class will start.
仕事が終わったら帰りましょう。 雨が降れば渋滞になります。
Let’s go home when the work is done. When it trains, there’s traffic.
と こと、の
nominalising suffix
if
こと can turn a sentence into a noun. This is called
と is also similar to ば: if A happens then B happens. と
“nominalisation”.
is commonly used for general rules.
冬になると寒くなります。
In the following sentences, you can treat “明日雨が降
る” like a noun.
When it’s winter, it becomes cold.
日曜日だとお店が閉まっています。 明日雨が降ること知ってる？
If it’s Sunday, the shop is closed. Do you know that it’ll rain tomorrow?

の is more colloquial than こと

もしも、もし 明日雨が降るの知ってる？
used with たら or なら; emphasises a hypothetical Do you know that it’ll rain tomorrow?
situation 一人で映画をみるのが好き。
I like watching films alone.
もし is more colloquial than もしも
もし雨が降ったら行きません。
If it rains, I won’t go.
ながら
You can’t use もし for something that will happen with while; during
certainty. For example, you don’t say もし地球が丸かっ テレビを見ながらラーメンを食べた。
たら (if the earth is round) because it’s a fact that the I ate ramen while watching TV.
earth is round. On the other hand, if you are a flat 話しながら歩こう。
earther and doubt that the earth is round, you may Let’s walk and talk.
use もし.
The following example implies that there might not be
tomorrow. If the world is on the verge of a nuclear
war, maybe you can say:
もし明日が来たらすべてを許そう。
If ever tomorrow comes, I’ll forgive
everything. (There might not be tomorrow.)