Reasons and contrast

A run of true sentences is not a paragraph, and the difference is made almost entirely by the handful of connectives in this lesson. Everything here attaches to the plain form built in the first lesson, so the grammar is already paid for; the work is in choosing between connectives that translate into the same English word and are not interchangeable in Japanese.

から, the plain reason

から is the basic word for "because", and it is the one to reach for when you are unsure. It goes on the end of the reason, and the reason comes first.

今日きょうは日曜日にちようびだから、銀行ぎんこうは休やすみだ kyou wa nichiyoubi da kara, ginkou wa yasumi da today is Sunday, so the bank is closed

から is unusual among these connectives in that it attaches happily to either register. 日曜日にちようびだから and 日曜日にちようびですから are both fine, and in polite speech you will hear both, since から does not care what is underneath it. Nouns and な adjectives take だ before it, which is worth flagging because the next connective takes な instead.

It also works in reverse order, as an afterthought, and on its own as an answer.

どうして行いかないんですか。 お金おかねがないからです。 doushite ikanai n desu ka. okane ga nai kara desu. why aren't you going? because I have no money.

からです is the standard way to answer a どうして question in full, and it is where the んです of two lessons ago and the から of this one meet: the question asks for an account of a situation, and the answer supplies one.

ので, and what makes it softer

ので covers the same ground and feels different. Two mechanical facts first, because they are what people get wrong. It attaches to the plain form, and nouns and な adjectives take な rather than だ: 学生がくせいなので, 静しずかなので. That な is the same one as in 学生がくせいなんです, and for the same reason.

頭あたまが痛いたいので、早はやく帰かえってもいいですか atama ga itai node, hayaku kaette mo ii desu ka I have a headache, so may I go home early?

Now the difference, which is real but softer than most textbooks make it. から presents the reason as the speaker's own claim: I am telling you why. ので presents it as a circumstance that happens to obtain, leaving the speaker less visible. The consequence is that ので sounds more deferential, so it is the safer choice when you are asking a favour, apologising, or explaining yourself to someone senior. Compare the headache sentence with 頭あたまが痛いたいから帰かえります, which is closer to "I've got a headache, I'm off".

The limits worth knowing. When the reason is unmistakably a personal judgement rather than a circumstance, から is preferred: この映画えいがは面白おもしろいから見みてください. When the sentence ends on the reason, only からです works, since のでです does not exist. And in very polite speech ので does attach to the polite form after all, as ですので and ますので, which is common in announcements: 工事こうじ中ちゅうですので、ご注意ちゅういください. Anyone who tells you ので never follows です has overstated a good rule.

For written and formal Japanese there is also ため and ためです, which is the newspaper and notice register of the same idea: 事故じこのため、電車でんしゃが遅おくれています. Recognise it; you rarely need to produce it.

Example. You are asking your professor to let you hand an essay in late because you were ill. Which connective, and why?

ので, giving 病気びょうきだったので、レポートを明日あした出だしてもいいでしょうか. Two reasons converge. The main clause is a request, and a request to a superior wants the reason presented as circumstance rather than as your own case-making. And 病気びょうき is a noun, so it takes な before ので, giving 病気びょうきなので in the present, or だった for the past as here. 病気びょうきだったから would not be wrong, exactly, but it puts your reason forward as an argument, which is the wrong posture for asking a favour.

Now you. Give the reason "the train was late" for the result "I was late", once with から to a friend and once with ので to your manager.

し, for stacking reasons

し lists reasons, and it carries an implication that there are others you have not bothered to give. It attaches to the plain form, and it usually appears at least twice.

この店みせは安やすいし、おいしいし、よく行いきます kono mise wa yasui shi, oishii shi, yoku ikimasu this place is cheap, and the food's good, so I go there a lot

雨あめが降ふっているし、寒さむいし、今日きょうは出でかけたくない ame ga futte iru shi, samui shi, kyou wa dekaketaku nai it's raining, and it's cold, so I don't want to go out today

The difference from て, which also joins clauses, is that て merely sequences them while し presents each as evidence for the conclusion. The difference from から is the open-endedness: a single し at the end of a sentence, trailing off, means "and there are other reasons too", which is a very common softener. 今日きょうはちょっと。 忙いそがしいし。 "Not today. I'm busy, among other things."

A single reason with し is not a mistake, and it is heard often. What it is not is a neutral way to give one reason: 安やすいし買かった implies that cheapness was one consideration among several.

が and けど, the turn that is not always a turn

が and けど both mean "but", and both attach to whatever precedes them without changing it, polite or plain. が is the formal and written member, けど the conversational one, with けれど and けれども sitting between them in formality and length.

この本ほんは高たかいですけど、いいと思おもいます kono hon wa takai desu kedo, ii to omoimasu this book is expensive, but I think it's good

The trap is that neither word necessarily marks a contrast. Very often が and けど are pure prefaces, buying a moment and setting the scene, in the way that English "so" and "well" do. すみませんが、今いま時間じかんがありますか contains no contrast at all: it means "excuse me, do you have a moment?". Translating that が as "but" produces gibberish, and the habit of doing so is what makes intermediate translations read strangely.

The same construction lets a sentence trail off deliberately. あのう、電話でんわしたいんですけど…, "um, I'd like to make a phone call...", is a complete and highly idiomatic request. Japanese leaves the actual asking unsaid, and the listener supplies it. If you learn one thing from this section, learn to stop after けど and wait.

Example. A colleague asks why you always go to that one café. Give two reasons and imply there are others.

駅えきから近ちかいし、静しずかだし、よく行いきます. Both reasons attach to the plain form, which is why the な adjective appears as 静しずかだ before し rather than as 静しずかな. The two し are what make this an answer rather than a list: each clause is offered as support, and the fact that there are two of them tells the listener you could go on. Giving a single reason with から would have answered the question more narrowly, which is sometimes what you want and here is not.

Now you. You want a table for tomorrow evening. Make the request indirectly, using けど and stopping.

のに, and the complaint built into it

のに also means "but" or "although", and it is not a synonym for が. のに says that what followed was contrary to what should reasonably have happened, and it carries the speaker's dissatisfaction, surprise or regret. It attaches to the plain form, with な after nouns and な adjectives.

薬くすりを飲のんだのに、熱ねつが下さがらない kusuri o nonda noni, netsu ga sagaranai I took the medicine, and yet my temperature won't come down

毎日まいにち練習れんしゅうしたのに、試合しあいに負まけた mainichi renshuu shita noni, shiai ni maketa I practised every day, and still lost the match

Because the emotion is built in, のに can end a sentence on its own and leave the rest to be inferred: せっかく作つくったのに…, "and after I went to the trouble of making it...". This is a complaint, and it will be heard as one, so do not use のに where you merely mean が.

There is a hard grammatical restriction that follows from the same fact. The main clause of a のに sentence must state something that happened. It cannot be a request, a command, an invitation or a statement of intention, because those are not things that can already have turned out contrary to expectation. 高たかいのに買かってください is not Japanese. 高たかいですが買かってください is fine.

ても, for the condition that does not help

ても is built from the て form plus も, and it covers both "even if" and "even though". Where のに reports something that actually happened, ても is general or hypothetical.

雨あめが降ふっても、行いきます ame ga futte mo, ikimasu I'll go even if it rains

Adjectives use くても, and nouns and な adjectives use でも: 高たかくても買かいます, I'll buy it even if it's expensive; 日曜日にちようびでも働はたらきます, I work even on Sundays. That でも is the same one you meet as a standalone word meaning "even" and "or something", and the overlap is not a coincidence.

Combined with a question word, ても gives "no matter what", which is one of the highest-value patterns in this lesson.

何なにを言いっても、彼かれは聞きかない nani o itte mo, kare wa kikanai no matter what I say, he doesn't listen

いくら高たかくても買かいます ikura takakute mo kaimasu however expensive it is, I'll buy it

Unlike のに, ても is perfectly comfortable with a request or a command in the main clause, because nothing has happened yet: 雨あめが降ふっても来きてください.

Which connective tolerates a request

The restrictions above are not arbitrary, and they line up into a small grid worth committing to memory, because it catches most of the errors a B1 speaker still makes. The question in each case is whether the second clause may be a request, a command, an invitation or a statement of will.

Only のに is barred, and the reason is semantic rather than a rule to memorise: everything else in the list is compatible with the future being open.

Example. Which of のに and ても fits: 日本にほんに三年さんねん住すんでいた＿、あまり話はなせない?

のに. The three years are a fact, they have already happened, and the speaker is expressing that the outcome is worse than it should have been, which is exactly what のに is for. 住すんでいても would shift the sentence into the general and hypothetical, closer to "even if you live there three years, you don't necessarily learn to speak", which is a claim about people in general rather than a complaint about oneself. Both are grammatical; they say different things.

Now you. Choose between のに and ても for each, and say why. (1) 約束やくそくした＿、来こなかった. (2) 明日あした雨あめが降ふっ＿、試合しあいをします.

Vocabulary

Reasons say why something did happen and contrasts say why it did not stop happening. Neither of them can talk about what would happen under conditions that have not arisen. Japanese splits that job four separate ways, and choosing between them is the next lesson.