Part 3 · Joining ideas · Lesson 33

Conjunctions: the words that start sentences

A map of the connecting words at the start of a sentence, by what they do: add, order, contrast, conclude, choose, explain, change the subject and concede. With the casual and written versions side by side.

About 6 minutes to read

In an earlier lesson you saw a handful of sentence-starters. Here is the whole map. A conjunction at the start of a sentence tells you how it relates to the one before, so noticing it lets you predict what's coming.

Adding

Word	Meaning	Feel
そして	and then; and	neutral, flexible
それに	besides	adds another reason
しかも	what's more; and on top	adds surprise
さらに	furthermore	formal, writing
また	also; again	neutral

彼かれheは頭あたまheadがいい。しかもand what's moreハンサムだ

He's smart. And what's more, he's handsome.

Ordering

Word	Meaning
まず	first (of all)
次に (つぎに)	next
それから	after that
最後に (さいごに)	finally
そのあと	after that

まずfirst手てhandsを洗あらってwashください。次つぎにnext食たべてeatください

First wash your hands. Next, please eat.

Contrast

Word	Meaning	Register
でも	but	casual
しかし	however	formal, written
だが	but	written, literary
けれども / けど	but, though	spoken
ところが	but, to my surprise	unexpected turn
それなのに	even so	frustration
それでも	even so	persistence
ただし	however (a condition)	adds a caveat

勉強べんきょうしたstudied。それなのにeven so落おちたfailed

I studied. Even so, I failed.

行いくgo！ただしhowever雨あめrainが降ふらなければif it doesn'tね

I'll go, provided it doesn't rain.

Result and conclusion

Word	Meaning	Register
だから	so	casual
ですから	so	polite
それで	and so	neutral; asks "so what happened?"
そのため	for that reason	formal
したがって	therefore	formal, writing
よって	thus	very formal
すると	whereupon	narrative sequence

雨あめrainが降ふったfell。だからso家いえhomeにいたstayed

It rained, so I stayed home.

Choosing

Word	Meaning
または	or (formal)
あるいは	or, alternatively
それとも	or (in a question)
もしくは	or (in documents)

Explaining

Word	Meaning	Use
つまり	in other words	restating
たとえば	for example
なぜなら	because (it is that)	gives the reason after the claim
というのは	the reason is that	explaining
要するに	in short	summarising

彼かれheは来こないdoesn't come。なぜならbecause病気びょうきillだから

He isn't coming, because he is ill.Notice that なぜなら is paired with から at the end.

Changing the subject

Word	Meaning
ところで	by the way
さて	now then
では / じゃあ	well then
それでは	in that case

ところでby the way明日あしたtomorrowは暇ひまfreeですか

By the way, are you free tomorrow?

Conceding

Word	Meaning
もっとも	though, to be fair
とはいえ	that said
とはいうものの	even so
だとしても	even if so

Casual だって

In casual speech だって has two common uses:

"But" / "because" (making an excuse): だって、眠かったんだもん。("But I was sleepy!")
"Even": 子供だって分かる ("even a child gets it").

だってbut知しらknowなかったdidn'tもん

But I didn't know!

Reading tip

When you see a conjunction, you know before the sentence is over whether it adds, opposes, concludes or explains. Mark them as you read; they are the skeleton of an argument.

Longer sentences

Conjunctions tell you the shape of an argument. Read the three paragraphs below by following only the connectors first.

最近さいきんrecently日本語にほんごをJapanese勉強べんきょうするstudy人ひとがpeople増ふえているare increasingなぜならbecauseアニメやanime andマンガのmanga's人気にんきがpopularity世界中せかいじゅうでworldwide高たかまっているからだis rising

しかしhowever実際じっさいにactually日本語にほんごをJapanese使つかってusing話はなせるようになるbecome able to speak人ひとはpeople多おおくないaren't many

つまりin other words興味きょうみがinterestあるだけではmerely having十分じゅうぶんではsufficientないのであるis not

The number of people studying Japanese has been increasing recently. This is because the popularity of anime and manga is rising worldwide. However, the number of people who can actually use Japanese to speak is not large. In other words, interest alone is not enough.

An opinion piece in full

最近さいきんrecently、リモートワークをremote work導入どうにゅうするintroduce会社かいしゃがcompanies増ふえたincreased

しかもwhat's more、その多おおくがmany of them「通勤時間つうきんじかんが"commute timeなくなる」ことをdisappears" (that)利点りてんとしてas an advantage挙あげているcite

ところがhowever、実際じっさいにactually働はたらいてみるとwhen you try working孤独こどくをloneliness感かんじる人ひともpeople who feel少すくなくないare not few

したがってtherefore、会社かいしゃはcompanies柔軟じゅうなんなflexible働はたらき方かたをways of working認みとめるだけでなくnot only permitting社員同士しゃいんどうしのbetween employeesつながりをconnection保たもつmaintain工夫くふうもmeasures too求もとめられているare being asked

Recently, more companies have introduced remote work. What's more, many of them cite "no commute" as an advantage. However, when people actually try it, quite a few feel lonely. Therefore, companies are being asked not only to permit flexible ways of working but also to find ways to maintain connections among employees.

Key points

Conjunctions say how a sentence relates to the last one.
しかし / だが (written), でも (casual): contrast.
だから / ですから / したがって: conclusion, from casual to formal.
なぜなら goes with a final から.
だって in speech means "but" or "even".

Drill these patterns

Short example sentences for the points in this lesson: