13) Compound Sentences [Part 2]
In the last post, we talked about a few of the many conjunctions that you can simply stick in between clauses in order to make compound sentences. Now let’s talk about the other way that you can make a compound sentence.
Here is your vocabulary:
【Changing the Verb】
Remember that there are 3 ways to end the comment section of a Japanese sentence:
with a verb
with an adjective
with a noun-copula bundle
It turns out that verbs, adjectives and the copula each have the power to act like a conjunction - you just have change their forms first. To keep things simple, in this post let’s just focus on how verbs can change into their conjunctive forms in order to make compound sentences. Every verb has 3 choices.
【The て Form】
The first choice is our old friend, the て form. Here is a quick chart showing you how to make the て form out of Godan, Ichidan and the 2 irregular verbs:
Notice that the て form doesn’t always end with て! The て form of (Godan) verbs that end in ぬ、む、ぶ and ぐ actually end with で. Don’t be alarmed, this is just a sound change.
Here are some examples:
① 【メガネをかけて】【本を読む】。
= glasses, put on and then book, read
= I put on my glasses and then I read a book.
② 【ケンタは一日を遊んで】【過ごしました】。
= as for Kenta, one day play, and then passed
= Kenta spent a whole day playing.
③ 【宿題をしなくて】【不合格しました】。
= didn’t do homework and so failed
= I didn’t do my homework and so I failed.
As you can see in example 3 the negative version of the て form operates in the same way as the positive version. The nuance is still “A and so B”, or “A and then B”, just in a negative way.
The basic idea is that when you change a verb into the て form, you are telling your listener or reader that you are not finished and that there is more information.* For this post, the idea is that using the て form allows you to attach another clause afterwards, making a compound sentence.
【まして】
The second way to turn a verb into its conjunctive form is with the まして ending. This ending is like a polite version of the て form. This ending is also in the same “family” of endings as ます、ません、ました、ませんでした and ましょう. More in the next section.
Here are some examples:
④ ｛ご迷惑をおかけしまして、｝｛申し訳ありません｝。
= I have caused / will cause you trouble and so there is no excuse
= I’m very sorry to inconvenience you.
⑤｛お返事が遅れまして、｝｛すみませんでした｝
= reply was late and so I’m sorry
= I’m sorry that I was slow to respond to you.
【連用形】
Before we talk about the third and final way, there is a very useful Japanese grammatical term that I think you should know. The term is 連用形 (れん・よう・けい) and it means the conjunctive form. Verbs, adjectives and the copula all have 連用形 because they can all make way for another clause to be attached to them. Ok, but the question is - for verbs how do you make the 連用形？
The answer is that there are two versions. The 連用形 can be the stem + the polite form connector OR the stem + the て/た form connector! Here are the 連用形 for the verb 飲む as an example:
So you can see how this 連用形 is connected to what we have been talking about so far. The first version is what we need to attach まして (or if you needed the polite “family” of endings). The second version is what we need for the て form.
Well hold on because the 連用形 is important in one more way!
【The Third Form】
The third and final way that verbs can be used as a conjunction is by… using the 連用形 (the first version)！
Notice that Ichidan verbs and the 2 irregular verbs する and くる don’t need a connector. Their stems alone are enough. Here are some examples:
⑥ 【私は本を買い】、【妹は雑誌を買った】。
= as for me, book, buy and as for younger sister, magazine bought
= I bought a book and my little sister bought a magazine.
⑦ 【彼女は素敵なご飯を食べ】、【おまけに、新年の贈り物をもらいました】。
= as for her, wonderful meal eat and in addition, New Year’s present, received
= She ate a wonderful meal and in addition, received a New Year’s present.
It may feel incomplete in some way, but the 連用形 is perfectly grammatical when you want to make compound sentences.
【What Are the Differences Between the 3 ?】
So you have a sentence that ends in a verb and you want to make a compound sentence to sound more natural. What is the difference between the 3 different conjunctive forms!? I’m glad you asked.
まして is very simply the polite version of the て form. You hear this in set phrases like:
どういたしまして (you’re welcome)
はじめまして (nice to meet you)
あけましておめでとうございます (Happy New Year).
It sometimes also means that the speaker is going to leave off the second part of the sentence because the expectation is that you already know what they are going to say.
Be careful though. The まして ending is not used with ください, with requests or in casual speech. For that, you can just use the regular て form.
⑧ 私は本を買って妹は雑誌を買った。
⑨ 私は本を買い、妹は雑誌を買った。
Both of the examples above say “I bought a book and my little sister bought a magazine.” It’s also very easy to see where you could split these sentences in 2, but what is the difference between the two examples? Is there a different nuance?
Well there are 2 ways that they differ. It turns out that example 8 is much more likely to be spoken while example 9 is more literary. There is an idea that the て form gives speakers more time to think of what they will say next (It is true that you often hear a pause after the て form when people speak). On the other hand, since the 連用形 is mostly written, you wouldn’t need this extra time to think. Also you will sometimes see a comma after the 連用形 so that no one gets confused by the hiragana that comes at the end of it.
In terms of meaning and nuance, while the て form can mean either “A and then B” or “A and so B”, the 連用形 usually only means “A and then B”. In other words, it only tells us the order of the events, not that one lead to the other one happening.
【Conclusion】
So there you have it. A verb at the end of the comment section has 3 ways of allowing another clause to be attached to it. You can use the て form, or you can use the まして ending - both involve using the 連用形. The third way is simply the 連用形 itself, though this is usually in writing.
There is a very important thing to notice about all of the examples. The ending of the first clause does not tell you whether the sentence is past tense or not. You have to wait until the end of the second clause to find out the tense of the whole sentence! This is something that can be very difficult to get used to when you start learning Japanese. Don’t worry though, move at your own pace, ask lots of questions and you will improve. Don’t give up! See you next time.
Rice & Peace,
– AL (アル)
👋🏾
*Sentences sometimes end with the て form or with まして. This is actually a way to leave something unsaid, whether it be the speaker’s feelings, a request or a natural effect. For example はじめまして simply means “it is the first time meeting you”. The implied part is that this first time meeting was nice.
