13) Compound Sentences [Part 1]
Compound sentences are made when you connect two (or more) clauses and make one large sentence. (Clauses are not always sentences but they do always express one complete thought.) In Japanese there are two main ways to make compound sentences.
The first method is to simply use a conjunction after the first comment section. The other way is to change the ending of the first comment section into a conjunction-like form. More on that next time. In this post, let’s look at the first method.
The first conjunction we should talk about is が. Take a look at the examples below:
1) I read the instruction manual many times but I don’t know how to work it.
2) He is smart but he isn’t honest.
3) Mizuki is Japanese but her native language is English.
In each of the examples, you can see that each sentence is made up of two smaller clauses. Also, the idea of the first clause goes against the idea of the second one. To show this contrast, we use が to mean “but” or “however”.
I made sure to pick examples that show the 3 ways that you can end the comment section.
・If you end with a verb or an adjective, just add が.
・You can never end with only a noun, so you add が after the noun-copula pair (example #3)
This is something that confused me when I started learning Japanese so I want to include it in this post. There is another が that can be called “the introductory が”. This does not mean “but” or “however”. It is used to bring up a topic and kind of “ease into” conversation. Here is an example:
④【こちらは５２５号室です】が、【ルームサービスをお願いします】。
= As for this way*, it is room 525. Room service please.
= This is room 525, room service please.
You can tell that this is the introductory が because the first clause doesn’t oppose or go against the second one. The speaker is simply setting up the topic. The introductory が is usually preceded by です or ます.
The next conjunction is けど and also means “but” or “however”.
= a little big but this envelope is good
= It’s a little big but this envelope will do.
= As for today, free but as for next week, busy
= Today I’m free but next week I’ll be busy.
There isn’t much difference between けど and が. If anything, が is a bit more geared towards written language while けど is used in spoken language more.
けど also has 2 related forms that you will see.
けれど is more formal than けど.
けれども is the most formal form of けど.
You will mostly hear けれど and けれども come after です or ます. Formality level aside, けど、けれど and けれども all have the same meaning of “but” or “however”.
Both から and ので express the idea of “and so”. It tells you that the first clause is the reason for the second clause in the compound sentence.
⑦ 【もう遅くなった】から、【私たちは家に帰らなければならない】。
= It’s already gotten late and so we have to go home
= We have to go home because it’s already gotten late.
⑧ 【彼女は誠実だ】から【わいろなど受け取ったりしない】。
= She is honest and so things like bribery, would not take
= She wouldn’t take bribes or things like that because she is honest.
= As for today, it is rainy and so let’s not go shopping.
= Let’s not go shopping today because it’s raining.
Note that many times, the order is reversed from the natural English order. For this reason when you first think about から, it’s good to think of it as “and so”.
【The Differences Between から and ので】
ので and から are very similar. There are 2 main differences we should talk about.
The first difference is grammatical. When your first clause ends with a verb or an adjective, you simply attach から or ので and then start your second clause. However in the case of a noun-copula pair, things are a little different:
In example 9 take a look at the noun 雨降り. It’s important to note that this is not a noun that needs the な particle when it describes other nouns. It is not like 元気 (げんき) or 有名 (ゆうめい). The only reason we need to use な in this case is because ので requires that version of the copula. 【noun だ + ので】is not grammatical.
In order to drill it into your brain you can repeat this over and over to yourself:
As for differences in meaning, ので is the more objective way to explain “clause 1 and so clause 2”. It simply and neutrally explains the situation. This is better to use when speaking with people you don’t know well or are not so close with.
から on the other hand is more subjective and puts more of an emphasis on the cause (clause 1) instead of the result (clause 2). To native speakers, this may sound like you are making an excuse, or focusing on your own needs or opinions (which is not good). から is better used with friends and people you are close with.
Here is a page with some additional examples that might help you understand the difference.
【Conjunction or Particle?】
Some of the conjunctions above can easily be confused with particles. Take から for instance. How can you tell the difference between conjunction から and particle から？
The answer lies in the location of the word! Remember that most of the particles we’ve talked about attach to nouns. Coincidentally, nouns are the one main part of speech that can’t end the comment section. This means that the conjunction から can never come directly after a noun. Conjunction から will always follow either a verb, an adjective or a noun + だ！
【adjective + から】= conjunction
【noun だ + から】= conjunction
A similar situation happens with the conjunction が.
【adjective + が】= conjunction
【noun だ + が】= conjunction
This is not to say that particles only attach to nouns. There are some particles that attach to only verbs or adjectives. If you are unsure whether a word is acting as a particle or as a conjunction, the key is to look if there is something (a version of the copula) directly between the noun and the word you are wondering about.
In this post we looked at a small number of conjunctions that you can stick in between two clauses in order to make compound sentences. There are many more but this is just an introduction. As you read and hear more Japanese pay attention to other conjunctions that native speakers use.
In the next post we will look at the other way to make compound sentences. This will greatly improve your spoken and written Japanese, as well as your reading and listening comprehension. See you next time!
* こちら is a polite way to refer to yourself. For your listener (or reader) そちら is the polite way to refer to him/her.
