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JLPT N4Conjunctions

それで— So / Because of that / And then

A conjunction meaning "so/therefore" or "and then," connecting a cause/situation to its result or the next event. Slightly softer than だから.

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Pro lessonUNIT 93 · CONJUNCTIONS

Structure · 形

[Situation]。それで + [Result / Next action]

Examples · 例文

  • 電車が遅れた。それで、会議に間に合わなかった。

    Densha ga okureta. Sorede, kaigi ni ma ni awanakatta.

    The train was delayed. So I didn't make it to the meeting.

    それで = so/therefore (causal connection)

  • 雨が降っていた。それで傘を持ってきた。

    Ame ga futte ita. Sorede kasa wo motte kita.

    It was raining. So I brought an umbrella.

    それで = because of that situation

  • 昨日は熱がありました。それで、学校を休みました。

    Kinou wa netsu ga arimashita. Sorede, gakkou o yasumimashita.

    I had a fever yesterday. So I stayed home from school.

    それで = so/therefore (fever → absence)

Usage notes · 注意

  • それで refers back to the specific situation just mentioned (それ = that), then gives the result.
  • それで vs だから: だから is a more general/assertive 'therefore.'
  • In conversation それで also means 'and then? / so what happened?' — prompting the speaker to continue.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones それで is tested against.

vsだから

それで links to the specific preceding situation and is softer/more neutral; だから asserts a cause more strongly and can sound insistent. だから can start a reason the listener already knows; それで presents a consequence.

vsそして

そして just adds the next event ('and then', sequence/addition) with no causal meaning; それで implies the second clause results FROM the first.

More conjunctions

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