それからsore kara“and then; after that”

それから means and then or after that. It is a JLPT N5 conjunction that starts a new sentence and moves the story to the next step: 朝ご飯を食べます。それから、学校へ行きます — I eat breakfast. After that, I go to school.

It is built from それ (that) + から (from): “from that point on.” Once you see that, its three uses make sense — the next step in time, the next item in a list, and “ever since then.”

それから = "from that point": next in time, next on the list, or ever since.

What does それから mean?

それから has three related meanings. The first is by far the most common at N5.

1. After that / and then — the next event in a sequence. シャワーを浴びました。それから、寝ました。 (I showered. Then I went to bed.)
2. And also / plus — adding another item, often as an afterthought. パンと牛乳、それから卵もお願いします。 (Bread and milk — oh, and eggs too, please.)
3. Since then — with a negative or ongoing state. 去年京都で会いました。それから会っていません。 (We met in Kyoto last year. I haven’t seen them since.)

In conversation you’ll also hear それから? on its own, with rising intonation — “And then what?” — when someone is listening to a story and wants the next part.

How to form それから

それから is a conjunction, so it doesn’t attach to a verb. It links two sentences. It can also follow a て-form clause inside one sentence.

Notes on form:

• A comma after それから is common in writing (それから、〜) but not required.
• Both sentences keep their own tense. Past events: 〜ました。それから、〜ました. Routines: 〜ます。それから、〜ます.
• In a list, それから sits between items: AとB、それからC.

When is それから used?

• Describing routines. Daily schedules are the classic N5 topic: 起きます。それから、顔を洗います。
• Telling what happened. Retelling your weekend, one event after another.
• Giving step-by-step directions. まっすぐ行ってください。それから、右に曲がってください。
• Ordering and shopping. Adding one more thing: コーヒーを二つ。それから、ケーキを一つ。
• Listening to someone’s story. それから? — and then?

それから is conversational and neutral. It works in polite speech and casual speech alike, and it is common in simple written narratives such as diaries and N5 reading passages.

それから example sentences

In the first three examples それから means “next.” In the fourth it adds an item. In the last, combined with ずっと and ている, it means “ever since” — the state started at that point and continues.

Nuance of それから

それから focuses on order. It tells the listener: A is done, now comes B. Because of that, it feels like a list of steps or a timeline, which is why it’s the go-to word for routines and directions.

When it adds items (パンと牛乳、それから卵), it often sounds like you just remembered something. That’s natural in speech — “oh, and also…” — but in a planned list, と or も is usually enough.

それから is also neutral in feeling. It doesn’t suggest surprise, contrast, or cause — only “next.” If you want to say “but” or “so,” you need a different word.

💡 Tip: Long stories in Japanese rarely repeat それから five times in a row. Mix it with そして, てから, and て-form chains (起きて、顔を洗って、…) to sound natural.

それから vs そして

Both translate as “and then,” and at N5 they overlap a lot. The difference is in what they emphasize.

A useful test: if you can say “after that” in English, それから fits. If the sentences describe qualities that don’t happen in order (広い and 明るい), そして is the better choice. For events in sequence, both work, but それから makes the “next” step clearer.

Common mistakes with それから

Is それから on the JLPT?

Reading questions often ask 「何をしてから、〜しましたか」 — what did the person do before X? Scan for それから in the passage: whatever sits right before it happened first.

Practice questions for それから

Learning path for それから

Related grammar to review next

• そして — the broader “and”; the closest partner and the most common source of confusion.
• てから — expresses the same order inside one sentence: 食べてから行きます.
• でも — the “but” word learners wrongly replace with それから.
• まで — marks where a sequence or time span ends, the other end of a timeline.
• それに — N4 “besides / moreover,” for adding points rather than steps.

Learn それから with Hane

Hane has you put short daily routines in order with それから, そして, and てから, then checks the order in listening. Try it in Hane.