それから links what came next and what else

それから connects something already mentioned to the next thing. In everyday Japanese, it does two closely related jobs. It can put the next event or action in time, meaning “then” or “after that.” It can also add another item, request, or point of equal importance, meaning “and” or “also.”

The question behind the sentence tells you which job it is doing. If the listener could ask “What happened next?”, それから probably marks chronological sequence. If the listener could ask “What else?”, it probably adds another parallel item. In both cases, the speaker is continuing from the material already on the table.

Write the everyday word in kana as それから. JMdict lists the kanji spelling 其(そ)れから, but marks it as usually written in kana. Normal messages, instructions, and conversations therefore use それから.

Put the next action after the first one

The Japan Foundation describes それから as a conjunction for listing two actions in chronological order. A useful instruction pattern is まず, “first,” followed later by それから, “then.” The connector makes the order easy to follow without claiming that the first action caused the second.

This is common when explaining a route, recipe, work process, or day out. 駅(えき)で友(とも)だちに会(あ)いました。それから、映画館(えいがかん)へ行(い)きました places the cinema trip after the meeting. It does not say that meeting the friend was the reason for going.

In a long spoken story, repeating それから can be useful when each step has the same weight. Once the order is already obvious, speakers also connect some actions with the て形(けい) or simply begin the next sentence. The connector is a guide, not something every sentence needs.

Add one more item without creating a timeline

The second job is addition. Kotobank records それから both for what happens afterward and for adding another matter to what came before. In a shopping list such as パンと牛乳(ぎゅうにゅう)、それから卵(たまご), the eggs are one more item. Nobody needs to buy them later than the milk.

Conversation uses the same additive movement. それから、もう一(ひと)つお願(ねが)いします introduces one more request connected to the current exchange. それから、確認(かくにん)したいことがあります adds another point to the same practical discussion.

それに can add information too, but it often supplies another supporting fact about the same subject, as in このお店(みせ)は安(やす)いです。それに、おいしいです, “This shop is inexpensive. It is also good.” それから is especially straightforward when you move to the next item, task, or point. The uses can overlap, so listen for a supporting fact versus the next member of a list rather than treating them as absolute opposites.

This is conversational progression, but it is not an automatic way to jump anywhere. The new point should still belong with what has just been discussed. For a clearly unrelated topic, ところで, “by the way,” gives the listener a cleaner signal that the conversation is changing direction.

Do not make sequence carry a reason

それから arranges events or adds parallel information. It does not actively say that the first fact caused the second. For a result, それで is often the natural choice. Compare the idea behind 雨(あめ)が降(ふ)ってきました。それから、受付(うけつけ)を中(なか)に移(うつ)しました with the version using それで. The first can sound like a report of two successive events. The second presents moving reception as a consequence of the rain.

そして overlaps with それから, so a mechanical replacement rule would be misleading. NINJAL explains a useful tendency: それから comfortably lines up events or details of equal weight, while そして can carry a continuous account toward a more important next point. In short instructions and ordinary lists, それから is often the straightforward sequence word.

Mika prepares a neighborhood book exchange

Mika is organizing a Saturday book exchange at the community center. On Friday evening, she gives two volunteers the setup order.

Here the table setup comes first and arranging the books comes next. まず and それから make the work order explicit.

Before going home, Mika checks the supplies she bought.

This is not a timeline. The name tags are simply another item in the supply list. English “and” sounds natural because the additive relationship matters more than purchase order.

Mika remembers one more task while speaking to Ken, the volunteer taking photographs.

The phrase それから、もう一(ひと)つ sounds natural because Mika is adding another request inside the same planning conversation. If she suddenly wanted to ask Ken about an unrelated holiday, ところで would announce that topic change more clearly.

On Saturday morning, rain begins just before the doors open. The group moves reception indoors because of the weather.

The move is a result of the rain, so それで makes the relationship clearer than simple sequence with それから.

The weather improves, and Mika later tells a friend how attendance grew.

The sentence moves along the event's timeline. The particle も also tells us that the neighborhood residents joined the children as another group.

Mika pauses after saying that reception closed at four. Her friend wants the next event in the story.

The full question それから、どうしたの asks for the next action in time. A short それから with questioning intonation can also prompt the speaker to continue, but the complete question is clearer and warmer when tone might otherwise sound impatient.

Mika's preparations and event show both everyday jobs without forcing them into one English translation. The setup instructions answer “What next?” The supply list and extra request answer “What else?” The rain needs a result connector instead. Listen for the relationship the speaker wants to make visible, and それから becomes a simple, natural way to keep the sequence or list moving.