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それで details

Examples

and so — the result or consequence that followed

財布さいふいえわすれちゃって。それで、はしってりにもどったんだ。

saifu o ie ni wasurechatte. sorede, hashitte tori ni modotta n da.

I went and left my wallet at home. So I ran back to get it. casual

まえからあめつづいていました。それで、グラウンドがぬかるんでいたんです。

mae no hi kara ame ga tsuzuite imashita. sorede, guraundo ga nukarunde ita n desu.

It had been raining since the day before. That's why the field was so muddy. neutral

さきちかくにおおきな公園こうえんがあった。それで、いぬうことにした。

hikkoshisaki no chikaku ni ookina kouen ga atta. sorede, inu o kau koto ni shita.

There was a big park near the place we moved to. And so we decided to get a dog. neutral

so? and then? — asks the other person for the rest of the story

昨日きのうえき先生せんせいってさ。」「へえ、それで?」

"kinou, eki de sensei ni atte sa." "hee, sorede?"

"So yesterday I ran into the teacher at the station." "Huh, and then?" casual

Formation

Related patterns

Similar

  • ので packs cause and result into one sentence and subordinates the cause, and it happily fronts a request (おくれますので、おちください); それで needs the cause already closed as its own sentence and only reports what followed — no request or command can follow it, where から/だから both allow one.

  • Both carry a narrative forward, but それから only claims the next thing came next, while それで claims the previous sentence CAUSED it — swapping それで into a bare list of steps invents a causal link the speaker never made.

  • それで reports the result that actually followed and will not carry an intention announced on the spot or a command after it (それで、もうるね and それで、はやかえりなさい both fail); だから asserts the speaker's own reasoning and fronts exactly those — dropping だから into a plain account of events makes it sound as if you are arguing a point rather than telling what happened.

Lookalikes

  • One は apart from それでは — the formal end of the じゃあ entry — and both react to the last turn, but それで points backwards at a result that already followed (「それで?」asks for the rest of the story), while それでは/じゃあ points forwards and announces the next move.