JapaneseJLPT
JLPT N5 grammar · Chapter 15

そして

And: add the next sentence

You’ll be able to add a second sentence with “and,” whether it gives another quality or the next thing that happened.

Illustration of the scene described by This room is spacious. And it is bright.
Read it first

この部屋へやは広ひろいです。そして、明あかるいです。

kono heya wa hiroi desu. soshite, akarui desu.

What do you think this sentence means?

This room is spacious. And it is bright.

Why it means that

Add another sentence with “and”

そして starts a new sentence and adds it to the one before. Use it to pile a second quality onto the same topic, or to move on to the next thing that happened.

A comma follows it. Nothing is being countered here: unlike でも, the second sentence carries on in the same direction as the first.

Example

京都きょうとへ行いきました。そして、写真しゃしんをたくさん撮とりました。

kyouto e ikimashita. soshite, shashin o takusan torimashita.

I went to Kyoto. And I took a lot of photos.

How it is built

Sentence. そして, sentence

Finish the first sentence, then open the next one with そして and a comma.

Sentence+そして+Sentence
Examples

妹いもうとは歌うたが上手じょうずです。そして、絵えも上手じょうずです。

imouto wa uta ga jouzu desu. soshite, e mo jouzu desu.

My little sister is good at singing. And she is good at drawing too.

朝ご飯あさごはんを食たべました。そして、学校がっこうへ行いきました。

asagohan o tabemashita. soshite, gakkou e ikimashita.

I ate breakfast. And then I went to school.

この町まちは静しずかです。そして、きれいです。

kono machi wa shizuka desu. soshite, kirei desu.

This town is quiet. And it is clean.

Compare

～て、～ vs そして

Both line up two ideas. The て-form joins them inside one sentence; そして finishes the first sentence and starts a second, which gives the second idea more weight of its own.

  • そして, two sentences

    朝ご飯あさごはんを食たべました。そして、学校がっこうへ行いきました。

    asagohan o tabemashita. soshite, gakkou e ikimashita.

    I ate breakfast. And then I went to school.

    Two finished sentences, joined across the full stop.

  • ～て, one sentence

    朝ご飯あさごはんを食たべて、学校がっこうへ行いきました。

    asagohan o tabete, gakkou e ikimashita.

    I ate breakfast and went to school.

    One sentence, joined in the middle.

Examples

父ちちは会社かいしゃ員いんです。そして、母ははは先生せんせいです。

chichi wa kaishain desu. soshite, haha wa sensei desu.

My father is an office worker. And my mother is a teacher.

この部屋へやは広ひろいです。そして、明あかるいです。

kono heya wa hiroi desu. soshite, akarui desu.

This room is spacious. And it is bright.

兄あにはサッカーが好きすきです。そして、弟おとうとは野球やきゅうが好きすきです。

ani wa sakkaa ga suki desu. soshite, otouto wa yakyuu ga suki desu.

My older brother likes soccer. And my younger brother likes baseball.

6 more examples in the grammar path — free for a limited time.