Lesson 51: First this, then that

You explain your plan: パンを食べてから、日本語を勉強します. First you eat bread; afterwards you study Japanese. The first action comes before から. As you listen, point first to eating and then to studying. This connects the new form directly to a plan you can understand.

In these two steps, the second action begins after the first has been carried out. The sentence states the order, but not how many minutes pass between them. Translate てから as ‘after…’, without automatically adding ‘immediately’. Reversing the actions changes the plan.

In our first exercises, the same person performs both actions. When it is clear that you are talking about yourself, you need not say わたしは before both parts. This is our simple practice setting, not a rule that てから must always involve just one person.

パンを食べてから、日本語を勉強します。

The structure is: first verb in the て form + から, followed by the second action. Use the given dictionary form and group: 食べる becomes 食べて, and 勉強する becomes 勉強して. Do not insert ます between that first form and から. The second verb takes ます in our ordinary polite statement.

Not every て form literally ends in て. 読む becomes 読んで, giving 読んでから. 飲む becomes 飲んで and likewise keeps で before から. First build the complete familiar form, then add から. Do not change the d sound to t because of the name ‘て form’.

Now compare 飲みます and 飲みました at the ends of the examples. The second sentence describes a completed situation in the past. 読んでから stays unchanged: the familiar ending ました is on the last verb. You therefore use a familiar polite past ending without learning a new general た conjugation.

本を読んでから、水を飲みます。

本を読んでから、水を飲みました。

You know 買います from shopping. Now add its dictionary partner: 買う（かう）belongs to group 1. In this group, final う becomes って in the て form: 買う→買って. The result is 買ってから. Listen for small っ: katte has a short closure before t, not an extra vowel.

From lesson 45 you know 送ります, ‘to send’. Its given dictionary form is 送る（おくる, group 1）. As with 撮る in lesson 50, final る becomes って here: 送る→送って→送ってから. Check the stated group; do not treat 送る as group 2 just because it ends in る.

The other parts of the sentence keep their roles. パンを names what you buy; レポートを names what you send. A recipient takes familiar に, while うちへ gives the direction when going home. Form the verb first, then check that each particle still belongs to the correct action.

パンを買ってから、うちへ帰ります。

レポートを送ってから、昼ご飯を食べます。

In lesson 33, you connected two complete sentences with それから: パンを食べます。それから、日本語を勉強します. Both actions kept their own polite endings. Here, てから builds one sentence: パンを食べてから、日本語を勉強します. The intended order is the same. You do not need to stop using それから; you gain another way to connect two steps.

Reason から from lesson 36 does something different. In 明日はテストですから、勉強します, the test explains why you will study. The sentence does not say you will study only after the test. Look at the structure before から and the intended meaning: our sequence uses the て form, while the familiar reason clause keeps a complete polite ending.

九時から, ‘from nine o'clock’, remains useful too. There, a clock time precedes から. Do not apply one isolated translation to every occurrence: first decide whether the speaker gives an order of actions, a reason or a starting time.

Two learners arrange to study at the library. One says that studying comes before buying bread. The other eats bread first and then goes to the library. These are two personal plans. Track who is speaking as you read; do not combine all the mentioned actions into one shared sequence.

You also recognise familiar particles: 図書館で belongs with studying at that place, while 図書館へ belongs with going there. Sharing a place does not mean everyone arrives at the same time. Asking about the starting time helps explain their arrangement, but does not change the order within each てから sentence.

Then describe a small plan of your own using two familiar actions. Decide which step comes first, form that verb and add から. Say the whole sentence at a comfortable pace. Only then check the reading support; the aim is for someone else to understand your order, not to string together as many actions as possible.

図書館で勉強してから、パンを買います。

私はパンを食べてから、図書館へ行きます。