N3#grammar#reasons#causality#n3

Giving Reasons Lesson 1

Master the nuances of expressing causality in Japanese using から, ので, and し. Learn when to use objective explanations versus subjective justifications.

Context

Why did that happen?

In daily life, we constantly explain why we did something or why a situation occurred. Whether you are apologizing for being late or explaining a business delay, Japanese provides several ways to link a cause to an effect.

Imagine you are meeting a friend for coffee. You arrive 10 minutes late because the train was delayed. How you explain this to your friend depends on how formal you want to be and how much responsibility you want to take for the situation.

Friend

どうしたの？

What happened?

You

でんしゃがおくれたから、おそくなりました。

電車が遅れたから、遅くなりました。

The train was late, so I'm late.

Explanation

The Core Patterns

We will start with the three most common ways to express reasons: から, ので, and し.

Reasonから / のでResult

から is subjective and emphasizes the reason. It is often used when the speaker is expressing their own opinion or justifying an action. ので is more objective and polite, making it ideal for formal situations or when you want to sound softer and more considerate.

し is used to list multiple reasons. It implies that there are other reasons not mentioned, often used to justify a conclusion or a decision.

Tip

When using ので, if the reason ends in a noun or na-adjective, you must add 'な' before ので (e.g., 雨なので).

Examples

Examples in Action

See how these particles function in natural sentences.

忙しい(いそがしい)から、行けません(いけません)。

I'm busy, so I can't go.

忙しいいそがしいbusyからからbecause行けませんいけませんcannot go

体調(たいちょう)が悪い(わるい)ので、帰ります。

I'm not feeling well, so I'm going home.

体調たいちょうphysical condition悪いわるいbadのでのでbecause (polite)

安い(やすい)し、美味しい(おいしい)から、また来よう。

It's cheap and delicious, so let's come again.

安いやすいcheapししand (reason)美味しいおいしいdelicious

雨【なので】、今日は中止にします。

Hint: Use the polite reason marker for a noun.

Because it's raining, we will cancel today.

Usage

Nuance and Register

Choosing the right marker changes the tone of your message.

から vs ので

から

Subjective, casual, strong emphasis on reason.

好きだから買った。

ので

Objective, polite, softer, implies a logical consequence.

用事があるので失礼します。

Which sentence is more appropriate for a formal business email?

忙しいから、返信が遅れました。
✓ 忙しいので、返信が遅れました。

ので is more polite and objective, making it the standard choice for professional communication.

Deep dive

Advanced Usage: し

The 'し' pattern is more versatile than it appears.

Using し to imply more

You can use 'し' to list multiple reasons to support a conclusion. Often, it implies that the reasons you gave are not the only ones, but they are sufficient to explain your point. It can also be used at the end of a sentence to hint at a reason without stating it explicitly, which sounds very natural in spoken Japanese.

Summary

Lesson Recap

You have learned how to use から, ので, and し to connect reasons to results. Use から for personal justifications, ので for polite explanations, and し for listing multiple reasons.

遅れる

おくれるverb

to be late

体調

たいちょうnoun

physical condition

中止

ちゅうしnoun

cancellation

返信

へんしんnoun