[て] + B (Reason・Cause) - Grammar Discussion

Grammar Points
#1

and・and so
due to
because of
since
conjunctive

Structure

  • Verb[ て ] + B
  • い-Adj.[ て ] → い → く て + B
  • な-Adj.[ で ] + B
  • Noun[ で ] + B
  • Exception: いい → よく て + B

[The て-form can be used to express reason/cause. When verb[て] or adj[て] are used, the following clause is often limited to expressing the feelings of the speaker, verbs in potential form or, in general, something beyond the control of the speaker]

[Frequently found in sentences that contain words like 困る、嬉しい、大変、びっくり、疲れている、心配、休む、安心、◯が痛い、気持ちがいい etc.]

View on Bunpro

#2

For the example sentence: メアリーがアメリカにかえって悲かなしいです (Mary returned to the USA and I am sad.), why wouldn’t it be メアリーがアメリカにかえった if the verb is past tense?

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#3

I am also confused by the switch of the agent in this sentence. Couldn’t this be interpreted two ways?

メアリーがアメリカに帰って悲しいです。
1.) Mary returned to the USA and I am sad.
2.) Mary returned to the USA and she is sad.

#4

This is because the purpose of the sentence is to for the speaker to convey the current state of sadness, not to convey the information that Mary has returned home. If it was, it would read something like 私は悲しい。なぜならメアリーが帰ったから。 or something along those lines. Of course there are many other ways to convey this.

Yes, it absolutely could, but like so many things in Japanese you need to read into the context. Obviously you can’t do this in a BunPro example sentence, but if you were talking to a friend, you would immediately know from the situation, tone, atmosphere, etc. who was sad.

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#5

Thank you @matt_in_mito for clearing that up for me! <3

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#6

Is it specifically not acceptable to put an を before して in
日本語(にほんご)能力試験(のうりょくしけん)を合格(ごうかく) して 嬉(うれ)しかったです。
I hadn’t used を at all before する until I saw a few sentences on this site where they’d been included. Is it necessary for certain types of constructions? Are the places where を is used not する verbs?

#7

From my understanding, putting the を here is grammatically acceptable but not very many people would do it. I don’t know in enough detail to say what situation people would use it in, but personally I feel like it looks more natural without.

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#8

:warning: Notice that Verb[て] + すみません is also the case of this usage.

The link goes to the grammar list, not the individual grammar point.

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#9

@Ambo100
Thank you!
Fixed :+1:

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#10

In the review:

勇者さまは５年前に、交通事故で死んだ。

Could I also use?

勇者さまは５年前に、交通事故のせいで死んだ。

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#11

This is grammatically correct, but it will change the meaning and the nuance of the sentence a bit. のせいで brings a bit of “blame” into the sentence and makes the speaker sound more resentful. If he/she were to just use で, the sentence would just be stating a fact. Cheers!

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#12

Also, notice that で is what makes せいで express cause. せい by itself means “blame”.
Similar with おかげで, おかげ by itself means “thanks/blessing/gratitude”.

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#13

for the following sentence “おっちゃんのコンサートは雨で中止になった” I’m not sure why the answer of ”ので” is not acceptable. Would this answer work for the sentence? Or is there a contextual or different feeling that the の gives the sentence? Thank you in advance

#14

雨ので mostly adds a nuance of grammatical mistake, but I think people would still autocorrect it to 雨で in their heads rather than looking for a different meaning (maybe “because of the rain’s concert”?).

If you meant the “because” ので, that needs to be 雨なので. But then it’s “because it’s raining” and not “due to the rain”. (Bunpro will not mark this wrong, but ask for a different answer.)

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#15

Thank you for the response. I think I sort of understand but I want to make sure I’m really getting it. I’m not sure I understand what the difference is between “because it’s raining” vs “due to the rain”. I think my understanding now is that ので should be working on full sentences but the particle で by itself can be used to add context to the verb within the sentence?

#16

I don’t think there is a big difference in meaning. That’s why bunpro will not mark you wrong if you enter なので. It just asks for a different answer because it wants to make sure you remember this grammar point, and not just any way to say “because”.

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#17

In example " 先週、インフルエンザに___、仕事を休んだのです。", the verb to be conjugated is “かかる”. The hint says that it’s ichidan verb. However, the correct answer is かかって, not かかて. According to jisho, it is a godan verb, so it appears that the hint is wrong. Is that right?