English translation:
(and/just) then, thereupon, if so
Structure:
Phrase1. そうすると + Result.
Explanation:
A.そうするとB. B describes something over which speaker/writer has no control and usually takes place short after A.Also used when drawing a reasonable conclusion B, based on situation A. It can be abbreviated to すると
The grammar page mentions that そうすると can be shortened to すると; is the latter more informal, or is there no change in formality?
Hey 
そうすると is more polite than すると since it is a contraction.
But both are used in formal writing, and I would say that it すると is used more often.
Cheers!
素直で正直に生きるようにして。そうすると周りに人が集まってくるよ。
Can someone please help me with the first part of this? Apparently 素直 can mean honest, so I have two questions. Firstly, how does the で particle turn this into a seemingly adverbial use? And second, I know that 正直に means “honestly”, so what is 素直で actually adding to this?
I’d translate that as “open, frank, and honest”. Like English, they’re similar but different words.
素直 - I understood this as “open” or “not hidden”
正直 - I understood this as “not lying”
So you’d interpret it as “openly and honestly”, then? If I remember rightly, it only said “honestly” in the given translation, which was what threw me.
Also, I’m now thinking the で is just a conjuntion, since I’ve not seen anything like「素直にで正直に」so I assume that’s not grammatical, or at least not in common usage.
Maybe to be more exact, it’s using this pattern:
Nounで Adverbに
素直で 正直に
with openness, honestly
It might be worth asking for an update to the sentence translation.
I think it IS a bit weird when you go about that sentence that way, but, try to look at it from this angle:
If we group the sentence’s meaning like this:
[素直で正直に][生きるようにして。]
It certainly feels very weird.
But, what’s actually happening is:
[素直で][正直に生きるように][して。]
(Frankly… / Honestly… / Please…) (So that you lead an honest life) (Do it)
By putting it all together, we get the final translation:
“Please, try to live honestly.”
And, to give a more concise answer for this, で is just a conjunctive here. It’s connecting the sentence rather than turning into an adverb, while 正直に is adjectivizing 生きる.
素直 has more of a “what I’m really thinking deep down” honesty nuance, while 正直 expresses more of a “right way/upstanding way of doing things” honesty nuance. So the “Please” at the beginning of the sentence has a “I’m begging you!” feeling to it.
Hope this helps, even if late!
Thanks - so the で here isn’t that they’re also asking them to be 素直, but it’s more like an instrumental marker, like “With sincerity (from me), try to live honestly”, is that right?
It’s the same basic particle meaning, so yeah! 