てから
- 1After doing A, (then) B; A is done first, and B follows.Ex. 1
- 2Since A; A marks the point from which a situation has continued.Ex. 2
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A neutral, everyday pattern used in both speech and writing. It is common in instructions, routines and life events. It stresses that A comes first, often as a step before B. With continuing states such as ている, it expresses "since". Compared with 後で, it puts more weight on the order of the two actions.
Do not use the た-form with から here; 食べたから means "because I ate", not "after eating".
Note that てから attaches only to verbs; with nouns, use a pattern such as の後で instead.
Learners should remember that から after a plain form expresses a reason, while から after the て-form expresses sequence.
- 後でN4「後で」attaches to the た-form of verbs or to 「名詞＋の」, and it can also stand alone as an adverb meaning 'later on.' It simply states that the second event happens after the first, with a stretch of time allowed in between; it does not emphasize the ordering and has no 'ever since' usage.
- てからでないとN2「てからでないと」also attaches to the て-form of verbs, but it does more than mark sequence: it adds the conditional nuance that 'unless the first action is done, the second cannot happen.' The second clause typically uses expressions like 「できない」 or 「無理だ」, and there is no 'ever since' usage.
- たらN4「たら」can also indicate doing the second action once the first has occurred, but it additionally covers hypothetical and 'unexpected discovery' uses, and it can attach to adjectives and nouns. 「てから」attaches only to verbs, foregrounds the order of events, and also has the 'ever since' meaning — a meaning that cannot be rendered with 「たら」.
- てからというものN1「てからというもの」corresponds only to the 'ever since' sense of 「てから」, not the sequential one; it is a written-style expression with a strong emotional flavor, stressing that things changed completely afterward and have stayed that way to this day. Replacing it with 「てから」 keeps the meaning intact but loses the emotional coloring.
- 次第N2Only the 'as soon as' sense of 「次第」 is close to 「てから」: 「次第」attaches to the verb stem (the ます-form with ます removed) or to action nouns, stresses immediacy, refers only to future events, and sounds fairly formal, while 「てから」attaches to the て-form and can describe past events. 「次第」also has a separate 'depends on' meaning.
Unlike 後で, which simply places B later in time, てから stresses that A is completed first. Unlike たら, it does not express a condition. てからでないと and てからでなければ mean B is not possible unless A is done first. てからというもの is a literary N1 pattern for a lasting change since A. 次第 is a formal "as soon as" pattern used for future actions.
