What is てから?
てから marks a clear sequence: A happens, then B. It is built from the て form plus から, and it is stronger than simply chaining verbs with て — it insists that the first action finishes before the second begins.
Verb A [て-form] + から + Verb B
- 食べてから出かけます。(I'll go out after eating.)
てから vs the Plain て Form
Linking with て alone also implies order, so why does てから exist?
| Sentence | Nuance |
|---|---|
| 手を洗って食べます | Wash hands and eat — a natural sequence |
| 手を洗ってから食べます | Wash hands first, then eat — order matters |
から adds emphasis on completion. Use it when the point is that one thing must come before the other.
Tense Lives at the End
The て form never carries tense. Only the final verb does:
- 来てから話します。(I'll talk after they come.)
- 来てから話しました。(I talked after they came.)
Measuring Time Since
てから also means "since," when paired with a length of time:
- 日本に来てから三年になります。(It's been three years since I came to Japan.)
This is a very common way to say how long you have been doing something.
Don't Confuse It with から Meaning "Because"
Same から, two jobs. The difference is what comes before it:
- Verb て-form + から → after (食べてから)
- Plain or polite sentence + から → because (高いから) — see から