Lesson 24: 安くて おいしい・でも・だから

N5 · Lesson 24 · 18 min — Join two adjectives to say "both ... and ...", then link two sentences with でも (but) and だから (so)

In the last lesson you learned to say "not expensive," "it was tasty yesterday," and "how is it?" But one sentence gave only one opinion. This lesson teaches three ways to connect ideas: joining adjectives (〜くて・〜で), contrast (でも), and result (だから). Your Japanese will sound like real conversation! Let's start with the comic.

After this lesson, you can:

• Use 〜くて・〜で to say "cheap and tasty" or "quiet and pretty"
• Use でも、〜 to say "but ..." and add a downside
• Use だから、〜 to say "so ..." and give a result or a decision

Cheap, tasty food... but where?

Neko-sensei says there's a cheap, tasty place... but doesn't say how far. (遠とおい = far; 歩あるきます = walk; 明日あした = tomorrow)

〜くて・〜で link opinions in the same direction, でも adds the opposite, だから adds a result. Rin now has one more shop to visit "tomorrow too".

New words in this lesson

• 遠とおい (tōi): far
• 近ちかい (chikai): near, close
• 広ひろい (hiroi): spacious, wide
• せまい (semai): narrow, small (space)
• 楽たのしい (tanoshii): fun, enjoyable
• 便利べんり (benri): convenient
• 親切しんせつ (shinsetsu): kind, helpful
• 部屋へや (heya): room
• でも (demo): but, however
• だから (dakara): so, therefore

Grammar 1 / 3: 〜くて・〜で

い-adjective: い→くて. な-adjective or noun: + で. Join two descriptions = "both ... and ..."

• い-adjective: drop い, add くて: 安やすい → 安やすくて, 広ひろい → 広ひろくて, 古ふるい → 古ふるくて. You can also join downsides: 古ふるくて せまいです (old and narrow).
• いい is an exception: よくて: いい (good) becomes よくて, never いくて. This is the only special case to remember in this lesson!
• な-adjectives and nouns: add で: 静しずか → 静しずかで, 便利べんり → 便利べんりで. Nouns work the same way: がくせい → がくせいで (is a student, and ...). Careful with きれい and 有名ゆうめい: they are な-adjectives, so きれいで and 有名ゆうめいで.
• です and past tense go only at the end: Join the earlier words with くて・で, and say です only once, at the end of the sentence (not 安やすいです おいしいです). The last word also sets present or past: 安やすくて おいしかったです (past).

• この 店みせは 安やすくて おいしいです。 — This restaurant is cheap and tasty.
• この 部屋へやは 古ふるくて せまいです。 — This room is old and narrow. (Two downsides also work.)
• この 町まちは にぎやかで 便利べんりです。 — This town is lively and convenient.
• リンさんは がくせいで、台湾人たいわんじんです。 — Rin is a student, and he is Taiwanese.
• ラーメンは 安やすくて おいしかったです。 — The ramen was cheap and tasty. (A past opinion.)

Grammar 2 / 3: でも

でも、〜 = but, however: finish the first sentence, then start the second with でも to say the opposite

• Finish the first sentence with a period: でも starts the second sentence: おいしいです。でも、高たかいです。 A comma (、) often follows でも.
• The two parts are opposite: Good→bad and bad→good both work: 古ふるいです。でも、広ひろくて 静しずかです (It's old. But it's spacious and quiet). Small tip: 安やすくて 遠とおいです is grammatically correct, but joining a good and a bad point with くて sounds odd, as if both were upsides. 安やすいです。でも、遠とおいです is more natural.
• Casual, spoken Japanese: でも is the most common "but" in daily conversation. You can use it with friends and with shop staff. Formal writing has other words, which you will learn later.

• この 店みせは おいしいです。でも、高たかいです。 — This restaurant is tasty. But it's expensive.
• この 部屋へやは きれいです。でも、せまいです。 — This room is pretty. But it's narrow.
• この ホテルは 古ふるいです。でも、広ひろくて 静しずかです。 — This hotel is old. But it's spacious and quiet.
• この 町まちは 静しずかです。でも、駅えきから 遠とおいです。 — This town is quiet. But it's far from the station.
• ラーメンは 高たかかったです。でも、おいしかったです。 — The ramen was expensive. But it was tasty. (A past opinion.)

Grammar 3 / 3: だから

だから、〜 = so: give the reason in the first sentence, then start the second with だから and give the result or decision

• Reason first, result second: 遠とおいです (reason). だから、タクシーで 行いきます (result). You can't reverse the order.
• What can come after?: 〜ます, 〜ましょう, adjectives and nouns all work: 近ちかいです。だから、便利べんりです。 When traveling, it is most useful for suggestions: だから、バスで 行いきましょう。
• Treat だから as one block: Just memorize だから as "so," and put it at the start of the second sentence. Note: you can't attach it directly to an い-adjective (×遠とおいだから).

• 遠とおいです。だから、タクシーで 行いきましょう。 — It's far. So, let's take a taxi.
• タクシーは 高たかいです。だから、バスで 行いきます。 — Taxis are expensive. So let's take the bus.
• ホテルは 駅えきから 近ちかいです。だから、便利べんりです。 — The hotel is close to the station. So it's convenient.
• この 店みせは 安やすくて おいしいです。だから、有名ゆうめいです。 — This restaurant is cheap and tasty. So it's famous.
• 昨日きのうは 楽たのしかったです。だから、今日きょうも 行いきます。 — Yesterday was fun. So I'll go today too.